Situated at 604 meters above sea level between  Sordo and Torbidone rivers, the town of Norcia,is the largest town of the Nera Valley.

The city's origins go back to ancient times: already during the Punic wars between the Romans and the Phenicians, Norcia was very important as has been recorded by Roman historians.

Norcia

The city's origins go back to ancient times: already during the Punic wars between the Romans and the Phenicians, Norcia was very important as has been recorded by Roman historians. Later, during Roman times, the town gained political importance: first, as prefecture and then as a township. Upset by the Longobards and then by the Goths, it later recovered and became an active town during the Middle Ages. Its storical treasures have been damaged for the major part by the very frequent earthquakes which during the centuries devasted the town. In fact the first recorded earthquake  dates back to the first part of the 6th century. However, due to a very meticulous restoration, the city is now able to show its original structure, with its splendid medieval architecture. As the town of Cascia, Norcia was the birth-place of a great religious personage: St.Benedict who was the first monk of Christian faith and the founder of the Benedictine order. He lived at the end of the 6th century between prayer and the humility of work, as he himself synthetized in his famous words: "Pray and Work".