Bevagna

Mevania) an ancient town of Umbria, on the Topino (anc. Tinia) river and on the Via Flaminia, 13 kilometres (8 miles) W.S.W. of Forum Flaminii, and 8 km (5 mi) W. of Fulginium (Foligno), 210 metres (689 ft) above sea-level.

There are remains of a temple near the north gate, of a theatre built into the modern houses, and very scanty remains of an amphitheatre at some distance from the modern town. The original walls, which have disappeared, were, according to Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxv. 173), built of unbaked bricks. The town now has a complete circuit of medieval stone walls that are said to be very near, if not identical with, the Roman walls.

In 310 BC the consul Fabius broke the Umbrian forces here; but otherwise it is not mentioned until the 1st century A.D. In 69 the army of Vitellius awaited here the advance of Vespasian.

Pastures near the Tinia river and the white oxen of the Clitumnus (modern. Clitunno) River are mentioned by Propertius, whose family was from the area (from Assisium, Silius Italicus, Lucan and Statius.

The town was a municipium.

Bevagna today is a pleasant base for visiting central Umbria, and has a dozen medieval churches; among them the two most important are both Romanesque: S. Michele Arcangelo and S. Silvestro; other notable churches include S. Agostino and S. Nicolo (also known as the church of the Bl. Donato of Bevagna).