Silence and peace among the ancient villages

In the territory of Rocca Santa Maria there are places where time seems to have stopped, due to the phenomenon of depopulation, many villages have been abandoned or inhabited seasonally. In these places nature has recovered its spaces and has begun to envelop the ruins of houses and churches, creating magical and somewhat fairytale landscapes. There are several hamlets of the Municipality of Rocca Santa Maria that are little inhabited or even abandoned:

River, a magical place where traces of recent life can still be found.
Martese, an agglomeration of a few abandoned and perched houses that plunges into the landscape of the forest, from which the village took its name.
Forno, a hamlet perched on a ridge of rock and made up of about ten sparsely inhabited buildings.
Serra, made up of about twenty houses located on a spur of rock overlooking the ditch from which the Vezzola stream springs. Here it is possible to enjoy a spectacular panorama that goes from the Gran Sasso to the Monti della Laga up to the Sibillini Mountains.

San Biagio, made up of a small group of houses built between 1800 and early 1900, inside we find narrow and winding streets that lead to the center of the village where the Church of San Biagio built in the early 1800s to replace the ancient medieval church whose ruins are still visible in the grove near the entrance to the village ..
Tavolero, also abandoned for some time, but guardian of history and magnificent architectural riches, such as the remains of the Church of San Flaviano, dating back to approximately the end of 1200 and located on a ridge in predominant and lookout with respect to the small village.