Percile, if Mount Coppi is covered by clouds it rains

I arrive in Percile with the sun and shortly after a sudden downpour begins which forces me to seek shelter. I chat with some women who, like me, have been surprised by the bad weather and one takes a selfie because I tell them that I have come to write an article.

For a moment I feel important!

The town is very small but has a Disney castle profile with the twin bell towers standing out against the blue and making it look enchanted.

Thanks to the mayor's delay (I don't want to argue but he is an architect) I have some time and I go to see the church that I had noticed in the lower part, half hidden in the middle of a forest of very tall fir trees.

It is called Saint Mary of the Victory and its name celebrates the victory of Charles of Anjou over Conradin of Swabia, or the defeat of the empire in favor of the church (which still continues). Indeed, the popes had called the French against the Germans, and since at that time Percile was under the influence of the imperial abbey of Farfa so it was one of the hot spots of the conflict.

Saint Mary of the Victory leaves you speechless for its beauty which sums up the best of medieval style in Italy. The luxuriant nature and the silence give it an immortal charm.

A silence interrupted at the weekend by many walkers along the path of Saint Benedict or hikers who go to the nearby Aliucci spring or up in the mountains to the Lagustelli, the famous Percile lakes in the park of the Lucretili Mountains.

Here we are on the border between the Aniene Valley and the Sabina and this air of contamination can be breathed almost everywhere.

The mayor's arrival brings an overwhelming energy, Claudio Giustini is one of the few men who can hold several conversations in parallel. So, while he listens to me he also talks to the councilors and occasionally to some municipal employee.

I swear he surprised me, even with his height. At least Massimiliano Calore - the major of Ciciliano - had sat down for the ritual photo!

It's late and we go to eat together with the deputy mayor Sergio Felici at the Carlini restaurant, a piece of paradise along a stream that once powered grain mills.

Mr. Carlini is about 80 years old (well carried) and welcomes us with a smile. But he seemed to be waiting for us to be able to talk to someone and he hogged all the lunch.

The inn is very welcoming and surrounded by water and nature, but on Mondays there are few patrons and the opportunity to have the mayor to talk to is too tempting.

Percile is a small town but full of active young people and I would like it to be part of the Town Ambassador project of the Rome Metropolitan Area because I am sure that this small village will enchant all those who arrive here.

While we eat the typical dry biscuits of Percile, a new violent downpour of water arrives and I don't know what to do: 'if Monte Coppi is covered by clouds, it will rain. We have to wait for the sky above the mountain to clear up,' Mr. Carlini tells us.

And it's true, as soon as we see the top of Monte Coppi the rain decreases... How much knowledge and common sense we must rediscover together with the territories!