Assisi to Nocera Scalo

Took a good trek the other day, from Assisi to Nocera Scalo and back. The latter town is a quiet hamlet with a train stop, but there's plenty of good hiking in between. Started out via Porta Perlici around 6:30 a.m.

It was a fine morning, cool and brisk, good walking weather.

After about three miles on a country road, it was time to turn off on an unmarked gravel one.

From this point on, my route switched back and forth between maintained or unmaintained trails, gravel roads and old dirt roads, some moves necessitated by recent rains. Certain parts of the trails were sure to be very muddy, while other parts just looked like this.

After a couple of hours, the clear day allowed for a good distant view back at Assisi, in the far center of the picture.

Passed through the hamlet of Satriano, and soon came to the tiny church of San Leonardo. The original church has a history going back to the Fourteenth Century.

Here's the inside.

A view of a pond, with Subasio in the distance.

Opted to walk a long stretch of road over trying to navigate a trail mud swamp, and finally the ruins of Rocca di Postignano came into sight. This fortress dates back to the Tenth Century, when it was inhabited by Lombard nobles.

Here's a closer view of the top of the fortress.

And remains of some of the structures below.

Terrific views from the Rocca (guess a wisely built fortress would offer distant views of any potential visitors), looking back toward Subasio.

From Rocca di Postignano, it was a combination of road and muddy trail trekking down to the hamlet of Villa di Postignano.

Stopped in at the small church there, where Sunday Mass was just ending, with a congregation of perhaps 20 persons.

From there, Nocera Scalo was a downhill stroll. Arrived there about five hours after setting out. Looked about for a bit. A nice river flows through town.

There was a small shrine on the main road.

What also caught my eye (and ear), was a loudly barking dog on a roof. 

Not sure if Nocera Scalo dogs in general spend much time on their roofs, but what also was interesting, particularly in late March, was the presence of a nativity scene.

Time to head back to Assisi. Roundtrip the walk was about twenty-five miles, under eleven hours, with, of course, many more great views on the return.

Ciao.