Corciano

[5] The immediate neighborhood was populated by Etruscans, whose presence was dramatically signaled by the discovery in 1812 of bronze panels from a parade chariot, at Castel San Mariano di Corciano.

Like virtually all early walled villages, the Corcianesi were under the control of the bishop, in this case the bishop of Perugia, whose rights to the castrum de Corciano were confirmed by Pope Innocent II in 1136; Corciano appears in a list of castelli belonging to Perugia, 1258.

A visit by Francis of Assisi is commemorated, after his canonisation, in a church dedicated to him, which retains traces of its fourteenth and fifteenth-century frescoes.

The triple walls and strategic site of Corciano made it a desirable stronghold in the constant warfare of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: in 1364 the little town was sacked by the Compania Bianca in the service of Cardinal Albornoz; in 1416 the condottiero Braccio Fortebraccio of Montone laid siege to Corciano, which resisted successfully but capitulated to him when he returned for a second attempt.

The present Palazzo Municipale is the former seat of the signori of Corciano, the dukes of the noble family of Perugia, the Della Corgna, who constructed it in the sixteenth century as their rule over the formerly free commune was consolidated.