Nocera Umbra is Umbria’s City of the Waters, a charming little medieval town perched on a hilltop, about two hours by car or train from Rome.
A hilltop town famous for its natural spring waters
Nocera Umbra’s location, set amidst mountains, hills and valleys that have an abundance of natural springs, favoured human settlements since prehistoric times. During the Renaissance news of the therapeutic virtues of Nocera’s waters began to spread. Although, as far back as ancient times, Nocera's water was appreciated and known for its purity, freshness and medicinal effects, both in Italy and throughout Europe. There are many springs, but the most important for their historical importance and commercial exploitation are the Angelica, the Flaminia and the Cacciatore.
St. Francis took the waters of Nocera Umbra
This part of Umbria has strong ties to St. Francis and the many legends that surround his life. La Romita is an area near the Angelica spring waters with remains of an apse in the hermitage that hosted Saint Francis in the summer of 1226. The saint was seriously ill and had come here for the waters of Nocera so the citizens of Assisi, made aware of his stay, sent a delegation of knights who carried the saint back to die in Assisi which was his hometown.
An annual festival on horseback
On the way the townspeople of Assisi way stopped at the village of Satriano, and every year on 31 August and 1 September horses and riders from all over Umbria and its neighbouring regions participate in the festivities for the Cavalieri di Satriano, or Ride of the Chevaliers of Satriano. Departing Assisi, they travel along old mountain roads and shady paths through woods to Nocera Umbra where they present a parchment to the mayor who reciprocates with a similar parchment for the mayor or Assisi. In recent years the colourful procession has counted over a hundred horses and riders.
Nocera Umbra’s Palio dei Quartieri
Every summer Umbria’s City of the Waters’s two districts take part in the traditional Palio against a backdrop of processions in costume and medieval banquets. The highlight is the uphill race along the town’s narrow cobblestone streets, with the athletes competing first in sprinting and speed. For the final endurance test they race for the finishing line carrying one of their teammates on a heavy wooden sedan chair on their shoulders.
The bijoux Cottoni theatre and a local pastry delicacy
