IN the Umbrian capital of Perugia, smart-suited accountants emerge from Gothic doorways. Young executives drop by Madonna della Luce for a lunchtime prayer. A design studio occupies a vaulted undercroft, Max Mara a Renaissance palazzo. The captivating fusion of ancient and modern is what makes Umbria, and Perugia in particular, such an attractive place to live. Yes, Monte Castello di Vibio may feel a little over-neat, the shops in Assisi too touristy (although pilgrims have been buying St Francis souvenirs for 800 years), yet there’s nothing precious about the way life continues among
the medieval fabric, nothing jarring about the escalators stitched into steep slopes alongside worn stone steps. The juxtaposition is encapsulated in Perugia’s Via dei Priori, which cuts down from one of the great Gothic town halls
