The Riserva Naturale di Monte Salviano or Riserva naturale guidata Monte Salviano is a nature reserve in Abruzzo, Italy, established in 1999.[1] It lies in the territory of the comune (municipality) of Avezzano, in the Province of L'Aquila. The reserve is named after Monte Salviano, a massif that extends northwest to southwest dividing the Fucine basin from the Palentine Plains, in the Marsica sub-region.
The reserve, formerly a peri-urban park, comprises an area of about 722 hectares (1,780 acres), entirely situated in the territory of the municipality of Avezzano, Abruzzo.[3] It was strongly wanted and created thanks to the commitment of the association "Il Salviano", of the project inventor and co-ordinator Sergio Rozzi and of a group of ecologists devoted to this project starting from the 1960s. It became a concrete reality in 1993 with the creation of the Salviano Peri-Urban Park, which since 1999 has been officially recognized by the Region of Abruzzo as the Riserva naturale guidata del monte Salviano.[4][5]
A site of community importance,[6] the reserve has been managed since 2007 by the association Ambiente e/è Vita Abruzzo ("Environment and/is Life Abruzzo"), together with the municipality of Avezzano.
In 2010, the municipality enlarged the protected area by identifying an outer, lessened protection strip of about 800 hectares (2,000 acres) comprised between the Fucine basin and the Palentine Plains, established with the purpose of protecting the environmental, historical and cultural aspects of the whole area, including the Tunnels of Claudius, the Cave of Ciccio Felice, the river park of the Inlet, some zones and structures of the former Avezzano sugar mill and the Rafia Torrent (or La Raffia) near Cese dei Marsi.[7]
The pinewood represents the most characterized area of Monte Salviano, especially along the route leading to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Pietraquaria. In 1916, the first pines were planted by the prisoners of war of the Austro-Hungarianconcentration camp established north of Avezzano after the 1915 earthquake and during the Great War. In the summer of 1993, part of the territory was hit by a violent fire which almost completely destroyed its vegetation, mostly made up by black pines. Among the animals living in the protected area, the squirrel (the nature reserve symbol[8]), the badger, the fox, the polecat, the weasel, the hare, the griffon and several chaffinches can also be found.[9]
The sanctuary devoted to the Madonna di Pietraquaria and situated at 1,000 metres (3,300ft)MSL is known for the miraculous image which is venerated there.
On the slopes of Monte Salviano, in a protected area, the memorial of the 1915 earthquake rises, also devoted to the youths that, having survived the earthquake, died on the front of World War I. The obelisk of the memorial was built by artist Pasquale Di Fabio in 1965. A shelter for the recovery of the protected species of ill or wounded wild animals, coming from Abruzzo mountains, is housed in a two-hectare (five-acre) land located behind the sanctuary on the slopes of Monte Cimarani. The centre of protected species shows two watering places, two mangers and a shelter.[10]
The Crocione
On the eastern side sloping down to the Fucine plain south Avezzano, the entrances to the Tunnels of Claudius are visible, whose first construction traces back to the 1st century AD. The work features the underground emissary that pierces the mountain belly as far as the intersection with the Liri River, under the old town of Capistrello and through the service tunnels which allowed to drain and reclaim the Fucine area through the water drainage beyond the mountain. In 1877, firstly thanks to the enlargement of the Roman emissary, banker Alessandro Torlonia made it possible the definitive and full draining of the Fucine plateau.[11][12] Since 1977, the tunnel area has been equipped with an archaeological park with the purpose of protecting and exploiting them.[13]
A trail in the heart of the reserve was dedicated by the Avezzano Scout Group to Lord Baden Powell. Not far from there rises the Crocione (in Italian literally "Big Cross"), a giant wooden cross placed among the trees in 1902. In May 2006, with its blessing, a long and complex restoration phase ended.[14]
The Salviano mountain area on the western side sloping down to Capistrello was at the centre of the event of the Massacre of the 33 Martyrs, who during World War II were caught on the mountain slopes and subsequently shot by German troops.[15]
Theatre of Germination
In 2000, the work entitled Theatre of Germination (Italian: Teatro della Germinazione), a sculpture by artist Pietro Cascella, was installed on the pass. The work, built in 1998 with Carrara and partly Majella stone, was initially conceived to be exhibited in the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise. After being placed for a couple of years in some Pescasseroli storehouses waiting to be assembled, it was placed on the Monte Salviano pass thanks to the Avezzano mayor, Mario Spallone, and the park manager, Franco Tassi. After visiting the pass, Tassi and Cascella gave their assent for the definitive exhibition of the work.
