Norcia, Italy, is a charming town in the high
country of Umbria,
Italy that is probably most famous in
modern times for its pork products. Norcia was always
well-known for hunting, especially for wild boar, and its
production of sausages, capocollo, salumi and hams made from wild boar and
domestic swine has given a word to the Italian language - norcineria
- a pork butcher's shop. Other important ingredients of local cuisine
are the black
truffle,
available November to March, and the lentils
of Castelluccio di Norcia. Pork sausages, black truffles,
cheese and the lentils are the basic ingredients of Norcia's
authentic and savoury local cuisine. Be sure to try a plate
of sausages and lentils while you're there.
Click
here for vacation accommodation in and near
Norcia.
A norcineria in
Norcia
Norcia is well worth a visit for additional reasons. Its
mountain air and broad streets make for a pleasurable
excursion. Norcia is surrounded by the Sybilline mountains
but the ancient centre of Norcia is almost flat, which is relatively unusual among the towns of
Umbria, and
is completely enclosed by a full circuit of walls that has survived intact from the
14 C. This makes Norcia, which is quite small, an easy and
relaxing town for a stroll around
the main sights.
Panoramic view of
Norcia and the Sybilline Mountains
Norcia - some history
Although neolithic artifacts have been excavated in the
vicinity of Norcia, the town's established history begins with settlement by the Sabines in the
5 C BC. Norcia allied itself with Rome in 205 BC, during the Second Punic War, when it was known in Latin as
Nursia, but the earliest extant Roman ruins date from around the 1st
century AD. Norcia was the birthplace of Quintus Sertorius, the
Roman general and Republican hero, in 72 BC, and Vespasia Polla,
the mother of the Emperor Vespasian.
Saint Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine monastic
order, and his twin sister, Saint Scholastica, were born in
Norcia in 480. In the following century, Norcia was conquered by the
Lombards and became part of the Duchy of
Spoleto. In the 9 C, it suffered from Saracen attacks, which started a period of
deep decline. By the 11 C, Norcia was part of the domain of Saint Henry, Holy Roman
Emperor, and in the 12 C Norcia became an independent
municipality within the Papal Territories, with an increasing political and economical
importance. However, the vicinity of the powerful Spoleto and the 1324 earthquake thwarted the city's ambitions, and in 1354 it returned definitively under the Papal authority.
It is now a municipality in the Region of Umbria.
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