FOLIGNO, a town and episcopal see of Umbria, Italy (anc. Fulginiae, q.v.), 771 ft. above sea-level, province of Perugia, from which it is 25 m. S.E. by rail. Pop. (town), 37,993 (commune). It lies in a fertile plain, on the Topino, a tributary of the Tiber ; it is almost square in shape and is sur rounded by walls. Several churches contain paintings by Umbrian masters, notably works by Nicole di Liberatore (or Nicole Alun no) (1430-1502), a native of the place, and among them his chief work, a large altar-piece (the predella of which is in the Louvre) in S. Nicole. The cathedral has a Romanesque south facade of 1133. In the same piazza as the south facade is the Palazzo Trinci, erected in 1395-1407, which has a chapel with frescoes by Otta viano Nelli of Gubbio (1424). The Trinci also erected the fine castle of S. Eraclio, 2 M. S. of Foligno. Raphael's "Madonna di Foligno," now in the Vatican, was originally painted for the church of S. Anna. The Palazzo Orfini and the Palazzo Deli are two good Renaissance buildings. The abbey of Sassovivo, with its fine Romanesque cloisters (1229) lies 2 M. to the E.
Foligno changed hands often during the 13th century, and was destroyed by Perugia in 1281. From 1305 to 1439 it was governed by the Trinci family as deputies of the Holy See, until owing to the defection of one of them, Corrado II., Pope Eugene IV. sent a force against Foligno, to which the inhabitants opened their gates, and Corrado was beheaded. Until 186o Foligno belonged to the states of the church. It suffered from a severe earthquake in 1832. Foligno is a station on the main line from Rome (via Orte) to Ancona, and is the junction for Perugia. Wool, flannel and felt are among the manufactures.
Paper is said to have been made at the village of Pale, 3 m. N.E. of Foligno, as early as at Fabriano (q.v.). The first edition of the Divina Commedia was printed here in 1472.
See M. Faloci Pulignani, Foligno (Bergamo, Arti Grafiche, 19o7).