Italian Towns and the Centro Storico

The first few times I saw a sign for Centro Storico I didn’t know what it was. That was before I had taken Italian and really could not recognize too many signs in Italy.  Now I understand that the words are Italian for the “historic center.”

The historic district of Italian towns is called the centro storico. It is the oldest part of  these towns, and the centro storico was the original town, and is what made up these towns when they were first built.

As the towns grew larger with more people, other structures were built further out. That is why so many towns in Italy have an old section  and a new section. Usually the old section is higher if the city is built on a hill.

Most typically have a centro storico which is where the most interesting staircases, alleys, doorways, houses and buildings seem to be. People actually live here and the lifestyle is rugged, since  one may have to walk down a hundred steps to go anywhere.

There is so much character here in the centro storico and Italy does its best to retain and restore these places when damaged over the years. The centro storico is always one of my favorite places to wander around and get lost.