Piccolo Burrone

Number of permanent residents: 2 people
Year of foundation: 1981
Open to new members: yes
Welcomes volunteers: yes
They welcome visitors: yes

Piccolo Burrone – Between goats, seasons and the living memory of the forest

Piccolo Burrone (Littrle Ravine) was born in the early 1980s, in the heart of the Apennines, as one of the first sprouts of the elven world. The second community to be founded after Gran Burrone (Rivendell), it is the fruit of a radical and visionary choice: that of creating, outside the logic of the city and politics, a parallel society based on sharing, simplicity and direct contact with the land.

Once inhabited by about 30 people, Piccolo is now in a period of transition: two residents carefully guard the life of the village, waiting for new energy. Despite the fluctuations in numbers, the spirit of the place remains intact, nourished daily by ancient and necessary gestures.

Herding, with its goats and rhythms, is the beating heart of Piccolo Burrone. Everything revolves around it: from the production of cheese, to exchanges with neighboring communities, to the daily care of the stables, the hand-picked hay, and the stone structures that require patient hands and constant repairs. In addition to animal husbandry, the vegetable garden ensures food self-sufficiency and a life not tied to the consumption of the valley floor.

Without electricity or gas, the community lives in total autonomy, collecting wood, guarding resources, listening to the seasons as guides. The days are marked by physical labor, silence and conviviality with those who pass by, by a slow time that leads to the full inhabitation of every gesture.

Today the desire is to renovate the stables. The project is ambitious, but those who live in Piccolo have not stopped dreaming, even now that there are two of them: “The plans are the same as when, until a few months ago, there were seven of us,” they say. It is the forces that change, not the vision.

Hospitality is part of village life. Piccolo opens its doors to those who want to help, walk together, learn and offer, especially from spring to the chestnut season. Even a short visit can become a deep exchange: a shopping trip together, some pasta for the community, an extra hand for the hay. There is no formality, just relationships built in action.

Piccolo Burrone is a place hidden in the woods, visible only to those who look closely. A place where the mountain speaks and history still breathes through the stone walls. Once a refuge for many, today it waits to be chosen again, inhabited, listened to.