Happy Birthday, Uni!

Seven hundred year birthdays are not uncommon in Italy, but yesterday was a special one for Perugia. The University of Perugia celebrated, with great pomp, its founding on September 8th, 1308. The University, the fifth-oldest in Italy, was originally chartered by the Pope but had as one of its lectors none other than Galileo Galilei. The festivities yesterday were in Perugia’s main square, where flagspeople in medieval garb and speeches in Latin (then translated into Italian) added to the mood. A number of Umbra students, in the piazza mostly by chance after their afternoon Italian lessons, looked on with their Italian counterparts and of course the Perugians. The Umbra Institute wishes a happy birthday to its Italian counterpart here in Perugia, and hopes to continue its tradition of cooperation and exchange. Buon compleanno, Uni!!!