San Giacomo


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San Giacomo, Umbria

San Giacomo, in Umbria, is one of those Italian villages which you find by mistake - nothing to point you towards it, no mention in guides.
Once you get there, though, you know you are in a unique place. A block of houses is enclosed in a high wall and an opening in the wall lets you know it was once a defensive building.

San Giacomo, Umbria

According to the locals, the fortified village was built by he Church in the 13th century, to protect the poor villagers. Castles were, usually, built by the local potentate for himself, his troops and, long last, the villagers.
Strange place, with restoration work still underway in some buildings, after the 1997 earthquake. Other buildings have just fallen in disrepair, abandoned for decades.