Among dusty papers and old books we have found a travel account by Mario Pomilio. A diary of our times, the description of a crossing of the Abruzzo National Park in the very first years after its foundation. "A real gem, well worth reading."
Among dusty papers and old books we have found a travel account by Mario Pomilio. A diary of our times, the description of a crossing of the Abruzzo National Park in the very first years after its foundation.
A real gem, well worth reading.
What Pomilio tells
Pomilio drives up from Gioia Vecchia: the grey, rugged slopes suddenly give way to the soft green of the meadows and to the dark woods of the mountains running south. He follows the young Sangro, little more than a ditch between two rows of shrubs, down to Pescasseroli, stops in front of Palazzo Sipari, the birthplace of Benedetto Croce, and visits the small zoo the Park had just set up: wolves, eagles, foxes, roe deer and four brown bears pacing restlessly behind the bars of their cage.
He then drives on towards Opi, a grey village perched on a rock that seems to belong to another age, and follows the gorge of the Sangro into the heart of the Park, the last intact remnant of the forest that once covered the whole peninsula. The account ends at the foot of the Camosciara, where the huge amphitheatre of woods and violet crags makes him feel how small "civilised" man is in front of untouched nature.
This is a short summary in our own words: Mario Pomilio's full text, in Italian, can be read on the Italian version of this page.