Ecotravel in Umbria's ever-green fields

It was Benedictine monks, around the 5th century A.C., that first gave Umbria its evergreen fields and Italy's ideal truffle-growing region. Thanks to the monks' system of canals, built to flood the terrain by tapping into the groundwater below, the Marcite fields were perennially lush and productive.

This small piece of eco-magic was the result of a fruitful combination of natural resources and human intervention. Still today Umbria's countryside is nourished by this system, seemingly immune to the scourges of the seasons.

Along Umbria's scenic country routes, travellers may also be surprised by the numerous hydraulic mills used by local farmers to grind fodder and wheat. Indeed, the area has an appearance of 'Little Holland' the very centre of Italy.

To cover the whole of Italy's evergreen fields only takes about two hours, but a slower style of ecotravel, perhaps stopping to work on one of the area's agri-farms and sample the local mushrooms, is another tempting possibility.