Campi di Norcia
To be visited
Localita: Campi di Norcia
The ancient town of Campi, called Campi Basso (or improperly, Nuovo), stood on the plain, near the church of San Salvatore, on a site still today called Civita.
The site returned numerous excavated objects, reported in the 17th sec., including coins, fistulae aquariae, mosaics, bricks, etc.
With the decline of the Roman Empire, the settlement in the valley floor, no longer safe, was abandoned by the inhabitants who moved to the hill above, settling in the castle of Campi Alto or Vecchio.
Following the influences exerted first by the monks and then by the Lombards, the castle followed the events of the municipality of Norcia.
Campi rises in a particularly active seismic area: after the terrible earthquake of 1703, it suffered other seismic events of considerable magnitude in 1730, 1859, 1979. It came out with little damage from the 1997 earthquake but was unfortunate-ly partially destroyed by the 2016 one.
Campi Alto still retains the typical appearance of a hillside Castle with a triangular planimetric scheme: the perimeter walls have collapsed, but the entrance arch and the tower still remain.
The settlement, located on a very steep slope, is characterized by the arrangement of the buildings on a series of concentric terraces delimited by parallel streets, which follow the original topographic profile, connected by short radial ramps.
At the top of the triangle, the battered tower still stands, while the old Church of the Madonna delle Grazie (also known as "Madonna della Neve") which rose next to it has collapsed. The church, subject to looting and various renovations in the past, is now completely destroyed; Mass was celebrated there in honor of the Madonna delle Grazie on the first Sunday of August. Equally semi-destroyed is the magnifi-cent Church of Sant'Andrea; even worse fate has suffered the delightful Church of Santa Maria di Piazza, completely collapsed.
Outside the walls, but still pertaining to Campi alto, there were other churches: the Church of San Biagio, whose crucifix (Crocefisso di Petrus) is kept in the Diocesan Museum of Spoleto; the Church of the Madonna del Condotto, now reduced to a ruin; the Church of the Madonna del Cerqueto, also known as “la Cona”; the Church of Santa Croce Nuova.
The situation of Campi Basso is also disastrous: its most famous monument, the Pieve di San Salvatore, has completely collapsed. The same fate befell the Church of San Lorenzo and the Church of Santa Lucia.
The Church of Sant'Antonio, now almost completely collapsed, is located downhill from Campi, at the crossroads of the old road that led to Visso and which climbs up to the upper part of the castle.
One of the few sacred buildings that has somehow remained standing, albeit se-riously damaged, is the Hermitage of the Madonna di Santa Croce, dating back to the 15th century, entirely built in stone with a small church attached. On the altar was placed a wooden statue 65 cm high and 40 wide, which gave its name to the church. The statue has always been greatly venerated by the Campiana communi-ty, so much so that a festival is celebrated in its honor here every first Sunday of September.
