Façade of the ancient Templar church of San Bevignate in Perugia, stone building with rose window and Romanesque portal.
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The Church of San Bevignate

Mysteries and secrets of a Templar complex

The austere and majestic Church of San Bevignate stands just outside Perugia, near the city’s monumental cemetery. It conceals enigmas and secrets from its very dedication, being devoted to a saint who is not truly a saint: the hermit Bevignate, whose very existence remains a matter of debate. The church is also closely linked to one of the most prestigious, mysterious and much-discussed chivalric orders to emerge in the Holy Land after the First Crusade: the Knights Templar.

An ancient laundry, a hermitage, a pontiff, a Templar knight, a civic institution and a penitential brotherhood: the complex history of San Bevignate

In 1238, a Templar community had already settled in the Perugian territory at San Giustino d’Arna, thanks to the good offices of Bonvicino of Assisi, a Templar knight and cubicularius (a sort of secretary of state) to Pope Gregory IX. Between 1234 and 1235, the pontiff stayed in Perugia, fostering the development of fruitful relations between the municipal authorities and the papal court, where Bonvicino played an influential role.

At that time, the city of Perugia was undergoing a phase of strong expansion, and the newly empowered popular class felt the need to legitimise itself through its own church and its own saint, choosing the mysterious Bevignate — never canonised and undocumented. Thus, in the mid-13th century, the Church of San Bevignate was built, later joined by a monastic complex.

The chosen area lay near Porta Sant’Angelo, just outside the city walls, rich in woods and springs and marked by intense hermitic activity. The site also coincides with the remains of an ancient Roman fullonica (a textile workshop) dating back to the 3rd century BC. Among the hermits frequenting this kind of “Thebaid” was Raniero Fasani, a layman from Perugia who in 1260 founded the penitential movement of the Flagellants, which later spread throughout Europe.

In 1312, after falling into conflict with King Philip IV of France, the Templar Order was suppressed by Pope Clement V. The Perugian complex passed to the Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Rhodes, later to the nuns of Saint John, and subsequently to various confraternities. In 1860 it became state property and was entrusted to the Municipality of Perugia. Since 2009, it has served as a Municipal Museum.

A timeless and undisputed charm

From the outside, the church appears plain and austere, in keeping with many buildings erected by the Templars in Palestine.

The interior consists of a single nave divided into two bays by clustered pillars supporting ribbed cross vaults. The weight of the vaults is counterbalanced by powerful external buttresses, giving the building the appearance of a fortress.

The apse is square in shape and was built above the crypt that once housed the tomb of Saint Bevignate; for this reason, it is raised above the nave. It still preserves its original flooring made of local white and pink stone and is preceded by a fine triumphal arch.

Medieval fresco depicting Saint Jerome removing a thorn from a lion’s paw.

Medieval fresco depicting Saint Jerome and a lion

Medieval fresco inside the Church of San Bevignate in Perugia, depicting a sacred figure and Templar cross

Fresco inside the Church of San Bevignate in Perugia

Medieval helmet and chainmail resting on stone paving, with sword and leather belt

Templar armour

The church contains frescoes of extraordinary iconographic and stylistic importance, likely executed in two decorative phases. The first phase, dated between 1260 and 1270, includes the cycles of the apse, nave and counter-façade.

On the left wall of the apse, a fragmentary painting depicts the Last Supper, Mary Magdalene clothed by her own hair, Saints Stephen and Lawrence, and at the centre the solemn figure of Christ Blessing. In the lower register appear the heavily damaged scenes of the Resurrection at the end of time.

The central wall is a true palimpsest of frescoes of different styles: in the upper section above the mullioned window are crosses and Christological symbols; a Madonna enthroned with Child among angels on the upper left; unidentified saints on the upper right; the four creatures of the Tetramorph symbolising the Evangelists around the window; a Crucifixion in the centre; and, in the lower register, scenes from the life of San Bevignate on both sides.

On the right wall of the apse, the upper register depicts the Last Judgement, while the lower register preserves an exceptional iconographic testimony: a Procession of Flagellants, almost contemporary with the foundation of the penitential movement in 1260. Local tradition identifies the bearded young man leading the procession as Raniero Fasani himself.

The nave walls are lined with an extensive decoration of painted false ashlar blocks, a feature typical of Templar buildings. In the triumphal arch and upper nave registers, this scheme is enriched with geometric and vegetal motifs whose meaning is unknown.

The decorative programme is completed by the extraordinary frescoes of the counter-façade, which celebrate the glory of the Templar Order through a sequence of scenes, now partially lost: a battle between Christian and Islamic knights; Templars portrayed in prayer at the windows of a fortified structure (at the centre stands a man removing a thorn from a lion’s paw, identified as Saint Jerome on the basis of an episode from his Life). Historical sources also attest the presence of a chapel dedicated to the saint in this area. Another fragmentary fresco depicts a ship sailing on a stormy sea teeming with large fish.

A later decorative intervention (dating to around 1280), of notably higher artistic quality, includes the series of Apostles holding large crosses within roundels along the nave and counter-façade. The presence of the crosses suggests a re-consecration of the church, while the refined style points to the hand of a master from beyond the Alps.

The visit to the church of San Bevignate is completed by descending beneath the church floor, where the remarkable remains of the 3rd-century BC Roman fullonica can still be seen.

A fascinating and mysterious complex — a visit not to be missed.

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