Preci
Province of Perugia – I.A.T Tourist Information Tel 0743-71401 Town Hall tel. 0743-93781
USEFUL FACTS
Population: 757 (Preciani); 82.10 sq km area, height above sea level 596 m, distance from Perugia 92 Km; Tel. Dial/Area Code 0743; Zip/Postal Code 06047; Train Station (FS in Spoleto) to 93 km; Motorways/Highways (see City of Norcia).
Hamlets: Castelvecchio, Saccovescio, Corone, Roccanolfi, Montaglioni, Poggio di Croce, Montebufo, Piedivalle, Todiano, Abeto, Belforte, Collazzoni, Collescille, Acquaro, Valle, Civitelle, Fiano di Abeto, Casali di Belforte.
HISTORY
Located on the left side of the small Castoriana Valley in Valnerina, we find Preci already mentioned in the Books of Dialogorum from 594 A.D., written by St. Gregory, for the presence of numerous pre-Benedictine hermitages. In 1232, we find Preci mentioned in archival documents and probably the first settlement was built near a Benedictine Chapel which almost certainly took the name: “Preces”, meaning, prayer. In the second half of the thirteenth century, the village and the castle was built, and in 1276, became part of the territory of the Municipality of Norcia. In the thirteenth century, also came to life the Preciano territory, an institution that over the centuries will add luster to the town: the Surgical School of Preci, that deserves a historical parenthesis. With the Lateran Council of 1215, it was decided that the monks would not have to work closely in surgical practices (as they had done up to that point). The monks of the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio, near Preci, humanitarianly aware of the importance of the surgical training, not to squander the wealth acquired until then, began to teach the residents of the nearby Preci this important skill. Many Preciani were quick learners in surgical training, becoming, in just a few decades, experts, especially in the removal of cataracts, of inguinal hernias and removal of gallbladder stones with the help of new surgical tools invented by them. Their presence became coveted in the major Italian hospitals as well as other foreign cities also requesting their expertise by the European courts such as the Austrian Court. There, in 1696, worked the doctor Caterino Carocci, the Englishman, where Caesar Sacchi operated on the daughters of Charles VIII, and the Archduke of Austria, where he operated Arcangelo Mesurati. Doctors who deserve an honorable mention: Orazio Cattani, doctor of Sultan Mehemed (1620); Francesco Scacchi, who performed a cataract operation on Queen Elizabeth of England and his brother, Durante Scacchi, chief physician of Pope Sisto V. Closed this medical parenthesis in history, and now turning back to the historical overview, of Preci, brings us to the various events related to the power struggles between the Papal State and the powerful noble age. In 1527, Preci was besieged by the troops of the “Legato della Marca”, the Cardinal Francesco Armellini, for having housed Rodolfo Varabi and Beatrice Colonna, within its walls, were both excommunicated. In 1528, rebelling against the City of Norcia, was destroyed by them, and supporters of the rebellion, with their families, relegated to Castelluccio. In 1533 it was rebuilt by Pope Paul III, after he had agreed to be subjected to Norcia rule and in 1817 by the will of Pope Pius VII was made a Municipality, a title it held also in 1860, when it joined the Kingdom of Italy.
HISTORICAL FIGURES
In Preci the doctor Durante Scacchi (1540); the doctor Antonio Benevoli (1685-1758); the painter Simone Procacci (seventeenth century), and the director Lino Procacci (1922-2012).
WHAT TO SEE
A characteristic medieval village developed in the thirteenth century around the castle, the town’s outside appearance still characterized by the sixteenth-century castle walls. Within these walls, the town expands crossed by a dense network of narrow streets that converge to the main square and the Church of Santa Maria from the thirteenth century. Built by monks of the nearby Abbey of Sant'Eutizio, the church is characterized by a facade with two portals, one Romanesque from the 1300’s (on the front) and a Gothic portal from the 1400’s (on the left). The interior has a nave with side chapels, which house a sculpture of the fifteenth century depicting the "Pieta", a work by an artist from Abruzzo, a baptismal fountain from 1521, in the wall adjacent to the fountain, the frescos of the local school, a seventeenth-century painting by Antonio Carocci (local artist) and an urn for relics made and painted in 1545 by Gaspare Angelucci from Nevale. Nearby, behind the Town Hall, there are the remains of the church of Saint Caterina appreciated for the beautiful Gothic portal from the fourteenth century, with inscriptions in Gothic characters, and the small bell tower with lions. Near the village of Preci, located on the valley road, instead there is the Church of Our Lady of Peschiera, built in the seventeenth century.