The sculpture is made up of a central, spherical-shaped high relief depicting an egg surrounded by water, and four panels positioned in a circle with the celestial sphere and other associated elements in the centre. Germination represents the creation of nature and man in a metaphorical sense.[16]
The Pilgrim's House
Not far from the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Pietraquaria, near the former stone bar, the cultural centre named "Pilgrim's House" (Italian: Casa del Pellegrino) was set up, where the photographs of local fauna and mountain herbs, plants and fruits are exhibited. Here meetings and conferences on environmental problems, needs and proposals take place.[17]
The Marsi Road
Near the pass a panoramic route departs that climbs up the "Marsi Road" (Italian: Via dei Marsi), an ancient trail already existing in the Pre-Roman Age which is part of the E1 European long distance path and connects Monte Salviano, through the Cunicella route (939 metres (3,081ft)MSL) and the Lucus Angitiae wood, to the Abruzzo National Park.[18] The project related to the trail, named "The Marsi Road: the Marsican Green Thorn (An Environmental, Historical, Cultural, Religious, and Tourist Route)" (Italian: La via dei Marsi: la spina verde marsicana (Itinerario ambientale, storico, culturale, religioso e turistico)), obtained the important, special mention ERCI team Onlus on the occasion of the "Landscape Prize 2012-2013" established by the Council of Europe.[19][20]
The caves
At a short distance from the entrances to the Tunnels of Claudius the Cave of Ciccio Felice opens, which was explored for the first time in 1948 by Piero Barocelli together with Antonio Mario Radmilli. Diggings and research allowed to reconstruct the habits of the populations from the Upper Paleolithic and the subsequent historical periods who inhabited them.[21] Nearby are the Afra and La Difesa Caves.
The rich biodiversity of dendroflora features black pines, chestnuts, downy oaks and other spontaneous autochthonous species typical of the reserve woods. In the summer of 1993 a fire seriously damaged the floro-faunistic heritage. The slow ecological restoration, carried out through the reforestation of autochthonous and indigenous species and favouring the process of spontaneous renaturalization, consolidated the Monte Salviano ecosystem.[23]
The Province of Rieti is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rieti. Established in 1927, it has an area of 2,750.52 square kilometres (1,061.98 sq mi) with a total population of 157,887 people as of 2017. There are 73 comuni in the province.
Avezzano is a city and comune with a population of 40,661 inhabitants, situated in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. Avezzano was documented as an existing urban center in the ninth century. The city was destroyed by the earthquake of 1915. It was rebuilt after the 1944 Allied bombing. The city was decorated with the silver medal for civil merit, an award granted by the Italian Republic.
Capistrello is a comune and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central-southern Italy. It is located at the border between the upper Liri River valley and the Marsica. Capistrello borders the following municipalities: Avezzano, Canistro, Castellafiume, Filettino (Frosinone), Luco dei Marsi, Scurcola Marsicana and Tagliacozzo.
Cappadocia is a comune and town with approximately 550 inhabitants in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is part of Marsica. It's also part of the "Borghi autentici d'Italia" club.
Ortona dei Marsi is a comune and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is included in traditional area of Marsica. The commune is part of the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise. Ortona dei Marsi is situated on 1000 meters above sea level and the mountains that surround the valley reach up to 1,800 meters.
The Fucine Lake was a large endorheic lake in western Abruzzo, central Italy, stretching from Avezzano in the northwest to Ortucchio in the southeast, and touching Trasacco in the southwest. Once the third largest lake in Italy, it was drained in 1878.
Marsica is a geographical and historical region in the Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 comuni in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, the plain of Carsoli and the valley of Sulmona.
Tourism in Abruzzo has become one of the most prosperous sectors in the economy of Abruzzo, and in recent years has seen a remarkable growth attracting numerous tourists from Italy and Europe. According to statistics, in 2021 arrivals totaled 1,330,887. A total of 5,197,765 arrivals were tourists, a figure that puts the region seventeenth among the Italian regions for numbers of tourists per year. A moderate support to tourism is also given to the Abruzzo Airport with many low cost and charter flights connecting the entire region with the rest of Europe.
