San Marco d'Urri is like scores of villages that cling to the Apennine foothills southeast of Genoa. It is a half-deserted huddle of 50 decaying, slate-roofed houses, without telephones, cars or even a policeman. Life has changed little since Genoese Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World, creating a path that many Italians have followed since. The people of San Marco live mainly on chestnuts and vegetables, seldom taste meat, except on four feast days each year. Last week the dour and cagey villagers danced self-consciously in the streets before the cameras...
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