Yesterday we went to Norcia, the birthplace of Benedict and Scholastica. Norcia is delightful. Situated in Umbria, it gives the feel of a town, loved and lived in. If there is one place I would recommend for anyone wanting to experience the best of Italy in a short time it is here. There are other things to do in Norcia besides visiting religious sites – hang-gliding, rafting, climbing, walking and cooking classes. It is the one of the few completely walled town left in Italy. After Rome the first things that strikes is its cleanliness. The people take a pride in the place. At one stage, a group of us walking along tired to find a piece of rubbish – to no avail.
While Norcia is in a valley, the trip up winds through step valleys, with mountains rearing over one’s head. For kilometres along and sometimes a hundred meters above, the rock face is sheeted with wire mesh to hold back falling rocks and then in some places there are a horizontal barriers. One also goes through a number of tunnels. For Benedict in the 6th century going to Rome to study must have been a major trip.
The town on the way emerge out of the rock. This picture from Sant’Eutizio, 15 kms form Norcia, gives you an idea of how building emerge out of the rock.
One morphs into another. This monastery was delightful – with one monk, an American, who is pastor of the parish. This parish has been formed from 17 ‘parishes’. Each of these parish groups is very small and if they don’t have Eucharist in their church, they don’t go as they have no tradition of travelling to church on Sundays. He spread thin.
I forgot to mention the other pastime in Norcia – buying boar meat! These delicatessens are everywhere. One can only presume that they cater mainly to visitor or the Norcians have the highest cholesterol levels in the world.
The other big draw in truffles – a local truffle collector. 
We had pranzo – lunch with the local Benedictine nuns who produce a simple but wonderful meal. Pasta perfect. Their cook has been to the cooking classes. These nuns run a guest house to earn their living. We say one of the rooms this time. Simple but clean and comfortable. They are currently renovating an old Franciscan monastery to extend the guest area. It has been neglected since Napoleon expelled the friars in 1810. The nun had no idea of how old it was. The time our at St Scholastica’s was special. This site was probably the family villa 3 kms out of town and tradition has that Scholastica with other women, lived a monastic life here before she moved to Monte Cassino to be nearer Benedict later in life. There are beautiful frescoes in this old neglected church but it is the atmosphere of the area that is the most enchanting. Open skies, a view across to the valley. There is a sense of lightness and quiet in the area – and I can well imagine someone shifting here to rest in God and in nature.
While Norcia is in a valley, the trip up winds through step valleys, with mountains rearing over one’s head. For kilometres along and sometimes a hundred meters above, the rock face is sheeted with wire mesh to hold back falling rocks and then in some places there are a horizontal barriers. One also goes through a number of tunnels. For Benedict in the 6th century going to Rome to study must have been a major trip.
The town on the way emerge out of the rock. This picture from Sant’Eutizio, 15 kms form Norcia, gives you an idea of how building emerge out of the rock.
One morphs into another. This monastery was delightful – with one monk, an American, who is pastor of the parish. This parish has been formed from 17 ‘parishes’. Each of these parish groups is very small and if they don’t have Eucharist in their church, they don’t go as they have no tradition of travelling to church on Sundays. He spread thin.I forgot to mention the other pastime in Norcia – buying boar meat! These delicatessens are everywhere. One can only presume that they cater mainly to visitor or the Norcians have the highest cholesterol levels in the world.
The other big draw in truffles – a local truffle collector. We had pranzo – lunch with the local Benedictine nuns who produce a simple but wonderful meal. Pasta perfect. Their cook has been to the cooking classes. These nuns run a guest house to earn their living. We say one of the rooms this time. Simple but clean and comfortable. They are currently renovating an old Franciscan monastery to extend the guest area. It has been neglected since Napoleon expelled the friars in 1810. The nun had no idea of how old it was. The time our at St Scholastica’s was special. This site was probably the family villa 3 kms out of town and tradition has that Scholastica with other women, lived a monastic life here before she moved to Monte Cassino to be nearer Benedict later in life. There are beautiful frescoes in this old neglected church but it is the atmosphere of the area that is the most enchanting. Open skies, a view across to the valley. There is a sense of lightness and quiet in the area – and I can well imagine someone shifting here to rest in God and in nature.
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