The Comune of Valtopina is considered geographically at one with the hamlets of Giove, Sasso, Gallano, Pasano, Casa Tommaso, Serra, Balciano, Colfulignato, Vallemare, Poggio, S. Cristina, and Franchillo.
Only Valtopina itself is located in the valley bottom. The terrain is prevalently hilly and mountainous, for which reason the entire township is officially considered mountainous for administrative purposes. The present centre of Valtopina was known in olden times as Cerqua from the name of the locality where a church consacrated to S. Cristoforo stood.
For centuries the fortunes of the area were linked to the affairs of the local churches. After the suppression of the Bishopric of Foro Flaminio (which until then had jurisdiction over the Valtopina area) these churches were definitively placed under the authority of the Bishopric of Foligno, where perhaps they had originally been.
Old churches are numerous here: S. Cristina in the hamlet of the same name, S. Silvestro in Pasano, S. Giovanni in Giove, S. Pietro and S. Angelo in Rotondolo, S. Sisto in Gallano, S. Pietro in Serra, San Lorenzo in Villa Acqui, S. Venanzo in Colle Acqui, S. Cristoforo in Cerqua and S. Stefano in Gallano.
A Benedictine monastery was added to the Church of S. Stefano in 1085. with a certain number of the above mentioned churches under its authority the monastery achieved a position of wealth and privilege. In 1132 Berardo, a descendant of the Counts degli Atti of Nocera Umbra, became the first Abbot of the monastery.
In 1191 the monastery of S. Stefano in Gallano joined the more powerful Abbey of Santa Croce in Sassovivo in the vicinity of Foligno; subsequently other Valtopina churches and benefices followed suit. Among local castles built in the Middle Ages in various settled areas, the castle at Serra had particular strategic value; in 1229 it became a bone of contention between the lords of Armenzano and the Chapter (body of canon regulars) of the Cathedral of Assisi.
Today the only monuments of this sort in the township are the ruined castles at Poggio (where only the tower survives). Gallano, Santa Cristina, Pasano, and Serra.
Other witnesses to the past are the remains of the forum and other Roman ruins at Ponte Rio and Pieve Fanonica.
Deciduous and pine woods add to the precious heritage of a territory offering many opportunities for picturesque excursions.
Old mill
An old mill dating back to at least 1861 is located in a spot called Fosso dell'Anna below Mt. Subasio between S. Giovanni di Collepini (Spello) and Valtopina.
The mill belongs to the Buccilli family and 15 still in working order. The millpond Is fed by a mountain stream used to turn the wheel that drives the mill.