WHAT TO SEE NEARBY
The district is characterized by a series of villages surrounded by an unspoiled natural habitat that, in the Middle Ages, with their fortified structures was a perfect strategic-military network, and of churches, shrines and “maestà”, expressions of popular devotion. Our tour can start by visiting the beautiful and ancient Abbey of Sant'Eutizio. Founded by Syrian monks (Desert Fathers) in the fifth century, it was the cradle of Western monasticism. Since St. Benedict of Nursia often went to these monks who were his spiritual fathers. The abbey was built, therefore, in this place where he erected a chapel to the Virgin Mary, later expanded and the complex was restored in 1236. The exterior is characterized by the original facade, designed by Master Pedro, with a beautiful Romanesque portal and a rose window closed by the symbols of the Evangelists. The interior has a nave with a raised sanctuary and the crypt divided by two columns, and it houses a precious little temple carved in 1514 by Rocco di Tommaso da Vicenza, where there are the remains of Sant'Eutizio. There is also a wooden choir of the sixteenth century, works of local artist Antonio Seneca, and a carved stone from the VIII century belonging to the primitive church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Very impressive caves from the fifth century, where once lived the hermits are here in Preci. The natural and historical path branches off from here (thanks to the intervention of Legambiente, a “save the environment agency”) that takes you to Norcia, within the enchanting scenery of the Castoriana Valley. Continuing to Mount Corona we come to the hamlet of Castelvecchio. In the church of St. John the Baptist, there is a painting dating back to 1589, attributed to Antonio Carocci and a wooden statue by St. Anne of the XV century. In the hamlet of Saccovescio, a stone from the first century B.C. built at the headquarters of Commonality. In the Oblita Roccanolfi Valley, there is a village of Lombard origin still well preserved, with an imposing square tower. The hamlet of Montaglioni which was the most important castle of the Oblita Valley and which still retains parts of its walls and a restored gate installed in 1474, (as reported by an epigraph). In the hamlet of Poggio di Croce, the Sant'Egidio Church, with frescos from the fifteenth century, and the Church of the Annunciation which houses a painting on wood from 1385 by the Florentine artist Giovanni del Biondo. At 1016 meters above sea level, the hamlet of Montebufo, there is the church of St. Leonard from the fifteenth century, that guards the interior with two aisles of valuable works of art including: a fresco of "Madonna and Child" from the sixteenth century by Antonio Sparapane and a stone altar. In the hamlet of Todiano, there is an ancient castle from the 1200’s, where in the church of San Bartolomeo, there is a painting by Filippino Lippi. In the hamlet of Abeto, there’s an ancient castle from the tenth century, and a painting can be admired in the San Martino Church, the "Madonna della Neve" from the fifteenth century, by Neri of Bicci, whereas in Saint Trinity Church, there is a polyptych by the Tuscan School. Finally in the hamlet of Belforte, with its important and almost inaccessible Castle, the ruins are still in existence to testify to its power. Near Belforte, San Lazzaro di Balloncello is worthy of a visit, where in 1218, an entrusted leper colony was established, and from the beginning, took care of the first diseased Franciscans. It was said that St. Francis himself several times gave aid to the sick while visiting those who were hospitalized here. As for the natural beauty remember that Preci is located in the Nera Valley (la Valnerina) and within the National Park of Monti Sibillini.
ECONOMY
Predominantly agricultural with sheep farms. Collection of natural products such as mushrooms and truffles, and there are companies that are producers of organic farming (spelt, lentils, etc.)., Companies that process meats (luncheon meats), fish plants, dairies and mills. The craftsmanship is distinguished by its exquisite woodwork. A good tourist industry thanks to the incomparable beauty of the area and the substantial value of its historical, artistic and cultural heritage.