| Description: |
The area surrounding the village is a typical location of prehistoric archaeological finds, probably because of its abundance of waters, located as it is just near the source of the river Nera and the industrial premises for the bottling of its mineral waters.
The name of the small town and that of its patron saint, San Michele Arcangelo, along with those of other nearby places, seem to suggest a probable Lombard original derivation of the site, but, as other scholars believe, the town may have received its name later in history as well. What is certain is that in the Middle Age it depended on the Castle of Norcia, until 1255, when, along with Norcia, it was included among the “Guaite” of Visso. It was not until 1522 that Castelsantangelo got rid once and for all of Norcia’s ´protectorship´, when a combined force of its soldiers and those of Visso defeated the Umbrian town in the battle of Pian Perduto. Very well preserved are the walls and the XV century urban layout.
The small town is particularly known for its cattle and sheep farming, whose production includes some of the most typical products of the ‘alto maceratese’ area: from the local sheep´s milk cheese named ‘pecorino vissano’, to the local kind of pork salami called ‘ciabuscolo’, but also mushrooms, black truffle, pearl barley and lentils. A further speciality is certainly the renowned trout of the river Nera.
The town also provides some remarkable fully-equipped sports centres: from tennis courts to bowl lanes, from ski-lifts at Monte Prata to cross-country skiing routes on the high plains of Pian Perduto.
Text by Fabio Santilli
Translation by Gianfranco Martorano |