Valfabbrica

Challenges among knights and peaceful paths. Spectacular frontal clashes, still fought today in the background of mighty twentieth-century walls during the Palio, and itineraries immersed in a secluded nature, where St. Francis often used to stay in the company of monks.

A small centre of medieval origin, developed on the slopes of the Monte della Croce, on the bank of the river Chiascio. A crossroads of pilgrimages and paths of faith, but also of naturalistic and cultural itineraries that follow the footsteps of monks and travellers who once travelled along the path connecting Assisi with Gubbio, now part of the famous Via Francigena.

The ancient abbey is documented in the year 820, but the village's history began around the middle of the 12th century when walls and towers were erected, whose traces are preserved in some parts of the present-day old town. The clashes for the possession of the territory between the nearby cities of Assisi, Gubbio and Perugia mark the chronicles.

The old town grows along the ancient medieval castle, called Pedicino, which still retains the imposing tower and the walls from 1200, restructured at the end of the 1600’s. Inside we find architectural quality and treasures such as the church of St. Sebastian, then an oratory, preserving baroque altars and seventeenth-century canvases (such as the Sacra Famiglia by Benedetto Bandiera and Un’Immacolata trai Santi done by the Martelli School). Outside the walls, we find the church Madonna di Foce, built between 1634 and 1636, with its façade decorated with a large terracotta rosette and inside a Madonna with Child and Angels placed above the altar. At Casa Castalda, between the valley of Chiascio and the valley of Rasina, stands the Giomici castle with its particular "diamond" shape.

The itineraries in the valley include modern buildings, such as the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta, and places such as the ancient religious temples immersed in the greenery, including the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria Assunta, famous for the only fresco of the Cimabue school present in Umbria and other artistic treasures dated from the 1300’s.

There are many walks to enjoy in the rolling hillsides, between the nearby hamlets of Coccorano, Colle Mincio, Giomici, Monte Verde and Poggio Morico, in search of art and spirituality, but also of nature and gastronomic specialties. Valfabbrica's talented men are said to be able to prepare at least ten specialties of spaghetti, all exhibited during the August festival, while in July the famous seafood fish festival is held by fishermen from the Adriatic.