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Stipes in Ascrea: the village of the Cathars overlooking Lake Turano
At 860 metres a.s.l. in the Turano Valley, Stipes is a hamlet of the municipality of Ascrea that overlooks Lake Turano and its dam from above. The name is of Latin origin, but the village's beginnings remain partly uncertain. The most fascinating hypothesis suggests it was founded between the 12th and 13th centuries by heretics fleeing ecclesiastical persecution. This theory is supported by several clues: one of the most common surnames among the inhabitants is Patarini, and the Treccani dictionary confirms that "Patarini" was the original name of the Cathar movement.
From the Cesarini family to truffles
In the 15th century, Stipes was a fief of the Cesarini family, and later of the Cesarini Sforza family until the feudal system was abolished in the 18th century. Few elements of the past remain: some ruins of the old fortress, the parish church of San Giovanni Battista (St John the Baptist), and Palazzo Turchetti. The economy has always been linked to the land and dairy farming. The truffle is one of the local specialties. Expert truffle hunters live and work here, searching for the tuber in the Apennine forests that cover the territory.
