Vélo de route
Trekking

Torgiano - Bettona - Torgiano Trip

Difficulty
Intermediate
Total ascent
200 meters
Distance
11 km
Trip from Torgiano to Bettona and return to Torgiano
Start Torgiano
Arrive Torgiano
Distance 11 km Trekking - 12 km Bike
Height difference

From Torgiano to Bettona- 200 meters ascent, 60 meters descent - From Bettona to Torgiano- 60 meters ascent, 200meters descent

Difficulty easy / intermediate, mainly flat route, slight ups and downs at challenging stretches near Bettona
Ground paved, off-road
Recommended bike city-bike, MTB, gravel
Duration 3 hours (Trekking) - 1 hour (Bike)
Suitability suitable for everyone, even for families with children if they are used to walking and / or cycling

 

This excursion trail connects the village of Torgiano (PG), to that of Bettona, via a mostly flat path departing from the center of Torgiano at the La Torre car park (there is an electric car charging point in the car park) near the Baglioni Tower, which represents the symbol of the medieval village of Torgiano.  Until the mid-fifteenth century, the Baglioni Tower constituted the entrance to a customs area, where the goods and products from a vast area of central Italy converged and embarked for Rome via the Tiber River.  Leaving behind the Baglioni Tower, head towards the historic center and turn left upon reaching Via Olivello, descending until reaching crossroads with the main road SP403.  Continue straight onto Via E. Trascurati and then turn right onto a dirt road and make an immediate left onto the path running along the Chiascio River.  Continue on this dirt road for about 1 km and then turn left onto a rustic path that takes you into the middle of the fields.  From here you can admire the nearby hill of Brufa, and on the right the larger Mount Subasio with Assisi set in the side of the mountain, whose view is introduced by the Basilica of San Francesco in the proceeding valley.  Proceed until you reach the main road SP400 (Via Assisi) and walk along this road until you reach the intersection with Via Col di Mezzo.  At this point there is a dirt path upon which you continue in the middle of the fields for about 2 km.  Turn right onto Via Ponte di Ferro crossing the bridge and turning right again onto Via Salceto.  From this point it is possible to admire the Torre del Molinaccio, which is located between the small towns of Colle and Passaggio di Bettona.  The Tower, which unfortunately is not open for visitors, dates back to the 13th century, and is quite well preserved.  Fortified with beautifully crowned corbels, its rather unusual position leaves it completely isolated in the plain, which was nonetheless a useful post for the sighting of enemy troops in the time of the wars against Perugia.  This tower served both as an outpost and as a defense of the mill, known as Molinazzo.  This mill is built on a river bend in the shallower part of the Chiasso River, which once, before the period of land reclamation at the end of the 19th century, lapped up to the feet of the hills of Bettona.  Continuing, take Via Colle on your left, which goes uphill and leads straight onto Via G. Garibaldi.  Then head towards the historic center of Bettona on Via Etrusca.  Along the way on the left it’s possible to admire an Etruscan Tomb.  This large sepulchral chamber was discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century and dates back to the end of the third century. B.C. and the beginning of the second century. A.D.

A short corridor in the open air (dromos) leads to the door, originally consisting of two travertine slabs fitted with hinges, while the two steps which allow access to the sepulchral chamber are still intact.  The entrance is a round-arched with a high arched architrave of irregular profile.  Beyond this you enter a single room whose roof consists of a barrel vault made with regular stone blocks arranged in rows in the direction of the depth of the tomb, to form a perfect semicircle. The tomb is made of square sandstone (7.86 x 4.25 m), and along the side walls and the back wall there are four stepped platforms for the deposition of the cinerary urns and the burial artifacts of the dead.  For safety reasons, only a few fragments of the urns and lids are left inside the actual tomb.  These objects  are found scattered on the platforms, while the recovered burial artifacts are kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Perugia, and at the town museum of Bettona.
 
To get to the center of Bettona, continue on via Montelino, along an uphill dirt road among olive trees at the left side of a stone house, arriving at a point where you skirt the ancient walls of the village which brings you to the central square- Piazza Cavour.  In order to return to Torgiano, start from the same Piazza Cavour. (Near the departure you’ll find the store, Bettona Outdoor, an e-bike / bike rental and workshop, which also organizes bike and trekking excursions.)  From Piazza Cavour, take the central roads Corso Marconi and Via XX Settembre in the direction of Porta Romana to exit the Etrusc


Where to stay
Discover the best facilities and offers to stay of I Borghi delle Due Valli