When do you discover an enchanting place the temptation it’s to keep it hidden. But to live it completely it’s almost impossible and irrational to not talk about it to friends or people you meet in real life and on line. So, I’m unable to not translate even in English my love, appreciation, respect of Castelluccio di Norcia.

You may have heard of Castelluccio lentins. In Italy, lentins are traditionally cook for New Year Eye given their association with money. I’m not here to talk of food. I want to let you discover how beatiful is Castelluccio di Norcia, an enviromental diamont in Umbria in the protected area of Sibillini Mountains. You can reach them just driving a car or taking a bus from Norcia (far almost 30 km, check the timetable and day weeks of bus services). You don’t trust me…

I have evidences.

The ideal period of the year to visit Castelluccio is in June-July during the blossoming of flowers that assist lentin growing. Almost every week, in that time range, flowers’ color change: at the beginning is yellow, then the red of poppies prevail, finally blu offered by cyclamen.

In the valley, called Pianoro, in front of Castelluccio, you can follow the life of cows, sheeps and … horses. It happened to me to have to stop the car in front of a horses herd managed by a dog. It was really a great welcome to my 2nd visit to Castelluccio.

Arriving from Norcia, on the left of the main road (and the only one) you’ll see a tree-drawn of Italy on mountain slope. A tree-drawn? Yes, many pines were used in 1961 (centenary of the Union of Italy) to represent the form of Italy.

In the village, I suggest you to walk around. The church is adorable and rich of poetry. It’s small, elegant, historical, silent and full of stories to tell.

In front of the church there is a square with an amazing view, that can really capture you for hours. I really want to be there again, and again, and forever. It really seems to be the Right way to live inside quite life, silence, nature and contemplation. How it’s diffucult nowadays to take such courageous decision: to live!

As a tourist, I suggest you to walk along of the pathway that starts from Castelluccio. There are for any level of abilities, time, and caprice 🙂 From there you can also reach Pilato Lake. According to legends, the lake is connected with the life of Ponzio Pilato. For one of them, the lake emerged when Pilato decided to refer Jesus Christ to hebrew law, according to others in the lake is hidden to corpse of Pilato, left there after his dead. But even a shorter walk could allow you to discover new perspectives of the magnificent valley.

It conquers easily lovers of botanical life as well as geologists or simple appassionate of both. Indeed, Castelluccio Plateau (in Italian, Pianoro) is the second largest closed carsic catchment in Italy. It reachs 18 kilometers of carsic aread.

You can also stay for one or more nights in one of the B&B there or in the surroundings. If you want to discover the Silence, to listen it arrive after 5-6 p.m., I strongly suggest you to remain there a night. It’s really an amazing and unexpected experience.

Let's meet there :)

A very reliable source of information about Castelluccio di Norcia is a web site made by people of Castelluccio. There legends, curiosities and other staff is collected. For more touristic info, look here. While for some more photos or an Italian post on Castelluccio, please click here.