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Relais San Clemente

Relais San Clemente is a place full of history and it's located in the Perugia countryside, ten minutes by car from the city center and twenty minutes by train.

 
Relais San Clemente

History

The origins

The origins of the Relais San Clemente date back to its Church and were established as a result of a Papal bull from Pope Gregory VI in 1045 who called it "Ripa fluminis positam cum omnibus earum pertinentis et adiacentis" (located by the edge of the Tevere river with all its lands and buildings). The Catalogue of Churches published by Mariotti shows that there was a Church devoted to San Clemente ("Ecclesia Santi Clementis justa Tiberim") on the site known as Passo dell'Acqua. There was an important visitor in that period: the German Emperor Henry III who came to Italy in 1046 after being invited by Roman aristocracy to settle the dispute between Silvester III, Gregory VI and Benedict IX for the Papal throne. He deposed the three of them in the synods of Sutri and Rome and then he selected a Pope that he trusted, the German Bishop Suidger from Bamberg. As soon as he was elected as Clemente II, he crowned Henry III Emperor.

The Middle Ages

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In the Middle Ages a Benedictine Monastery was built around the Church. The monks arranged for the upkeep of the Church of San Clemente and the cultivation of the surrounding lands in accordance with the Benedictine motto "Pray and Work". Historical sources also indicate that on the initiative of the Monastery of San Pietro in Perugia a wooden bridge was built over the Tevere to connect the isolated location with the nearby places.

The 15th century

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The 15th century was very turbulent in the Perugia area and in Passo dell'Acqua in particular and we unfortunately have no historical records on the following period until the beginning of 1700. Nevertheless it is known that in this period Perugia was under the Church domination.

From 18th to 20th century

In 1727 the entire complex was acquired by a nobleman, the Count Cesari who upgraded the buildings and made over the interiors creating a luxurious villa. The Church of San Clemente became its private chapel. The noble family Cesari transformed the original romanesque structure into a baroque style church and built the amazing exedra in the park just in front of a thermal spring. This elegant facilty, once completely decorated with frescoes, was used by noble people to get sunshine and to shelter from the wind. 

In 1875 the entire property was acquired by Francesco Simonetti and his wife Stella Luporini who made it their family house. Along with their children they expanded the agricultural output and renewed the villa.

Our days

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Giovanni Simonetti, the sole heir, founded in 1915 in San Clemente one of the first tomato companies in Italy while his wife Jolanda took great care of the park and the cultivation of the mulberry-trees for silk production. The Hotel room of her name was used during the winter to give shelter from frost to the lemon trees.  In 1985 one of the nephew heirs of the estate had the brilliant idea of transforming the villa and the surrounding buildings into a relais which was called San Clemente and was open in 1990.

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