History & Heritage

The sacred valley

The Nera valley was, for a thousand years, a corridor of the contemplative life – dukes’ abbeys, cliff hermitages and the places Saint Francis actually walked. Three of them make a quiet circuit you can do in a day, and none of them draws a coach crowd.

Facts checked: July 2026. This is the reflective day we point guests to when the falls and the rafting are done – a valley of abbeys and hermitages, most of them nearly empty.

San Pietro in Valle — the duke’s abbey

The great one. The Abbey of San Pietro in Valle stands on the wooded slope above Ferentillo, founded in the 8th century by Faroald II, Duke of Spoleto – who, tradition says, saw Saint Peter in a vision, built the monastery on the site associated with the hermits Lazarus and John, then gave up his dukedom to become a monk there (history; umbriatourism.it).

Inside are three things worth the trip: a Lombard-era carved main altar signed “Ursus magester fecit” – Master Ursus made it – datable to when Ilderico was Duke of Spoleto (739-742); a cycle of Romanesque frescoes of about 1150, painted before Pietro Cavallini and held to be among the most significant of their moment in central Italy; and four reused 2nd-century Roman sarcophagi, one carved with Cupid and Psyche. The monastic buildings are now a private hotel; the church is the part to see. Our full visit guide, with how to get in →.

Greccio — where the Christmas crib was invented

Just over the ridge, in the Rieti valley, the sanctuary of Greccio is where Saint Francis staged the first living nativity in 1223 – the origin of every Christmas crib since. It sits about an hour from us, and pairs naturally with Labro and Lake Piediluco on the same side of the mountains. Francis moved through this whole borderland; the meadows above Stroncone were part of his route between Terni and Greccio.

The hermitages between

The valley is dotted with smaller sacred sites – cliff hermitages and mountain churches such as the Romita di Cesi on the flank of Monte Torre Maggiore, reached on the same walk as the pre-Roman temple. That hike → We’ll only add specific hermitages here as we visit and photograph them properly – the house rule.

A contemplative day

San Pietro in Valle in the morning light; up over the hills to Greccio for the Franciscan story; back down the Valnerina in the late afternoon. Quiet, cool in summer under the trees, and almost entirely un-touristed.

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