Not far from the town of Preci, on a rocky white limestone outcrop that looks out over the Castoriana valley, stands one of the oldest monastic complexes in Italy.

The origins of the Abbey date back to the 5^th – 6^th century, a period when the Apennine valleys become the refuge of monks from the East who retreated to the local rocky climbs to dedicate themselves to a life of poverty, contemplation and asceticism. Initially small communities made up of a few individuals living in meagre huts, they laid the foundations for the birth of the Benedictine rule ‘ora et labora’ (pray and work).

In his ‘Dialogorum’, Saint Gregory the Great tells the story of the venerable St. Spes, a Syrian monk who, having arrived in Italy in the 5^th century, founded a small oratory dedicated to the Virgin Mary near a rich water source that still irrigates the surrounding land. The monk led the monastic community for about forty years until his death in 510. At that point, one of his most devoted and virtuous disciples was entrusted to continue his late master’s work. Sant’Eutizio moved to the small oratory, carving into the rock (today surmounted by the bell tower) the cell he used as a retreat for prayer, together with his companion St. Fiorenzo, also a disciple of St. Spes.

After the death of Sant’Eutizio in 536, a monastery was built in his memory as champion of the development and expansion of the small community. Dedicating themselves to agriculture, breeding, harnessing the woods’ resources and the spiritual guidance of the area’s inhabitants, the monks secured considerable donations, increased their economic and political influence in the valley and became highly educated. They established the renowned Scuola Chirurgica (Surgical School), suppressed in 1215 by a decree of the Lateran Council which prohibited the monks from exercising their profession.

Fearing that the expertise they had acquired over centuries would be lost, the monks readily shared their knowledge with the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, thereby preserving the surgical know-how.

In 1180 some restoration and extension work was carried out, cited in an inscription found on the entrance portal’s lunette. The works began under abbot Theodino I and ended in 1236 under Theodino II. Over subsequent centuries, the monastery fell into a state of neglect, was taken over by the Municipality of Norcia from the 14^th to the 15^th centuries and was occupied for some time by the Benedictines until a brief revival in the 17^th century when, at the behest of Abbot Crescenzi, the beautiful bell tower was built, perched above the rocky outcrop housing the cell of the Saints Eutizio and Fiorenzo.

In 1950, the Abbey was completely abandoned and restored only a few decades later, at the end of the twentieth century, thanks to the commitment of the young parish priest Don Fabrizio Proietti, who was granted permission to settle there and who offered hospitality in exchange for help to restore the abandoned complex.

Today the abbey still hosts a small community of monks but is open to pilgrims and devotees who want to pray in a very special place. The small Romanesque-style church has a beautiful circular rose window with symbols of the four evangelists on each side. Inside and below the presbytery, there is a crypt with an urn containing the remains of Saint Eutizio, while the upper floor of the Abbey houses the Museo della Scuola Chirurgica (Surgical School Museum) and is definitely worth a visit.

On the slopes of Monte Morricone, at more than 900 metres above sea level, stands the tiny village of Collescille – now inhabited by only three families –, also referred to in ancient documents as ‘Toccalomò’.

As it was the highest inhabited point in the whole valley and strategically well-positioned between Preci and Visso, Collescille carried out the important function of surveillance over the surrounding area from ancient times onwards. For this reason, it was even equipped with a tower – the Torre di Collescille – built on a square plan and made of blocks of stone and located in a crowning position in the village.

The aim of the tower was not to protect the village but rather the nearby Abbey of Sant’Eutizio, which for years was the most important economic, political and cultural hub in the entire Castoriana valley.

In 1259, the Abbot Theodino II donated the village of Collescille to Norcia, while at the same time divesting the Abbey of Sant’Eutizio of its temporal power. The tower and the village thereby lost their function and were gradually abandoned.

Located in the neighbourhood of Scacchi, a short distance from Preci’s central piazza, the Chiesa di Santa Caterina is perhaps the oldest in the village. Unfortunately, repeated renovations have almost completely changed its structure compared to the original. The Romanesque entrance portal is still intact, though, with a round arch decorated on both sides by small columns surmounted by lions, with bases and capitals decorated with floral motifs. There are numerous Gothic symbols on the architrave, certainly added in the 14^th century with an interesting mixture of the two architectural styles.

The small bell tower – now without a bell – stands on the left side of the facade and was also added during the 14^th century architectural alterations. It is decorated with columns with lions at the base, perhaps recycled from a previous building.

The church houses a beautiful baroque-style altar, flanked by a very damaged 16^th century fresco. In the middle you can just about make out the church’s namesake, St. Caterina, and some barely legible written fragments.

Today the ancient religious building houses the Museo della Scuola Chirurgica di Preci (Museum of the Surgical School of Preci).

