Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga Park
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
The Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park is crossed by the Rome-Teramo motorway (Autostrada dei Parchi), which penetrates the massif with the Gran Sasso Tunnel - a tunnel about 10 km long - exiting at Assergi (AQ) for access to the L'Aquila side, Campo Imperatore and the Duca degli Abruzzi Refuge. From Assergi, Campo Imperatore can be reached by road in about 25km or by the Gran Sasso cable car. From the north on the [A14] Adriatica, use the San Benedetto del Tronto, Giulianova-Teramo or Pescara Nord exits to access the Teramo side; from Teramo, the northern side of the massif can be reached with access to Prati di Tivo, also served by cableway. For the Laga Mountains, access is from Acquasanta Terme (AP) for the northern slope and from Amatrice (RI) for the southern slope. The Park Authority headquarters are in Assergi (AQ), in the former Franciscan convent in Via del Convento 1. Numerous visitor centres and cultural poles are distributed throughout the territory: Assergi, Barisciano (Apennine Floristic Research Centre), Bussi sul Tirino, Calascio, Castel del Monte, Crognaleto, Pietracamela, Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Isola del Gran Sasso, Farindola (Apennine Chamois Museum), Amatrice (Agro-food pole), Montorio al Vomano (Protected Areas Documentation Centre). TUA regional buses connect the main municipalities in the park. The Terni-L'Aquila-Sulmona railway serves L'Aquila; the Adriatic line serves Teramo and Pescara.
.Introduction
The Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park extends into the heart of the central Apennines, straddling the Abruzzo, Lazio and Marche regions, in the provinces of L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, Rieti and Ascoli Piceno, covering an area of 1,413.41 kmĀ² distributed over forty-four municipalities. Established under Framework Law No. 394 of 6 December 1991, with the park authority established by Presidential Decree of 5 June 1995, it is the third largest national park in Italy. It includes three distinct mountain systems: the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif, the Monti della Laga and the Monti Gemelli. The Corno Grande (2,912m) is the highest peak in the Italian Apennines; at its base, in the northern glacial cirque, is the Calderone Glacier - the only Apennine glacier and the southernmost in Europe. The park also protects Campo Imperatore, the largest plateau in the Apennines at an altitude of 1,800m, and more than 2,300 higher plant species, corresponding to more than one fifth of the entire European flora.
.Description
The park territory is characterised by a marked geological and landscape diversity between the mountain systems that make it up. The Gran Sasso is a calcareous and dolomitic massif, with a rugged and rocky morphology, modelled by the action of Quaternary glaciers: frontal moraines, glacial cirques, hanging valleys and mounded rocks bear witness to the glaciations that occurred between 600,000 and 10,000 years ago. The Corno Grande - with its four peaks (Vetta Occidentale 2,912m, Vetta Orientale 2,903m, Vetta Centrale 2,893m, Torrione Cambi 2,875m) - dominates the massif and preserves the Calderone Glacier in its northern basin: about five hectares of living ice, with crevasses and moraines typical of Alpine glaciers, the only representative of Apennine glaciology and the southernmost glacier in Europe after the complete melting of the Sierra Nevada glacier in Spain. The glacier is in severe retreat as a result of global warming and its protection is one of the central themes of the park's scientific research. South of the Corno Grande is the Campo Imperatore plateau - 19 km long and 4 km wide, between 1,600 and 2,000 m above sea level - an endless high-altitude karst heathland, whose steppe-like landscape and silences have been compared to the steppes of central Asia, so much so that it has been christened "little Tibet". The Campo Imperatore Astronomical Observatory, active since 1951, is one of the largest astronomical research institutes in Italy. The Laga Mountains, to the north of the Gran Sasso, on the other hand, are built on sedimentary terrigenous rocks - sandstones and flysch marls - that determine a completely different landscape: rounded profiles, slopes covered with lush forests, valleys carved by abundant streams with numerous spectacular waterfalls. Lake Campotosto (1,313m), the largest artificial lake in Abruzzo and one of the largest mountain lakes in Europe, is located on the north-eastern border of the park.