Lucus Angitiae was an Italic and Roman town and sanctuary with temple of the goddess Angitia, the ruins of which are located in the comune of Luco dei Marsi in the Abruzzo region of Italy.
Avezzano concentration camp was an Italian assembly and detention camp set up in 1916 in the Abruzzo city of the same name during World War I, immediately after the 1915 Marsica earthquake that almost completely destroyed it decimating the population. The detention camp was reserved to about 15,000 prisoners from the Austro-Hungarian army, mainly of Czech–Slovak, Polish, German, and Hungarian nationalities; Romanians, who were gathered in the Romanian Legion of Italy by the end of the conflict, had a garrison and a training camp in Avezzano. Mostly abandoned in 1920, a sector was reused in World War II to house British, Indian and New Zealand prisoners of war.
Monte Salviano is a massif in the Abruzzo Apennines, Central Italy. It includes the peaks of Monte d'Aria, Monte Cimarani and Monte San Felice. Since 1999 the area, falling within the municipal territory of Avezzano, has been included in the Riserva Naturale di Monte Salviano.
The Piani Palentini are a plateau in upper Marsica, a subregion of Abruzzo, in central Italy.
The Sanctuary of the Madonna di Pietraquaria is a church situated on Mount Salviano at about 1,000 metres ASL in the municipal territory of Avezzano, Abruzzo, Central Italy.
Muzio Febonio was an Italian priest and historian, best known for his historical and hagiographic works about Marsica, the Abruzzo sub-region where he was born. In his writings he made extensive use of archive documents and historiographic and archaeological sources, showing a deep knowledge of them, although in a somewhat formal and pedantic style. However, his works represent a valuable source of information for later historians, even if their publication occurred with a lot of errors and delays, which partly explains the limited fame this author enjoyed.
Madonna di Pietraquaria is one of the titles by which the Holy Virgin Mary is venerated as the Patroness of the city of Avezzano, in Abruzzo, Italy. On 1 January 1978, Maria Santissima di Pietraquaria was proclaimed the patroness saint of the city of Avezzano. The Virgin Mary is celebrated with events and religious rites between 25 and 27 April.
The Tunnels of Claudius consist principally of a 6 km-long tunnel together with several monumental service tunnels which Roman Emperor Claudius had built by 52 AD to partially drain the Fucine Lake in Abruzzo, protecting riparian villages from floods and creating agricultural land. It was a massive engineering project involving 30000 workmen and slaves who completed it in just 11 years, and considered among the grandest in antiquity. It was the longest tunnel ever built until the inauguration of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel in 1871.
The Fucine Inlet is a monument built on the head of the main emissary of the Fucine Lake in Italy. It is made up of the three-arched bridge of the sluice gates and the about 7-metre-high (23 ft) statue of the Immaculate Conception rising above. It is situated in Borgo Incile, a locality south of the city of Avezzano, in the Fucine plain, Abruzzo, Central Italy. The facility necessary for the drainage of the Fucine Lake connects the outer drainage canal to the underground emissary which is served by the system of the Tunnels of Claudius in Mount Salviano. The monument was made in 1876 by architect Carlo Nicola Carnevali.
The Capistrello massacre was a mass killing carried out in Capistrello, a small town in Abruzzo, Italy, on 4 June 1944 by Nazi and Fascist occupation troops during World War II. A first tragical episode occurred a few months earlier on 20 March, when a local youth was barbarically tortured and then shot. The following roundup made by Nazists and Fascists on the slopes of Mount Salviano led to the capture and torture of 33 shepherds and breeders. The shooting occurred near Capistrello railway station.
The Festival Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano is an annual film festival held in Avezzano, in the Abruzzo region, Italy. The festival boasts the recognition of the Ministry of Culture.
Vincent Massari was a member of the Colorado General Assembly for 22 years, from 1955 to 1976, the year of his death. He served five two-year terms in the Colorado House of Representatives, from 1955 to 1965, representing Pueblo County. He was elected three times to the Colorado Senate, in 1964, 1968 and 1972. For 42 years he served as president of the Columbian Federation of Italian-American Societies founded on Columbus Day October 12, 1893 in Chicago, Illinois. His legislative efforts led to the establishment of Southern Colorado State College in 1961, known today as Colorado State University Pueblo.
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