The home of St. Benedict, patron saint of Europe
Norcia is the heart that regulates a mountainous area that is incredibly dynamic and interesting.
The city actually connects the wetland areas with the Santa Scolastica Plain and, from here, stretches out towards the ridge of the Sibylline Mountains, towards the peak of Mt. Vettore (2476 m.) and the village of Castelluccio (1453 m.), the highest in the Apennine Mountains.
The Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque appearance of Norcia was completely destroyed by two earthquakes in the eighteenth century.
Today the city has an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century flavour: low houses, many of which with annexed vegetable gardens and lawns, and small squares with fountains are set inside a tangled network of roads and alleyways.
The main square is worthy of note since virtually all of the city’s important monuments are found here, such as the Basilica of St. Benedict, built in honour of the patron saint of Europe born here in the fifth century; the Municipal Hall, the Castellina fortified residence, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Argentea.
Not far from the square, the churches of San Francesco, San Agostino, and the collegiate church of San Giovanni outline the city’s monumental itinerary.
Norcia is a true food-lovers paradise. Sausages, black truffles, cheeses and lentils provide the foundation for this savoury and wholesome cuisine based mostly on the meat curing tradition.