Between the rocks of Valnerina: the village of Gavelli

Gavelli is located at an altitude of 1153 meters above sea level and was built as a castle in late medieval times flanked by the church of St. Michael the Archangel, rebuilt in the fifteenth century and embellished with works by Spain (1518 and 1523) and Bernardino di Nanni (1492). Gavelli, "clavellum" in medieval documents, to underline the strategic position of the castle and its function as "access key" to the mountain territory of Valnerina, was part of the possessions of the Lombard Duchy of Spoleto. But perhaps more than the inhabited center, the visitor will be struck by the beauty of the plain of Gavelli, considered among the most valuable naturalistic areas (turkey oaks even centuries old, hydrophytic vegetation in the so-called Laghetto, karst depression always flooded) of the planned Natural Park Coscerno-Aspra. After Gavelli you reach, crossing a beautiful Apennine landscape dominated by the mountain of Civitella (1565 m), Case with the church of S. Maria delle Grazie that preserves inside the aedicule around which the present building was built; the walls are almost completely covered with votive frescoes, among which stand out a unique image of the Madonna on horseback (15th century) and an Annunciation of Spain (1516-22).