Monteleone di Spoleto

Monteleone di Spoleto is on the world's archaeology maps for one specific find: the Monteleone Chariot — a complete 6th-c-BC Etruscan bronze parade chariot (biga) found in 1902 by a local farmer ploughing a field at the Colle del Capitano, sold by his family to French dealers for the equivalent of 950 lire, transferred to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1903 and now one of the centerpieces of the Met's Greek and Roman galleries (Gallery 170, the largest single bronze object in the Met's collection). The chariot is the most complete pre-Roman parade chariot anywhere — full bronze paneling depicting Achilles' birth, his combat with Memnon, and his apotheosis. Monteleone has been trying to repatriate it since 1990 (multiple legal proceedings, all unsuccessful — the Met's title is now considered definitive), and instead opened the Museo della Civiltà del Carro in 2002 with a full-scale replica + the original context of the find.

Beyond the chariot: Monteleone is a 555-resident Borghi più belli d'Italia inscribed borgo at 978m altitude on a hilltop in the upper Nera valley (the upper extension of the Valnerina, the Umbria/Lazio/Marche convergence), with the Rocca dei Brancaleoni medieval castle (12th-c origin, much-rebuilt) anchoring the high point, the Chiesa di San Francesco (13th-c with later restorations + a 16th-c Renaissance carved wooden ceiling), and the Convento di San Francesco. The town is also a stop on the Cammino di San Benedetto pilgrim walk (the 350-km route from Norcia, St Benedict's birthplace 30 km north, to Subiaco then Montecassino). The Norcia/Cascia earthquake of 2016 damaged several buildings; the Rocca + Chiesa di San Francesco have been restored, but reconstruction continues.

Surroundings: the Sibillini Mountains National Park east, the Cascia–Norcia route (St Benedict's birthplace + St Rita's home town) to the north, the Lago di Piediluco 30 km south. The food is Valnerina-Umbrian: strangozzi with truffle, lentils from neighbouring Castelluccio di Norcia, prosciutto + Norcineria meats, pecorino, the local Sagrantino di Montefalco from 60 km west. Like all upper-Valnerina villages, depopulation is heavy — 1,800 in 1951, 555 today.