Norcia

Saint Benedict, founder of Western monasticism, was born here around 480, and Norcia's name lives on in Italian as norcineria, the craft of pork and wild boar sausages and hams. The walled town lies on a wide plain at about 600 metres against the Monti Sibillini, a base for hiking. Earthquakes have marked it repeatedly: the 2016 quake brought down the Basilica of San Benedetto.

Highlights

• Norcineria: cured hams and sausages of pork and wild boar (IT)
• Palazzo Comunale, keeping the reliquary of Saint Benedict
• The flowering of the Castelluccio plain in late spring
• Festa dei Fauni on 9 December, with juniper bonfires in the countryside
• The cycle path along the former Spoleto–Norcia railway (IT)

Summary based on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.