After the Oct. 30 quake, one of the few things left standing at the monastery was a small brewery, where for the past four years the monks have been making Nursia, a beer named for Norcia's ancient Latin appellation.
Their brew may now be the salvation — symbolically, at least — not only of the monks' sanctuary, but also of Norcia itself. This ancient walled city is a ghost town of ravaged churches and cracked palazzi, and is still struggling to recover from the strongest earthquake to strike Italy in 36 years.
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