Promotion of the Olive Belt

Sviluppumbria supported the work carried out by the Promotional Committee, drawn from the six municipalities involved in the Olive Belt promotion project. This is the main olive growing area in Umbria, with its characteristic landscape, traditions and food and wine production. The project aims to attain UNESCO recognition of the evolutionary and living cultural landscape, and so contribute to the tourism promotion of this territory, especially the Via di Francesco, which winds through it.

"The hillsides between the Italian towns of Assisi and Spoleto (including Assisi, Spello, Foligno, Trevi, Campello sull Clitunno and Spoleto), where olives have been grown since the time of the Etruscans, are now one of the main olive production areas in Umbria and Italy. The area has been recognized for the ingenuity through which natural resources and human needs have been combined to create livelihoods and mutually sustainable ecosystems.

"Even today, olive groves are cultivated with traditional knowledge and practices including the use of different types of terraces, growing technologies and genetic varieties which have been supported by local communities for many centuries. This area also demonstrates remarkable landscape of olive trees which have been formed by farmers' long term interaction with nature." (from the FAO website)

Visit the website of the Assisi-Spoleto olive belt

Assisi-Spoleto olive belt, visit by the FAO delegation
Assisi Spoleto olive belt: the GIAHS programme
Olive belt, toward GIAHS recognition
The heart of Umbria cultural heritage