Norcia

At around 600 meters above sea level, the town is situated in the most mountainous and picturesque area of Umbria, in a varied landscape, among  dark ravines and sunny plateaus, beech tree woods and red cornelians, streams and brooks, pastures full of sheep, near the border of the Marche, in the area of Monti Sibillini Park. It's actually a highly regarded vacation spot, being in an area that offers multiple possibilities: from excursions and trips on foot, by horse, or by mule, to the nearby school of paragliding/hanggliding, to extreme sports such as rafting and canyoning along the course of the Sordo and Corno Rivers, free climbing and spelunking in the karstic caves and in the ravines that characterize the internal area of the Valnerina, and finally the exploration of the gastronomic characteristics of the area, where are, in fact, in the territory of the most famous salami, black truffle, cheese, and lentils.
Norcia has very old origins, while it seems that the first settlements in the area date back to the Neolithic Age, already in the 5th - 6th centuries B.C. there existed Nursia, which was the northernmost settlement of the Sabini, even the first official news regarding it is from 205 B.C. A Roman Municipium, it was converted to Christianity around the beginning of the third century.
After the period of devastating barbaric invasions, it became a thriving center in the communal era, even though it was often damaged by earthquakes: because of this, in general, the walls have a characteristic shoe form that makes them more resistant, and the fact that the buildings inside the walls could not go above 12.50 meters was for seismic reasons.
It is the birth place of San Benedetto and his sister Santa Scholastica. The first, a very important saint, was the founder of the Benedictine order and brilliant initiator of the network of Abbeys that, in the troubled years of the Middle Ages, created the cornerstones of culture and civilization in all of Europe.
The most attractive space of the city is, without a doubt, the central Piazza San Benedetto that looks onto the Castellina, the church of San Benedetto, Palazzo Comunale (Communal Palace), the ex-Palazzo Vescovile (Bishop's Palace), and the Duomo.
The Castellina, rock base cut quadrilateral with angular towers, is the work of Vignola and was constructed around the middle of the 1500's on the area where the Church of Santa Maria Argentea was destroyed by an earthquake in 1328. Actually, the first floor is home to the Civic-Diocesan Museum.
In front is Palazzo Comunale, product of various interventions from different times: the elegant Renaissance façade is preceded by a 19th century porch and next to it is a clock tower which is accessed by a staircase decorated by two lions from the beginning of the 18th century. Together it is harmonious and very pretty. To the right of the Palazzo is the beautiful Church of San Benedetto, of very old origin, erected, according to tradition, on the area of the house of the parents of Santo. In the crypt underneath, the oldest part of the church, was recently laid out an interesting museum course that takes you to see where they say that San Benedetto, his twin sister, Scholastica, and their scholarly friends had meetings. The church has been renovated more than once, the actual Gothic façade with beautiful portal and rose window, is that of the reconstruction of 1389, from which many edges of the walls and base of the bell tower remain, the inside was renovated in the 1700's and was definitively set in the 20th century. Inside there are different frescoes and noteworthy paintings, in the apse a large wooden choir from the 1500's.
Another interesting monument, at the corner between Via Umberto and Vicolo del Tempietto, is a kiosk, commonly called “Tempietto”, a little, very elegant  building from the 1300's, 6 meters high, a square layout, with two rounded arches open on both of the two streets, the rounding of the arches is decorated with beautiful bas-reliefs.