In the main square in the centre of Preci, not far from the Palazzo Comunale, stands the Church of Santa Maria della Pietà, also referred to as Pieve (Parish Church) due to the presence of a 16^th-century baptismal font. The church was built in Romanesque style in the 13^th century by the monks of the Abbey of Sant’Eutizio. It has two entrance portals: one is very sober and dates back to 1300, with a pointed arch and capitals in Gothic style, while the other entrance is on the left side, dates back to the following century (1400), and is decorated with numerous coats of arms on the wall. In ancient times this wall was joined via a portico, now no longer visible, to the nearby Casa della Comunità, thereby creating a space for municipal meetings. The bell tower that stands above the structure, with its large decorative clock, displays 18^th-century architectural elements. The inside of the church has a simple stone floor and a single aisle embellished with chapels containing canvas and panel paintings as well as eight decorative altars. Don’t miss the ‘lipsanoteca’ (reliquary containing sacred relics) created by Angelucci and the canvas depicting the Holy Trinity painted in the 17^th century by the local artist, Carocci. An earthquake in 1997 caused considerable damage to the structure, but incredibly, restoration work uncovered the remains of some 14^th and 15^th-century frescoes attributed generically to local artists referred to as ‘from the Valnerina’.

To the right of the Church stands an impressive War Memorial, built by the village in modern times in honour of the local fallen of the two World Wars.

A few kilometres from the town of Preci, on the right side of the Castle of Belforte, there’s a small valley – crossed by a narrow stream and the lovely ‘Lu Cuniuntu’ waterfalls – called Valloncello which extends to join with the wider and better-known Valle della Nera.

In ancient times, this atmospheric and isolated spot was a source of sulphurous waters that have since dried up following the area’s numerous earthquakes. Rich in medicinal plants such as gentian, centaurea and male fern, it is not far from the famous ‘scuola chirurgica preciana’ (Preci Surgical School). The peaceful and pleasant valley was chosen as the ideal place for the building of the lebbrosario di San Lazzaro (San Lazzaro leprosy hospital).

Tradition has it that it was St. Francis himself who went to the area to found the small church and hospital and often visited the sick there. According to documentary evidence, on 24^th September 1218, the vast area was handed over to the monk Bono, rector of the nearby Benedictine church of S. Cataldo (now long gone) by a wealthy local feudal lord Razzardo di Roccapazza. Powerfully influenced by the preaching of Saint Francis, the gentleman conceded the vast piece of land for the building of a church and a hospital for lepers, reserving for himself merely the right to graze his cattle.

From then on, numerous patients and families were taken care of in this hospital, some remains still existing today in the inhabited centre of the village of San Lazzaro in Valloncello.

The leprosy hospital was only officially abolished in 1490, via a decree by Pope Innocent VIII, who thanked God for the by-then drastic reduction in leprosy cases.

The structure had a complex history, passing under the jurisdiction of various religious orders, from the monks of Sant’Eutizio in 1218 to the minor friars and to the order of the saints Maurizio and Lazzaro in 1572. In modern times, ownership passed to the Sorbello family in the mid-19^th century, who then sold it to the Betti Massi family of Belforte and Poggio di Croce, who turned it into a residential building for farming purposes.

In the centre of the Guaita valley, a short distance from Collescille, stands the small Hermitage of San Fiorenzo at about 1100 metres above sea level, tucked away in the maple and hornbeam woods.

In his ‘Dialogorum’ manuscript, Gregory the Great tells the story of a young monk who devoted himself to the ascetic and contemplative life for many years in the company of the better-known Sant’Eutizio.

After the death of their spiritual father, St. Spes in the 5^th century, Eutizio was called down into the valley to take over from the late master and he asked Fiorenzo to look after and pray in the sacred place they had shared for so long. Fiorenzo remained faithful to his promise, it seems, and continued living inside the meagre cells carved into the rock face, which can still be seen a short distance from the hermitage. It was only after the death of his beloved companion around 536, that Fiorenzo decided to leave the valley and follow another ascetic, St. Vincenzo, who lived outside the walls of Foligno, where he remained until his death in the mid-6^th century.

The place was abandoned to the memory of the hermit-saint until the 10^th century when a small hermitage with a chapel dedicated to San Fiorenzo was finally built next to the cells.

In modern times, this sacred but almost forgotten place has been brought back to life by another monk, a Pole called Taddeo (Tadeusz), who has chosen to follow in the footsteps of St. Fiorenzo and lives in absolute poverty in the small hermitage. He is committed to restoring the few abandoned rooms by providing hospitality to the many visitors who want to visit the place and meet him.

The small village of Belforte once stood at about 600 metres above sea level, in the upper Valnerina area, on the western side of the river Nera. A short distance from the famous Lebbrosario di San Lazzaro (Leprosy hospital), which is still well-conserved and open for visits, this little village is now reduced to ruins even if it retains some of its original features: the contours of the fortified village perched on the slope of the hill are, in fact, still visible.

Most of the buildings were damaged by the area’s numerous earthquakes, with the last and most destructive striking in 1997. The aftershocks also destroyed the little church of San Cristoforo and the adjoining sacristy.

In the countryside of Valnerina, not far from the Abbazia di Sant’Eutizio and the hermitage called Eremo di San Fiorenzo, stands the small Cappella di San Macario. Tradition has it that St. Macario was dedicated to the ascetic life and met the other two hermits who lived in the same area only once a week, on a Sunday.

The three celebrated the Eucharist together and shared a small meal before spending the whole day accompanying each other to their respective hermitages. The very simple little chapel is made of bricks and has a rectangular floor plan and a sloping roof. Its entrance is protected by a metal gate and inside there is a small altar decorated with a painting of the area’s three hermit-saints.

The festival of San Macario is celebrated in the hamlet of Preci on 2^nd May.