Bouncing back: A sustainable success story in San Ginesio, Italy

The impressive façade of the Chiesa Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta was first to come into view as I pulled in to San Ginesio’s main square, like a medieval bastion looming large over the heart of this small commune in central Italy, with the onion-domed Civic Tower standing sentry to one side.

Yet as I drew closer, admiring how the warm afternoon light bathed the church’s sandstone exterior with a terracotta-tinged glow, the sun also glinted off something else – the network of scaffolding holding its grand Gothic frontispiece in place and hiding some of the finer architectural details from view.

I didn’t just arrive on a bad day. The temporary struts are one of the all-too-visible reminders that this is a region under reconstruction. In August and October 2016, a series of earthquakes wrought devastation on the Marche region – along with nearby Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo – leaving more than two-thirds of homes in San Ginesio’s historic centre uninhabitable and prompting some 556 families to up sticks and move.

Eight years on, half of them are yet to return as many of the buildings inside the medieval walls are still being rebuilt. San Ginesio was once famed within Italy for being home to 100 churches, but not a single one of them is in use until they can be deemed safe, with many of their Renaissance artworks moved to the nearby Sant’ Agostino Auditorium (which is open to the public) for safekeeping.

On the plus side, it does mean the sight of scaffolding or cement mixers doesn’t elicit the response it normally would if you encountered them on your travels – here, they’re tangible evidence that regeneration is underway and a sign of better things to come.

Keeping San Ginesio’s culture alive

While the Chiesa Collegiata dominates one side of the square, at its centre is a statue of the most famous ‘Ginesino’, Alberico Gentili. One of the founders of modern-day international law and the first to draw a distinction between the legal code of the country and the church, Protestant Gentili was expelled from Italy in 1579 and found a home at the University of Oxford, becoming a hugely influential figure in the study of civil law.

His legacy of fostering international ties seems is still alive and well in San Ginesio, which was one of the first in a network of ‘Best Tourism Villages’ established by UN Tourism (formerly the UNWTO) in 2021 to shift travellers’ focus from big, over-touristed cities to the smaller communities around the world that are preserving cultural traditions, promoting biodiversity and providing opportunities for employment. It started with just 44, but has since grown to 129 with a further 57 working towards joining, creating a consortium that stretches across 55 countries and five continents around the world.

It's a cornerstone of San Ginesio’s plan to bounce back from disaster by investing in ‘beautification’ and attracting visitors – but in small, manageable numbers, offering a model for other villages to emulate. “This town has always been very progressive and ahead of the curve,” the mayor, Giuliano Ciabocco, told me.

Bounded by the peaks and valleys of Monti Sibillini National Park, San Ginesio and its surroundings certainly fit the bill, with scenery reminiscent of a less-touristed Tuscany and summer festivals that bring its medieval history to life.

There’s the Palio equestrian festival when four local districts, each named after their nearest gate in the walls – Porta Picena, Ascarana, Offuna and Alvaneto – vie for supremacy. Even more spectacular is the full-scale re-enactment of a 1377 surprise attack by rival village Fermo, complete with medieval costumes and a replay of how a woman rising early to bake managed to save the day by rousing residents to fight off their would-be invaders. And every third year, locals mark the Return of the Exiles, commemorating the return of 300 San Ginesio citizens following their banishment to Siena.

One of the most enjoyable, though, is the annual Ginesio Fest, a week-long jamboree of music and theatre that harks back to San Ginesio’s namesake, the patron saint of actors and musicians and fittingly finishes on his feast day, 25 August.

Balcony of the Sibillini

Strolling from the theatre in the main square through cobbled streets to a lofty lookout point over the landscape below, it was easy to see why San Ginesio, set 690m above sea level, is dubbed the ‘Balcony of the Sibillini’.

Hiking routes and bike paths abound, but I opted to follow in the footsteps of the travellers who once passed through San Ginesio on the well-trodden pilgrimage route from Loreto to Rome, with a visit to the Hermitage of San Liberato.

Set on the slopes of Monte Ragnolo, this 14th-century monastery was built as a reliquary for San Liberato, a Christian martyr from the Marche region who was put to death by the Roman emperor. Brother Prosper, one of just three Franciscan monks who resides here, explained their daily devotions, which stretch from morning prayers at 6.30am to adoration at midnight, despite the earthquake having rendered some areas of the monastery off-limits.

There, I was joined by mountain guide Mariano Constantini, a hardy savant of the Sibillini if his flowing white beard and keen eye for plant life was anything to go by. Despite a chill wind in the air, he turned up in shorts and a sleeveless vest to lead the way through shaded pilgrimage paths edged by rosehips and wild strawberries to the Ragnolo Plains, dotted with tiny, thistle-like cardoon flowers – a natural way to reduce cholesterol, according to Mariano. He told me of his near-miss on the night of the earthquakes and his involvement in rescue efforts that went on for weeks afterwards, as a herd of white Marchigiana cows plodded peacefully over the ridge to graze on the sweet mountain grasses.

It was quite a change of scene to head back down the slopes to Lago di Fiastra, an artificial lake created in the 1950s to power a hydroelectric plant. With its turquoise hues and gently shelving shoreline, it was more reminiscent of a Caribbean island than inland Italy, with every turn around its 2.8km perimeter walk revealing another, even more impressive view.

Anywhere else in southern Europe, a sunny day and a stunningly beautiful lake would be mobbed with tourists sunbathing on the shore or Instagrammers posing in the shallows. Yet this pretty spot had just a smattering of visitors – mostly locals, it seemed – taking a dip in its sun-warmed waters or sipping beers in the shade. It seems there’s something in that ‘Best Tourism Villages’ title after all…

Need to know

Getting there: The nearest airports are at Ancona (91km), served by low-cost airlines including easyJet from Gatwick and Ryanair from Stansted; and Perugia (95km), which has flights from Stansted with Ryanair and from Heathrow with British Airways. For travel by rail, the nearest station is Tolentino (17km away) which has one-stop services from Rome, then take the bus to San Ginesio’s Porta Picena stop.

Getting around: Public transport is limited to relatively infrequent bus services (none on Sundays), so the simplest option is to hire a car and explore its network of tiny mountain villages and quiet coastal towns. Torre di Palme is a particularly pretty example of the area’s historic hilltop spots – it combines cobbled lanes and countless honey-coloured churches with expansive Adriatic views, so don’t be surprised if you spot confetti fluttering on the breeze or newlyweds posing for pictures.

There are also more than 100km of bike paths across the region, with plans to add new marked-out trails to the area’s lakes and waterfalls and a circular route around San Ginesio’s medieval walls. But bear in mind that terrain is hilly, so double check the gradient before you set off.

What to eat: It wouldn’t be Italy without good food, and the Marche region is no exception. Its epicurean signature is vincisgrassi, a lasagne-like dish with slow-cooked pork ragu and layers of pasta. A variant swaps pasta for polenta, a staple much-loved in the north but reaching as far as this central region, which is cooked and layered with the meat-based sauce.

Other favourites to look out for include stuffed, fried olives; ciauscolo, a soft, spreadable salami sausage with a garlicky kick; and cremini, a vanilla cream fried into a sweet dumpling.

For locally run restaurants that take their traditional foods seriously, try Il Ristoro del Borgo in the heart of San Ginesio, Ristorante Isolina or the stone-built Osteria Il Sigillo in neighbouring village Camporotondo di Fiastrone.

More information: Find out about UN Tourism’s Best Tourism Villages and discover more about San Ginesio.