The Flowering
of Castelluccio
di Norcia
Six weeks of colour on the Pian Grande, at 1,452 metres above sea level, in the heart of the Monti Sibillini National Park. In 2026 the peak of colour is expected between 15 June and 15 July.
Honestly
A village
that waits.
On 30 October 2016 the earthquake destroyed roughly ninety-nine per cent of the village. Ten years on, Castelluccio di Norcia is still a building site yet to get going.
The houses have not been rebuilt. Three households live here permanently; a young couple has returned to live in the village. The businesses operate out of temporary premises.
The plain all around keeps flowering as it always has. It is on this asymmetry that we built this site: a chronicle of nature's constancy in the absence of people.
What happens
The Floweringhas no single day.
There is no single peak day. The Flowering is a living phenomenon: from late May to mid-July the Pian Grande changes colour from week to week, sometimes from day to day.
Fifteen square kilometres of karst plateau, between 1,270 and 1,350 metres above sea level, spread across Pian Grande, Pian Piccolo and Pian Perduto.
The phenomenon springs from an ancient farming balance: the Lenticchia di Castelluccio IGP, grown without herbicides, lives alongside dozens of wild species. When the lentil blooms, the plain is covered in a layered carpet — each species takes the stage in its own time.
The twelve species of the mosaic
Twelve flowerings chase one another across the plateau between late May and mid-July, composing the mosaic of colour for which the Pian Grande is famous. See the full cards →
Three ways,three rhythms.
On the four busiest weekends the plain is regulated. It is a choice made to protect it: fewer cars, more open plain.
By car
On weekdays the plain is open to traffic. On the central weekends of the Flowering, access by car is closed or controlled by checkpoints.
Weekdays — always openShuttle
Compulsory on the four busiest weekends, to be booked in advance. Departure from the authorised car parks lower down the valley.
See times and dates →Motorbike, bike, disabled access
Always allowed. Anyone with a disabled parking permit may enter even on regulated days.
Always opento keep in mind.
They are cultivated.
the flowers.
on the meadows.
Where it is
Three plains,one plateau.
The plateau opens up between Umbria and Marche, dominated by Monte Vettore. Three ways in, no shortcuts.
Beyond the plain, the mountains: the trails towards Monte Vettore, the mountain huts of the Sibillini and, to the west, the Lake Trasimeno cycle path.