Norcia

Norcia (Italian: [ˈnɔrtʃa]), traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia ( NUR-see-ə, NUR-sh(ee-)ə), is a town and comune (municipality) in the province of Perugia in southeastern Umbria, Italy. Unlike many ancient towns, it is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a subrange of the Apennines with some of its highest peaks, near the Sordo River, a small stream that eventually flows into the Nera. The town is popularly associated with the Valnerina (the valley of the Nera). It is a member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

The area is known for its air and scenery, and is a base for mountaineering and hiking. It is also widely known for hunting, especially of the wild boar, and for sausages and ham made from wild boar and pork. In Italian, such products have been named after Norcia, and are known as norcineria.

History

Traces of human settlement in Norcia's area date back to the Neolithic Age.

The town's known history begins with settlement by the Sabines in the 5th century BC. After the conquest by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, it was an ally of ancient Rome in 205 BC, during the Second Punic War, when it was known in Latin as Nursia, but the earliest extant Roman ruins date from around the 1st century. The renegade general Quintus Sertorius, who famously fought a guerrilla war in Spain against the Roman government (80–72 BC), was born in Nursia in c. 123 BC. Another famous Nursian of Roman times was Vespasia Polla (born c. 15 BC), the mother of the emperor Vespasian.