The flora includes more than 2,300 vascular species - more than one fifth of the entire European flora - with 2,665 species recorded, 231 Italian endemisms and 12 species exclusive to the park. The park is one of the protected areas with the greatest plant biodiversity in Europe. On the Gran Sasso there are "glacial relicts" - endemic and relictual plants that survived the glaciations in the high altitude areas: the Edelweiss of the Apennines (Leontopodium nivale subsp. alpinum), the Matilde's androsace, the curved adonis, the Apennine genepi (Artemisia genepi), the ranunculus magellense and the bear's ear primrose (Primula auricula). The yellow adonis (Adonis vernalis), a species long thought to be extinct in Italy, grows in the only known Italian station on the slopes of the Gran Sasso, where it blooms spectacularly in spring. The limonium aquilano and the astragalus aquilano are exclusive endemisms of this area. The Laga Mountains are home to mixed forests with beech woods (Fagus sylvatica), silver firs (Abies alba), oaks, chestnuts, maples, yews, limes and rare birch forests; in the wetter areas, the leafless epipogium orchid (Epipogium aphyllum) is reported. On the Gran Sasso, the pastureland at Campo Imperatore dominates, with 85 species of wild orchids.
The fauna reflects the park's position as a hinge between the Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean regions. The Apennine chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata) - an endemic subspecies of the Apennines - is the symbol of the park: it had been extinct on the Gran Sasso for about a century when a reintroduction project (1992-1999), using specimens from the Abruzzo National Park, brought it back to the mountains; the population reached about 1,200 in 2021. The deer (Cervus elaphus) was reintroduced in 2004 and now numbers around 500 specimens. The Apennine wolf (Canis lupus italicus) is present with about 20 reproductive nuclei with an estimated total of 120 individuals. The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) appears with wandering males from the Parco d'Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise; the park is considered suitable for a stable population of 20-30 individuals. Birds include 11 pairs of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), as well as peregrine falcons, eagle owls and short-toed eagles (Circaetus gallicus). Apennine endemics in the herpetofauna include the spectacled salamander (Salamandrina perspicillata) and the cave-dwelling geotriton (Speleomantes italicus); the alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris), on the Gran Sasso has one of the southernmost stations in Italy.
The park directly borders two other large national parks: to the north-west the Monti Sibillini National Park and to the south-east the Majella National Park. The territory is organised into eleven thematic districts that include historical villages of great value such as Santo Stefano di Sessanio - with its restored medieval cylindrical tower - and the Rocca di Calascio (13th century, included among the 15 most beautiful castles in the world according to National Geographic), which was the location for the film "The Name of the Rose". Pietracamela, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, lies on the slopes of Corno Piccolo. In October 2016, the earthquake in Central Italy severely hit Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto, municipalities in the park, causing serious human losses and the destruction of historic centres; reconstruction is still in progress. The park's trail network includes 93 trails for walking, cycling and horseback riding; among the main ones are the Gran Sasso Horse Trail (320 km loop around the massif) and the Sentiero Italia CAI.
Information
General Data
Typology: National Park
Institution year: 1991 (Law 6 December 1991, n. 394); park authority: D.P.R. 5 June 1995 (G.U. n. 181 of 4 August 1995); provisional perimeter: D.M. 4 December 1992; D.M. 4 November 1993; D.M. 22 November 1994
Managing body: Ente Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga
Reference body: Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica
Area: 1,413.41 kmĀ²
Minimum altitude: ~400m
Maximum altitude: 2,912m
Maximum elevation: 2.912m - Corno Grande (Isola del Gran Sasso d'Italia TE / L'Aquila AQ / Pietracamela TE)
Region(s): Abruzzo - Lazio - Marche
Provinces: L'Aquila - Teramo - Pescara - Rieti - Ascoli Piceno
Municipalities concerned - Province of L'Aquila (AQ): Barete - Barisciano - Cagnano Amiterno - Calascio - Campotosto - Capestrano - Capitignano - Carapelle Calvisio - Castel del Monte - Castelvecchio Calvisio - L'Aquila - Montereale - Ofena - Pizzoli - Santo Stefano di Sessanio - Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi
Municipalities affected - Province of Teramo (TE): Arsita - Campli - Castelli - Civitella del Tronto - Cortino - Crognaleto - Fano Adriano - Isola del Gran Sasso d'Italia - Montorio al Vomano - Pietracamela - Rocca Santa Maria - Torricella Sicura - Tossicia - Valle Castellana
Municipalities affected - Province of Pescara (PE): Brittoli - Bussi sul Tirino - Carpineto della Nora - Castiglione a Casauria - Civitella Casanova - Corvara - Farindola - Montebello di Bertona - Pescosansonesco - Villa Celiera
Municipalities affected - Province of Rieti (RI): Accumoli - Amatrice
Municipalities affected - Province of Ascoli Piceno (AP): Acquasanta Terme - Arquata del Tronto
Official website: https://www.gransassolagapark.it