After a really enjoyable visit to the abbey of San Liberatore, and a very fine picnic, we headed off to find the remains of stone huts used in the past as mountain refuges by shepherds. We thought they were on the far side of Roccamorice, so we took the route from Serramonacesca to Lettomanoppello and then to Passo Lanciano. It may not have been the most direct route, but we had plenty of time and it was a great day for exploring.
But if a plan can go wrong it will, and sure enough, somewhere along the way we took a wrong turn and ended up travelling through a wood that had been damaged by a fire. Although there were five of us, only one of our group had any idea where the stone huts were to be found. After driving for 20 minutes more, there was nothing for it but to head back the way we came.
This is where it gets a bit tricky for me. I wouldn’t swear these directions are 100% correct. If I’m right, we took the wrong road out of Lettomanoppello. So starting again from there, we headed towards Passo Lanciano, and took a right at Hotel La Maielletta. Then we just followed the road for a few kilometres and just before a turn to the right we saw the dry stone huts up on a hill.
I think the hill is called Colle Della Civita and is part of the community of Roccamorice. I’d like to show you its exact location on a map but I can’t find a map reference for Colle Della Civita anywhere on the web. There are plenty of descriptions of the stone structures though. They have a few names; capanne a tholos, tholi or pajare, and date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. They are built by placing flat stones on top of each other. There are definite similarities with the trulli of Puglia. It’s possible that the structure of the Abruzzo huts may have been influenced by the Puglia trulli as a result of regular migratory movements of shepherds and their flocks between the two regions.
This seasonal movement of people and flocks at the end of Spring and beginning of Autumn, called transhumance (transumanza), can cover hundreds of kilometers. The routes followed a regular network of wide grassy paths or sheep-tracks (tratturi). No 4×4 or SUV was available to these shepherds as they travelled by foot along the traditional mountain routes.
If you decide to visit Colle Della Civita take some time to look around. Abruzzo is steeped in history and the refuges are a monument to the hard life of shepherds of the past. But that doesn’t mean you can’t look around, breath in the fresh clean air, marvel at the beautiful wild flowers and watch the chaotic dance of colourful butterflies.
Through this entire journey our guide was the wonderful Monica, who does not believe in saying “we can’t do that”! Grazie Monica for helping us have another glorious day in Abruzzo.
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