Aosta was a sort of sanctuary city for people with disabilities, both mental and physical. For centuries, the Catholic Church had provided shelter, food, and care to people who had been rejected by their families because of their condition. And many of these people had ended up becoming skilled workers, in the fields or in kitchens; many of them ended up falling in love, getting married, having children. What had emerged was a sort of upside-down town. A town where the abnormal was normal, where people often disabled by society received the support that allowed them to flourish.
