Thetownbegan asacastletown, and while thebuildingshave remained the same, the castle andthe villagechapel have fallen toruin in the intervening centuries.
But two years ago, my friend Cristina Di Benigno invited me to lunch in her village near Corvara, a tiny, little-known ruin of atown in Abruzzo, about an hour by car from the port city of Pescara.
On getting to Manono after a hazardous journey, free of the usual hyperbole that Congo travels inspire, Mr Rawlence discovers the ruin of atown that once triumphed over nature before becoming its prey.