Nocera Umbra is a town and comune in the province of Perugia, Italy, 15 kilometers north of Foligno, at an altitude of above sea-level.
The municipality, covering an area of , is one of the largest in Umbria. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").
Etymology
Writers long confused Nocera Umbra with the other Nocera in Campania, which the Romans called Nuceria and also Constantia. Nocera Umbra instead bore the name Nuceria Camellaria.
History
Antiquity
From the late 8th century BC, the area of present-day Nocera Umbra was occupied by an Umbrian community. This community was established across the territory, with burial areas at Portone and Boschetto–Ginepraia. The name nuvkri, attested in an Umbrian inscription, is generally connected with this settlement.
From the 3rd century BC, following the Battle of Sentinum and the opening of the Via Flaminia (222–220 BC), Nuceria developed in relation to this major route. The settlement became integrated into the Roman system and is recorded as a municipium within Regio VI, with its population divided into the groups of the Nucerini Camellani and the Nucerini Favonienses.
During the 13th and 14th centuries Nocera's history was marked by alliances, wars, and internal rebellions, set against the wider conflict between the papacy and the empire. In 1202 it submitted to Perugia, and in 1216 it allied with Perugia during a border dispute between Gubbio and Perugia. In 1226 Emperor Frederick II supported its occupation by Berthold, son of the deposed Duke of Spoleto. In 1249 Frederick II confirmed possession, and the city was sacked. In 1251, after Frederick's death, Nocera again submitted to Perugia, which also defended it from Gubbio.
In 1924 Nocera Umbra lost its courthouse, land-registry offices, and financial offices.
In 2021, 1,442 people lived in rural dispersed dwellings not assigned to any named locality.
From a restructuring around the 10th century, a Romanesque portal survives at a side entrance, decorated with carved stone motifs of vines and animals along the archivolt band. Another probable survival from this cathedral is a massive stone cross containing an incised cross, preserved in the diocesan museum. After the destruction of Nocera by Frederick II in 1248, the church was abandoned, and in 1448 it was rebuilt on the ancient foundations. The architecture was a single nave with a roof supported by large arches and timbering in a Franciscan style, still visible in the Church of San Francesco. The stone ornaments of the main façade belong to a modern renovation from 1925. The building commemorates the massacre of the Trinci family, which took place in 1421. The tower was almost completely destroyed by the 1997 earthquake (only part of one side remained standing) and rebuilt.
Necropolis
The necropolis of Nocera Umbra, located in the locality of Portone to the north of the town along the Via Flaminia, is one of the most important Migration Period burial sites discovered in Italy. A total of 168 tombs were excavated, and the findings were published in 1918 by Pasqui and .
The burials included numerous rich objects, often in gold and silver, such as elements of weapon suspension belts, fibulae, and jewelry. The necropolis of Nocera Umbra was associated with the Lombards.
Notable people
Nocera was the birthplace of several notable figures. The Jesuit , bishop and author of a Greek dictionary printed in Basel in 1541, was born there and served as teacher to Pope Leo X. A copy of his dictionary is preserved in the Piervisani Library of Nocera.
In the 19th century, the wealthiest family of the city was the noble counts Olivieri, later Olivieri‑Benigni after the extinction of the male line. Another particularly prominent noble family was the Giacobuzi, represented by Angelo Giacobuzi. Other noble families included the Troili, Fantozzi, and Morselli.