<P> The Piano Grande (Great Plain) is a large plateau, 4,000 ft above sea level in the central Italian Apennine mountains . The Piano is flanked by the Sibilline group of mountains (Italian Monti Sibillini), the highest of which is Monte Vettore at 8,123 ft (2,476 m). The Piano is a karstic basin (see under karst) composed of porous limestone that holds underground reserves of water, and it supports an astonishing array of wild flowers in the spring and summer . Its single village, Castelluccio (Norcia), is perched on a high rock in the middle of plateau, and is famous for the small delicate lentils which are grown in the surrounding plain . </P> <P> The Piano Grande may be approached by road over mountain passes from Norcia in Umbria, from Ascoli Piceno in the Marche or from Visso to the north in the Apennines . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piani di Castelluccio . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piani di Castelluccio . </Td> </Tr>

The village of castelluccio above the piano grande