Bel Poggiolo Storygarden - Spoleto - Umbria - Vacation Villa with Swimming Pool

Exploration Guide
Spoleto and immediate vicinity - South-east

San Pietro in Valle

Extract from the Exploration Guide of Bel Poggiolo

3.6) and farther afield to south-east (into the black valley ..... )
The VALNERINA or NERA VALLEY (Black valley). Most of the routes up and down this valley take you into a remote and dramatic medieval world. At the centre of the narrow valley runs the cold, dark Nera (Black) river and the odd quaint village of stone, while on either side of the valley are the steep sides of thickly wooded mountains, dotted with abbeys, monasteries and fortresses. There are some beautiful walks along this valley but you have to be prepared to climb.
- From Poggiolo you can reach the Nera valley either (a) by driving into Spoleto and then from Spoleto north up the Via Flaminia, through the tunnel under Spoleto and right at the first major turning right (after about 3 km. and after the "Monini" factory) there is a traffic light and sign to "Norcia". This new road will take you through a tunnel that crosses through the first range of mountains straight into the Nera Valley. (b) by driving from San Brizio to San Giacomo and then turning right (south) onto the Via Flaminia and then about 2 km. down to the traffic light and turning left towards "Norcia". Then you are on the same road and tunnel as mentioned in option (1)
- Once you get onto the Nera Valley from Spoleto you have three options:

3.6 (i) North-east towards wonderful NORCIA and CASTELLUCCIO(see above) . Also to PRECI and SANT' EUTIZIO but I have not explored Preci yet. Since 13th century Preci used to be celebrated for its school of medicine, its surgeons, and its manufacture of surgical instruments. From 15th to 18th centuries its surgeons used to travel around Europe, operating monarchs and notables. Even Elizabeth I, was operated upon by Cesare Scacchi in 1588, for cataract. Some palazzi, still standing in Preci, testify to its former prosperity. The ABBEY OF SANT'EUTIZIO, was founded in 5th century AD by another of those Syrian monks (see Monteluco and San Pietro in Valle) and hugs the thickly wooded mountainside

3.6 (ii) South-east: through the deserted looking SANT' ANATOLIA DI NARCO, but one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas in central Italy. In the necropolis of Naharci, remains (now in the Archaeological Museum of Florence) were found dating 8th century BC. Then on to Monteleone da Spoleto through some dramatic mountain scenery and remote hamlets. At MONTELEONE DA SPOLETO, also semi- deserted but very ancient with more "recent" fortresses and palazzi suggesting better times. But this place is famous for its two-horse parade chariot (biga) with bronze relief scenes from the life of Achilles which is now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This is a terstimony of the high level of culture attained by the ancient Umbri, one of the oldest peoples of the Italian Peninsula (see also Gubbio and Monteluco)

3.6 (iii) South-west towards Terni: this is the one I know best and possibly the most interesting route. First you drive through "Scheggino", with medieval walls which in 1522 (it was still Middle Ages in Scheggino in 1522) protected it from attack by Picozzo, one of the most notorious brigands of the day. At Scheggino you will find one of the biggest traders in the world of the prized truffles (black and white). They are called "Urbani". They have a show room and shop there. For some reason I have never been able to pass there during shop hours. You might be more fortunate. Don't miss the opprtunity of bringing some truffles or truffle oil back home with you as condiment for some exotic gourmet dinner.

