The road from Norcia to Castelluccio had reopened only a couple of weeks before, following the big earthquakes in October 2016, although the road was opened temporarily during the spring planting season to allow the farmers in to sow the lentils for which the area is famous.
Norcia Ruined but Still Running!
We had visited Norcia, a famous location for dried meats, in 2014 with friends (in Italian, the term "norcineria" means a store that sells salamis).
The earthquake damage was shocking ....
... especially to the cathedral. Only the front wall remained and it is completely braced at this point. Amazingly, the earthquake happened just before morning Mass and no one was killed....
But Castelluccio Is Uninhabitable!
We drove from Norcia up the windy road to the Gran Piano (great plain) and Castelluccio.
It is now impossible to go up to the town ...
But there was a makeshift restaurant where we had sausage and lentil soup and some stands where we bought some of this year's lentil harvest ...
It was very moving to see people trying to pick up with their lives. And it is a beautiful, mystic landscape (these Sibillini mountains are named for the last of the ancient Sibyls, who was believed to live in a cave here.) We hope to visit again before too long!
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