Smerillo, the Village Suspended Between Sky and Sibillini

The roadside sign reads "Smerillo" with an arrow pointing upward, and indeed you climb: the village is perched on a ridge at over 900 metres, in the upper Aso Valley, close to the Sibillini Mountains. A few dozen permanent residents, a tiny square, the parish church with its bell tower rising above the rooftops and, all around, one of the most astonishing panoramas in the Marche: the Aso Valley descending eastward toward the Adriatic, the Sibillini ridgeline to the west with Monte Sibilla and Monte Vettore.

The Village and the Life That Persists

Smerillo is one of those villages where resilience is not an abstract concept but a daily practice. The few inhabitants who chose to stay keep the community alive with admirable stubbornness: the summer festival, the Sunday Mass, the care of the surrounding land. The 2016 earthquake grazed Smerillo without causing severe structural damage, but it worsened the depopulation already underway: some families seized the occasion to move down to the valley for good. Empty houses are visible but not numerous.

The Belvedere and the Light

The viewpoint at the edge of the village, above a stone wall that seems to hang in mid-air, is one of the most photogenic spots in the Marche — and one that very few photographers have discovered. On clear November mornings, when the air cools and the overnight mist lifts slowly from the valley, the light illuminating the landscape has a cinematic quality: the contrast between shadow in the valley and light on the Sibillini ridgeline creates spatial depth that photographs cannot fully capture. You have to be there in person, preferably at seven in the morning.

Local Produce

The upper Aso Valley produces a mountain lentil — small, dark-green skinned, with an earthy, intense flavour — that is virtually unknown outside the area. It is cooked in short soups with local pasta or used as a side for free-range lamb raised on the Sibillini grasslands. In the rare trattorias of nearby villages (Amandola is the best-equipped centre, about 15 kilometres away) these dishes cost between 10 and 14 euros as a first course.

How to Get There

Smerillo is not reachable by public transport: a car is essential. The road climbing from the valley floor is paved but narrow, with some demanding bends. Parking is limited — literally: there are four or five spaces at the edge of the square. The best months are May–June and September–October. In summer it can be cool even when the coast is sweltering: bring a jumper even in August.