During our stay in Spoleto, we made an easy day trip to the gastronomically famous town of Norcia, and the nearby Sibillini Mountains National Park (Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini). Norcia is famous for its pork products, truffles, lentils from nearby Castelluccio, and chocolates.
Norcia was 44 km (27 miles) east of Spoleto. The drive took about an hour and was very easy. We arrived there about 1240. We took the SS3 about 5-6 km north from Spoleto and then took the SS685/SR209 (same road with two names) all the way to Norcia. The road was a good, 2-lane road that went through wooded valleys, small villages, etc. Just after we got onto the SS685/SR209, we went through a tunnel that was about 4 km long.
Norcia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norcia) is a town of about 4,700 people and is about 2,000 feet above sea level. It was conquered by the Romans in 290 BC. They called it Nursia. It was the birthplace of St. Benedict (founder of the Benedictines and patron saint of Europe) and his twin sister Saint Scolastica. They were born there in 480 AD. The main basilica in town is dedicated to St. Benedict.
The old center of Norcia is flat, which is unusual for Italian towns, and it is surrounded by 14th Century walls. It has suffered many earthquakes, including several that were devastating.
It is famous for its butchers, pork products, and lentils. In fact, butchers from Norcia are so well known for their skills throughout Italy, that one word for a “butcher” is a “Norcino” (man from Norcia). One story that accounts for the skill of the butchers is that the butchers learned their “surgical skill” from a well-known medical school in Norcia. Another is that the medical school learned from the butchers.
Many people emigrated from Norcia to the U.S. in the 19th Century.
We parked our car in a pay parking space just outside the walls and next to the Roman Gate (Porta Romana) through the old walls of the town. I went to a parking machine and paid €2 for 4 hours parking. The machine printed out a receipt, and I put it on the dashboard so it would be visible through the windshield.
The Roman Gate was massive and appeared to be at least 35 feet high. Toward the top were the words, “Vetusta Nursia” (Ancient Norcia).
The Roman Gate
We walked through the gate and down the corso Sertorio. There were a number of very nice food shops along this street. One of them was Moscatelli Tartufi (Moscatelli Truffles - http://www.moscatellitartufi.com/) It was full of truffles, hams, sausages, lentils, etc. One size jar of black truffles was the 50 gram size (1.76 ounces). It was selling for €45. The clerk working in the store said that the prosciutto (hams) hanging in the store were aged for at least 2 years before they were sold. On our way back to our car when we left town, I stopped back in this store and bought a bag of Castelluccio lentils for €6.50. These lentils, from the town of Castelluccio up in the nearby mountains, are perhaps the most famous in Italy. I have not been able to find them in the U.S.
Moscatelli Tartufi
Hams, Cheeses, & Wild Boar in Moscatelli Tartufi
One of the food stores displayed a box of “Cojoni di Mulo” (Mule Balls). They are not the real thing, but rather a type of salami that has the shape of the real thing. They are sold in pairs.
We walked into the small Piazza Vittorio Veneto, where there was a nice produce stand, a theater, and a memorial to fallen soldiers. Above the buildings at the rear of the piazza was a beautiful view of mountains rising up over the town.
Granaro del Monte
We started with Le Norcinerie, an antipasto of seven different types of cold cuts including regular prosciutto, wild boar prosciutto, and various salamis. There were also a couple of pieces of cheese. There was a fresh fig in the center of the dish. This wonderful platter cost €7.50. I had chosen this dish to taste some of Norcia’s justifiably famous pork products.
Linda had grilled sausages (Salsiccie alla Griglia) for €7.90 and rosemary potatoes (Patate al Rosmarino) for €3.50.
I had mixed mushrooms, including porcini, with garlic and parsley (Funghi Trifolati) for €3.80 and sausage and Castelluccio lentils (Salsiccie e Lenticchie di Castelluccio) for €9.90. I had chosen this dish because it combined local pork sausage with the famous Castelluccio lentils.
Our wine was a bottle of red 2007 Scacciadiavoli from Montefalco, made from Sagrantino grapes, for €14. It was very nice. “Scacciadiavoli” means, “Chase devils.”
We also had the usual bottle of mineral water.
The total cost of this wonderful meal for Linda and me was €53.70.
After lunch, we continued walking down the corso Sertorio to the Piazza San Benedetto (Piazza St. Benedict).
Among the buildings around the piazza, were the 13th Century Basilica of St. Benedict and the town hall. According to one account, St. Benedict and his twin sister were born in a house that once stood on the spot where the basilica was built. Attached to the basilica is a Benedictine monastery.
Looking up a street between the basilica and the town hall, one can see a mountain rising up over the town.
Basilica of St. Benedict
On another side of the piazza is the Castellina, a fortress built in the 16th century for the papal governors.
To the left of the Castellina is the town’s cathedral, St. Maria Argentea. Between the Castellina and the cathedral, one can see another of the mountains surrounding the town.
In the center of the piazza is a large statue of St. Benedict.
We walked out of the piazza onto via Giuseppe Mazzini and immediately came to a well-known chocolate shop, Cioccolateria Vetusta Nursia di Verucci. Above the store was an English-Language sign that stated, “We produced and we sell the bestest chocolate of the world.” We enjoyed browsing around and chatting with the two ladies working in the shop, however, didn’t purchase anything because we did not want to carry chocolates with us.
Cioccolateria Vetusta Nursia
After leaving the chocolate shop, we returned to our car via the piazza and the corso Sertorio.
Our next objective was to drive up into the Sibillini Mountains National Park (http://www.sibillini.net/en/index.html ). I had read about the park in Michael Tucker’s book, Living in a Foreign Language. I then checked it out on YouTube and elsewhere, and discovered it was as beautiful as Tucker said it was. If fact, it is even prettier in the spring when the Piano Grande, a high plain up in the mountains is carpeted with blooming flowers. This spring flowering is called, “La Fioritura” or “La Fiorita.” To get an idea of the beauty of the Piano Grande and the Fiorita, do a Flickr search on Castelluccio or see the following YouTube videos:
I also had looked at YouTube videos to check out the road to the park. It looked fine, if occasionally a bit narrow.
The distance from Norcia to where we stopped in the park above the Piano Grande was 20 km (12.4 miles). We drove on the SS685/SP476 on the west side of town and then due south about 7 km. Then we turned onto the SP477. From that point, we climbed up into the mountains. The higher up we went, the more spectacular were the views we saw - miles and miles of lush forested mountains and a long valley.
On the Drive up to the Park
During the last half of that drive, we climbed at least 700 meters (about 3,000 feet) in altitude. The drive from Norcia took us about half an hour.
When we came up over the top of the hills, we pulled over to the side of the road and got out to enjoy the spectacular views. Below us was the Piano Grande stretching for miles and surrounded by mountains. Above us was a beautiful blue sky with scattered clouds. On a hill in the distance was the small town of Castelluccio.
Piano Grande
In addition to the beauty of the Piano Grande and the surrounding mountains, we were greeted by a pleasant surprise - a number of horses, a baby mule, and an adult mule were walking nearby. They were very tame and easily approachable. They walked on the road and across the grass, and then continued on their way.
After enjoying the views for a while, we drove back down to Norcia and continued back to Spoleto. Shortly after we started down the road toward Norcia, our GPS lady, whom we had named Carmela, tried to take us back to Spoleto via a different route. I already knew from having studied the map that the GPS route would have been a mistake. Nice try Carmela.
It took us an hour and 25 minutes to get back. We saw carabinieri (police) at four different places along the side of the road between Norcia and Spoleto. We arrived back at the hotel at 1805, after an easy drive.