Then you reach SAN PIETRO IN VALLE, which I think is the highlight of this trip. It holds an outstanding position up among the woods of Monte Solenne (Solemn Mount), with a winding road that rises up from the valley road. And it has unique cultural importance. And a unique story. It was founded by the "barbarian" Longobard or Lombard (see above under history of the region) Duke of Spoleto, Faroaldo II, on the site occupied by John and Lazarus, two of the Syrian monks who came over in VI century (see Monteluco above). Supposedly the German Faroaldo was "touched" either by contacts with the Syrian hermit Lazarus or by a dream of St. Peter, sent to him by Lazarus, after Faroaldo had been deposed by his son in 720 AD. Faroaldo built the abbey and retired there as a Benedictine monk, until his death. He is buried in a sarcophagus in the right transept. In the left transept there is the altar of St. John and Lazarus, rather like the churches in the Holy Land, where pilgrims circum-ambulate, receiving the breath of the saints from one fissure at one end and giving thanks through the other fissure at the other end. The circum-ambulation begins at a lower level and ends one step up, symbolising the resulting elevation. After Faroaldo, the abbey took the spoils of the cruel Trasamond II, who had deposed him and who also, eventually, became monk. So, also for the next duke in line, Hildericus Dagileopa.
The abbey was nearly destroyed by the Saracen Arabs (oh, what a melting pot of peoples !) who attacked Italy from North Africa in the late ninth century. The present structure dates from the 10th century AD.
The cultural uniqueness of this place lies in the fact that upon the foundations of a Roman pagan temple was built a "barbarian" church - with a touch of "holy land" - which became the mausoleum of the Longobard dukes and which also inspired one of the first cycles of humanistic art (attention and characterization of man) in Italy, before the Renaissance. In the 12th century cycle of frescoes, by an unknown artist, represented one of the first (about 100 years before Cimabue !), best and most important breaks with the rigidity of Byzantine art (see the chapter on Christian and Byzantine art in "Somnium Petre") and initiated the freer Umbrian tradition of painting which included Cimabue and Giotto's work in the upper church in the basilica of St. Francis at Assisi (see Assisi above). (for example see (i) Adam surrounded by animals in the "Naming of the Beasts" and (ii) the individualised (unlike Byzantine art) members of Noah's Ark, before the flood and (iii) Christ washing the feet of the apostles. Other unique features of this church:
See the barrel vault in front of the central apse is the only kind found in Italy (although abundant in France and Germany)
See the base of a pagan altar 100BC stands in the right corner, inside the entrance of the church.
Once again we see how the position of sacred buildings remain unaltered irrespective of creed and religion. Certain locations of this earth seem to inspire devotion to the most high. See the Longobard sculptures and reliefs, set in the outer walls and on the high altar. The altar bears the extraordinary signed portrait of the artist "Ursus Magester (Master Bear)". And the beautiful and primitive 9th century statues of St. Peter and Paul (on the outside of the door from the cloister).These works and decorations are quite rare since the Longobards left few independent testimonies in architecture and art that stood out from cultures before or after. The sarchphagi of the Dukes are decorated with classical reliefs depicting mythological scenes such as Eros and Psyche, Pan etc.
- Just inside the entrance of the Abbey you may see the little wooden stand with books and postcards. That is the stand of Teresa Nardini, a little middle-aged lady, who is caretaker of the Abbey church. She is never far off. She has been here, from 9,30 to six PM for the last 52 years. She guides you with controlled devotion and her large, soft brown eyes fill with tears whenever she gets a sympathetic listener. Her father and grandfather were caretakers before her, since 1917.
- I asked Teresa who her employer was and she answered nobody. Her grandfather had handed down this role, by vocation. Her family have simply extracted (literally) this sacred place out of oblivion. Her grandfather found the pieces of the Roman temple and of the Longobard carvings among the cattle who used to take shelter there. He used to walk up here working the fields to clean out the dung, to wash the marble shards strewn about and to fix the roof. Eventually the family enlisted public support for its present excellent conservation. Nobody asked them to do it. Nobody pays them to do it. The Nardinis are barely even tolerated by the authorities: by the Church and the Beni Culturali. The brochure has been partly financed by their own limited private earnings. The Abbey now belongs to the parish of Spoleto and the priest asked Teresa when she was going to go away. "I will go away when the Lord my God will call me." Teresa answered. Nobody so much as tries to dislodge her. Who is Teresa Nardini and what is this strange family, so devoted to the conservation of this sacred place ? She says very simply that her family and herself are in this world to be of service: to the wayfarer who wants to understand; to the preservation of such a place. In the cavity of the pagan column at the entrance of the church she has made a container for donations. With the proceeds she buys large candles for "anima mundi" (for the soul of the world and the souls of the world). She keeps one candle burning day and night upon the altar of St. John and Lazarus. It is like a perpetual sacred fire, which she, the Vestal of Mount Solenne, watches over.
- last but not least the small HOTEL and RESTAURANT, which both conserve the atmosphere of the place. The restaurant has an interesting menu, which makes use of the herbs and vegetables of the abbey orchard and environment. (Rest and hotel of San Pietro in Valle: tel. 0744-780.129)
Then you come down to the mountain town of FERENTILLO, set on either side of the valley. Here is a walled town, beautifully preserved and so evocative of the Middle Ages (8th century). On the "Precetto" side of the valley, inside the church of Santo Stefano: mummies preserved by local soil conditions. Finally just before you reach the town of Terni: