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Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga |
Protected Area |
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800351078 Toll-free number for tourist info, active every day
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Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park |
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A European Monument to BiodiversityThe presence of the Park Authority in the territory is guaranteed by a strategic and functional network of administrative-technical-scientific and promotional structures favoring the direct and non-stop contact with the resident population, local institutions, and the several visitors. It is an acknowledged "collective heritage" around which, by sharing choices and decisions promoting a mountain environment representing "a European monument to biodiversity", administrators, social forces, and citizens gather. The Park Structures (Italian text)
Further information (Italian text) |
Geology |
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Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga consists of three mountain groups - the chain of Gran Sasso d'Italia, the massif of Laga, and Monti Gemelli - and is characterized by the presence of the highest summit in the Apennine ridge, Corno Grande, which reaches 2,912 meters. Moreover, on this chain there is the only Apennine glacier, the Calderone, of southern Europe. Gran Sasso chain is made up of limestones and dolomite rocks giving to the mountain its majestic aspect, with very high and vertical walls which cannot be found in any other part of the Apennines. The calcareous nature of the rocks favors the presence of karst phenomena like dolines, hollows, caves, and gorges dug by the waters, which are evident in Campo Imperatore, the largest plateau of the Apennine ridge, and on Monti Gemelli, of calcareous nature. The mountain has not only been shaped by water and other atmospheric agents, but also by the ancient and almost disappeared glaciers, whose traces can be found in the morainic deposits or in the big U-shaped valleys, dug and shaped by the Quaternary glaciers. Monti della Laga, reaching 2,458 meters with Mt. Gorzano, are made up of sandstones and loam rocks. The geological nature influences the morphology of these mountains, whose peaks are more round, with several narrow and deep valleys. The marly-arenaceous nature makes the water flow fast on the surface, gathering itself into brooks, streams, and rivers, which throw themselves down to the valley forming several wonderful waterfalls. Among the highest one, Morricana, Volpara, Barche, Cavata, Cento Fonti, Fiumana, and many others that in winter, when they are frozen, offer a view of rare beauty. |
Flora and Vegetation |
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Over 2,000 species of plants live in the Park territory. The remarkable richness of the vegetation is due to the high altitudes, which almost reach 3,000 meters, and to the different geological substrata of the main massifs. The most precious floral elements grow on the highest peaks, with many glacial relicts of northern or eastern origin coming from the Eurasian steppes and from the Balcanic mountains, and endemic plants which make the Park one of the most interesting Mediterranean areas from the floristic point of view, with a great biological diversity. Among the various endemic species, the most famous are: the Androsace Mathildae, the "Adonide ricurva", the violet of the Majella, the Apennine edelweiss, the wormwood, many species of saxifrage, and others. You can meet some endemic species at lower altitudes too, like the Goniolimon italicum, growing only in certain pastures, or the Astragalus aquilanus. Moreover, on Gran Sasso you can find the only Italian nucleus of Adonis vernalis. While Gran Sasso is characterized, above all on the slope of L'Aquila, by wide pastures, Monti della Laga are mainly covered with forests. At lower altitudes there are oak and chestnut woods, which were planted in the Roman period and which have been an essential economic resource for many mountain communities in the past. Today we can admire centuries-old specimens, with old and croocked trees, in the whole area. The beech wood is the largest wood, and it grows between 1,000 and 1,800 meters of altitude. Other kinds of trees like Yews or Hollies, relict species of much warmer and wet climates, often join or replace Beeches; Maples, Lime trees, Ash trees, and Elms which cover the gorges. On the Laga there are also Silver Fir woods and some nuclei of Birches, the living evidence of past climatic events which have deeply shaped the current situation. One of the most representative species is the Bilberry, widespread like nowhere else in the Apennines; it covers large areas and forms real moors among the woods and the high-mountain pastures. Really interesting species can be also found in the fields cultivated with traditional methods. Among cereals, chicklings, and lentils it is easy to find species which have almost disappeared in other agricultural areas, like the "Gittaione", the Cornflower, and even very rare specimens, like the Falcaria vulgaris, the Ceratocefala, and the Androsace maxima, which is an endangered species in Italy. |
Fauna |
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The most interesting species of the Park is the Abruzzo chamois, an animal which we can find only in the Apennines, and which lived completely safe on Gran Sasso until last century: at the end of the last century it disappeared because of the hunters' persecutions. After one hundred years the chamois has come back to Gran Sasso where, thanks to a successful reintroduction action, there is now a nucleus of about 50 specimens. Other big herbivores like Red Deer and Roe Deer live in the territory of the Park, along with their main predator, the Apennine Wolf, which is now reforming little packs. Lately there have been some sporadic apparitions of the Brown Bear. Among the other mammals there are Martens, Wild Cats, Badgers, Beech martens, Polecats, Porcupines, and several other species of rodents. At the highest altitudes a little rodent, the Snow Vole, has arrived with the last glaciation and has remained there as a relict species. We can find very rare birds of prey like Golden Eagles, Goshawks, Peregrines, Lanners, and Eagle Owls. The most representative specimens of the avifauna, like the Snowfinch, the Rock Pipit, the Meadow Pipit, and the Alpine Accentor, live at high altitudes, together with the Rock Partridge, the Rock Thrush, the Alpine Chough, and the Chough. The pastures, the lower and the traditionally cultivated areas house species like the Ortolan Bunting, the Crested Lark, the Tawny Pipit, the Rock Sparrow, and the Red-backed Shrike, which are probably less showy, but extremely interesting from a biogeographical point of view and which are rapidly disappearing in Europe. The high-mountain meadows are the ideal habitat for the most numerous national population of the Orsini Viper, a little snake feeding on insects. Among the other snake species we must mention the Aesculapian Snake and the Smooth Snake. The amphibian population is interesting, there are Apennine endemic species like the Spectacled Salamander and the Earth Newt, which lives in the caves. On Monti della Laga, the Common Frog and the Alpine Newt are present. This is the only place in the central-southern Apennine (besides a little area in Calabria) where you can find these species. Crested, Common, and Italian Newts also live here. The biogeographical interest of the Park is attested by the presence of invertebrate fauna like insects and other groups rich in endemic entities, sometimes similar to the alpine and mountain fauna of Eastern Europe. |
Craftsmanship, Folklore, Gastronomy |
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The ancient cultural tradition of the populations living in the Park is witnessed by several handicrafts, tasty gastronomical products, and local folkloric expressions which play an important role both from a cultural and a tourist point of view. It is impossible to mention every peculiarity and typical product of the 44 towns and of the hundreds of little villages scattered throughout the Park territory; in each one of these places, the visitor will find folkloric events, handicrafts, and gastronomical products deserving to be mentioned. As far as craftsmanship is concerned, the ceramists of Castelli, the master-saddlers of L'Aquila, the coppersmiths of Tossiccia, the stone-dressers of Amatrice, the coalmen of Arquata del Tronto are the most representative realities. The most important events are the "Perdonanza Celestiniana" at the end of August in L'Aquila, the historical commemoration of the "Battaglia di Lepanto" held in Spelonga every three years, the "Estate Laga-Gran Sasso" from June to September on the slope of Teramo, with international popular music, folklore, and theater. Moreover, the "Amiternum" programme, a cycle of meetings and ethnic music events in the villages of the Alta Valle dell'Aterno, the wonderful historical commemorations in August at the Borbonic fortress in Civitella del Tronto and in the medieval citadel of Arquata del Tronto, the "Sagra degli spaghetti all'amatriciana" in August in Amatrice, the traditional "Sagra delle lenticchie" in September in S. Stefano di Sessanio; the "Festa del Vino" in Castiglione a Casauria, the prehistorical rite of "Fuoco di Natale" in Nerito di Crognaleto, the Living Christmas Crib at the end of the year in Cerqueto, the Nordic ski march in February in Campo Imperatore. But the most genuine expression of the art of the Park's population lies in the variety and quality of their gastronomical products: "virtù teramane", "olive all'ascolana", the saffron of L'Aquila and the typical "timballi"; and then cheese, sausages, meat, "scamorze", truffles, mushrooms, lentils, spelt, chestnuts, honey, sweets, oils, wines, and many other mountain dainties, to taste in every period of the year everywhere in the Park. |
