Just 30 km east of Perugia, skirt the mountain village, Valtopina (population, about 1400). Take the curvy road winding around hillsides of olive groves, to the tiny hamlet Giove perched on the wooded slopes of Monte Faeto where cranes stretch out over the village. Heavily damaged in the earthquake of 1997, a 2011 court suit had halted the post-earthquake restoration going on, faulting the the construction company for not adhering to anti-seismic norms. A blow to the (pre-earthquake) 49 residents who saw the hope of a return to home slip down the mountainside…
Finalmente, Giove is undergoing a resurrection, thanks to the building skills of husband Pino’s restoration team. I first saw the restoration work on an icy January day…
A January drive to Giove
Winter-time view from Giove
Pino’s team now handles Giove earthquake restoration
Wartime memorial just on the Giove outskirts
Restoration handled now by Impresa Edile Giuseppe Alagna
Giove’s tiny church: restoration almost complete
Pino’s team looks over the January day’s project
A Giove lonely sheep stall
Abandoned outdoor wash basin: a memory of the past
Crane over Giove – and the abandoned hamlet coffee bar
A crane dangles over Giove: sign of the reconstruction
Cranes stretch out over Giove
Work goes on as the skilled stonemasons of Impresa Edile Alagna resuscitate the eleven buildings of local limestone connected with vaulted porticoes, charming chimneys (each one a rural masterpiece) like surveying lookouts on the rooftops.
Have a look at the fine artisan work:
……and what chimney splendor!
On my first visit with Pino to Giove on an icy January day, we met Maria, only resident there now, stalwartly living in a container (or pre-fab trailer) on the village outskirts, close to her damaged home. In apron over her sweater, gold earrings peeping out under a dark blue woolen cap with white “NY” on it, Maria’s gnarled worn hands clutched the wooden board “la spianatoia” (literally,” for rolling out”) for her gnocchi-making. She wanders into her hamlet now and then, chatting with Pino’s stonemasons as they work, musing on “quanto tempo ci vorra’ ”..? (“How much time it will take..?”)
Maria, spiantatoia in hand, chats with Pino and his assistant, Marco
Pino estimates by the end of October.
No doubt about out it: you’ll want to wander the restored Giove.
Read about – and see! – a feast during Giove restoration
Read about a favorite eating spot near Giove in Valtopina
Read more about Pino’s restoration work
See the result of Pino’s work
Read about Assisi earthquake restoration
Read about the Valtopina truffle festival
