Norcia Attractions

From Spoleto there is an attractive drive to Ascoli Piceno. The road passes through beautiful upland country, much of it forest-covered and comes in 49km/30mi to Norcia (604m/1,993ft; pop. 5,000), the Roman Nursia a little walled town below the west side of the Monti Sibillini which was the birthplace of St Benedict and his sister Scholastica. In the main square are the Town Hall, the 14th century church of San Benedetto, built over the remains of the house in which St Benedict was born, and the Prefecture, in a castellated 16th century building, the Castellina (beautiful courtyard). The road continues east from Norcia, climbs up to the crest of the ridge, coming in 19km/12mi to the Forca Canapine (1,543m/5,092ft), a pass on the boundary between Umbria and the Marche, with magnificent views of the Gran Sasso d'Italia to the southeast and the Monti Sibillini to the northeast.