Discussion: Montorio nei Frentani

That looks like about the coolest Sprint terrain I have ever seen.

Finding these maps seems to be an art beyond the art of orienteering itself.

High 5 on the mushroom pizza, btw! Now you will be able to return to Ratlum Mtn with your head held high, and in honor.

Looking at the link you provided, it looks like it has been little changed from medieval times. Would towns like that have been surrounded by protective walls with a town gate originally?

There was an interesting NYTImes article last year about the uncertain future of many Italian towns:

FOR ALL THE ANCIENT Italian hill towns and villages that delight the traveler there are scores of others (many equally or more beautiful) where few venture and in which very few reside today. According to a 2016 Italian environmental association report, there are nearly 2,500 rural Italian villages that are perilously depopulated, some semi-abandoned and others virtual ghost towns....

This one is quite beautiful, but perilously depopulated would be a fair characterization. However it is a bit more robust than Villa San Michele, where I visited last week. This one was able to supply a mayor, some uniformed carabinieri and a priest for the festivities. Also the musicians, but I think they were imported. There was also a sizable number of school kids competing, surely imported but I don’t know from where.