3287 Solomeo

Reading the thread about private people restoring important buildings, there is a beautifully restored village close to Perugia, called Solomeo.
Apart from being very lovely, it is fascinating because the whole village is a cahmere factory, and the village is owned almost completely by this one family company.
If you visit on a weekday, behind wonderfully warped and gnarled chestnut doors you can glimpse seriously industrial sized washing and drying machines, and peeping into some magnificent medieval hall you will notice the designers at their drawing boards.
So much nicer than a shed on an industrial estate!!
Solomeo also does a good festa in August - high quality live music, and often some special event hosted by the cashmere company free to all if prebooked. I recall an evening when, after sampling masses of grub, we retired to a large room (probably the canteen for the workers) and were instructed in the finer points of cigar smoking and whisky drinking!! Something about continentals wearing gloves to smoke cigars, (with the band off) and British not - or the other way round - (I was more interested in the whisky than the cigars!!)