The Catholic Herald knows all about where Saint Valentine comes from. His hometown of Terni, about 60 kilometres north of Rome, is where we started our Via di Francesco Camino pilgrimage to Assisi during October 2023.
This Valentine's Day, though, I am not sure many couples will be romancing there. As Herald editor William Cash notes: “on first impression” the city is “one of the least romantic-looking towns in Italy”.
It was bombed heavily by the Allies in World War II, as it was a major armaments town. Before that its industrial past meant it was more commonly known in Italy as the Steel City. As a result, it doesn’t normally feature on tourism itineraries to Umbria. There are not many foreigners who have ever heard of Terni.
