Old town of Verbicaro

The old town of Verbicaro lies at 428 metres, in a valley enclosed by nearby mountains, with a small part on a rise: that is how Lorenzo Giustiniani described it as early as 1797, also recalling the two streams beside the village and the bridges that had to be maintained. Today you walk it among the marks left by the centuries: the Via Giardino portal, the Vico Vignale, the Old Fountain by the former town hall, the Buonifanti portal, the Clock Tower and Piazza Mons. Francesco Cava. There are seven churches: the mother church of the Assunta, San Giuseppe, the sanctuary of San Francesco di Paola, the Madonna del Carmine, the Madonna della Neve, Santa Maria La Nova and the little church of the Madonna di Loreto. These streets are the stage for the rites that make Verbicaro recognisable: on the night between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday the Battenti, dressed in red, walk around the village three times, and at three in the morning the procession of the Mystery of the Passion sets out; on 1 July the Zigni torchlight procession carries the pines of the Pollino on shoulders to meet the procession of the Madonna delle Grazie, and on 2 July the streets are covered with flower carpets.