A Way through the Woods: the San Eutizio path
ATG trips: Unknown Umbria (Journeys), Flowers of the Monti Sibillini (Discovering),
Unknown Umbria & Spoleto (Footloose)
In May 2001 Lord Leon Brittan opened the first project to be completed by the ATG Trust: the restoration of the woodland track that runs between the town of Norcia and the Benedictine Abbey of Sant’Eutizio in Umbria.
The path dates back to the days of St Benedict, founding father of Western monasticism, and has been walked for centuries by monks, merchants, soldiers and shepherds. But by the end of the twentieth century the path had fallen into disuse; in places it was so eroded and overgrown that it could no longer be followed.
In 1999 the ATG Trust, supported by the local council and the National Park, went to work on the path. Two years later the entire stretch between the town and the monastery – some 13 kilometres - had been cleared, waymarked, stabilised and replanted to prevent erosion. The path can now be enjoyed by travellers and by local people.
The completion of our first project has given back to this area a part of its landscape and its history. And it has provided an important stimulus to eco-tourism in a comparatively poor rural region of Italy.
Project completed 2001
