illiterate and spoke a Lombardic dialect which was virtually incomprehensible to residents of the neighboring villages. Historically, the most educated and cultured resident was the local priest. More recently, the school master would also have fit this description. From the 13th century until the time of the Italian Risorgimento (unification), Valle Piola served as a meeting center and hideout for armed brigands who made this area their home, this area being ideally suited for such purposes. These groups demanded total loyalty to their cause thus leading both to squabbles amongst the various brigand factions as well as to clashes with the sovereign forces whose task was to uphold the law. They encountered at best mixed success in their attempts to subdue and pacify the openly rebellious subversive outlaw clans. At times these internecine battles took on characteristics of a civil war. During the Second World War the Italian resistance fighters staged in this area, along with Bosco Martese and other nearby forest tracts of Monti della Laga in their struggles against the occupying German forces. In present times the area surrounding Valle Piola is used mainly for the grazing of livestock. In the summer months a herdsman watches over the animals day and night and a shelter for protection from the elements has recently been constructed. Architectural highlights The oldest part of Valle Piola is in the shape of a horseshoe and in later times additional houses were built nearby. A lightwell placed in one of the city's walls once provided greatly appreciated illumination to open areas below. What is left of this structure now stands in ruins for the most part covered by rocky soil and other debris. It is said the damage resulted from the rupture of an underground well structure. Also located in the center part of the village are two porticoes through which passes the main street of the town. On one portico is a keystone which once likely boasted a sculpture in the form a human face. Its disappearance is likely the result of scavengers looking for valued architectural relics of more prosperous times. Between two porticoes is an open and expansive piazza. A mill once stood next to the bridge built on the road of Valle Piola, Via della Fauna. The economy was strongly connected to the timber industry with Valle Piola known both for charcoal manufacture which was carried to Teramo via mules,