Sarnano’s centro storico in 2023 has a population of less than five hundred, down from several thousand long ago, but families are returning who moved away because of war and loss. Young adults wanting excitement and opportunity in large cities to work in fashion and manufacturing drive or take the bus back as well.

In the long summer, the town’s elliptical lanes are filled with people. They come to find what was lost, the memories of youth and generations gone, to see the sun rise over terracotta tiles and set toward the sea in the mountain hollows, to hear bells that marked their childhood.