What is Vallo di Nera known for?

The town of Spoleto granted permission for the castle to be built; the village layout has barely changed since, with original walls and two gates. Frescoes of 1383 in the apse of Santa Maria Assunta, painted by Cola di Pietro da Camerino and the Giotto school. Religious procession traceable to 1401, still leaves Santa Maria Assunta each year, part of the medieval movement of the Bianchi.

Where is Vallo di Nera?

Vallo di Nera is a comune in the province of Perugia, Umbria region of Italy, about 45 kilometers from Terni.

Umbria · Perugia

Vallo di Nera

Castle village of 345 peoplein the upper Valnerina, granted by Spoleto in 1217 and barely changed since.

45 km / 28 mi

Nearest hub (Terni)

345

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Vallo di Nera sitson a spur of the upper Valnerina, above the Nera river. The town of Spoleto granted the men of Vallo permission to build a castle here in 1217, on the hill where an earlier fortress had stood; the stone houses, the walls and the two symmetrical gates, Portella and Portaranne, have barely changed in eight centuries. Inside, the village climbs in concentric rings to the Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta at the top, built in 1176 and given to the Franciscans in the 13th century, who turned a defensive tower into a bell tower and frescoed the apse with a cycle of the Giotto school dated 1383. The Procession of the Whites, traceable to 1401, still leaves the church each year. The population today is 345, smaller than at any point in the medieval records. Black truffle from the woods above and olive oil from the slopes down to the river are the surviving trades.

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Gallery

6 photos · scroll →

Known for

Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Built 1176, Franciscan from the 13th century, with frescoes of the Giotto school dated 1383 in the apse, by Cola di Pietro da Camerino among others.
Medieval walls
Twelfth-century walls and towers still encircle the village, with two original symmetrical gates, Portella and Portaranne.
Centro storico
Light stone houses leaning against each other on three concentric rings, with embrasures, narrow alleys and stone portals preserved since 1217.
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Romanesque church at the lower end of the centro storico, with a 15th-century fresco of the Madonna and Child.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months for Vallo di Nera. The Valnerina is green, the Nera river runs cold, and the trails up to Sellano or down to Scheggino are walkable. July and August push the valley into the mid-thirties; the stone houses hold their cool but most of the 345 residents close shutters between two and six. November is the start of black truffle season in the woods above town. December through March is quiet and damp. The single trattoria runs on shorter hours, the Franciscan church holds its temperature year-round, and Vallo di Nera in winter fog rising up from the river is the photograph most photographers come back for.