| Fara San Martino Palombaro Nature Reserve | |
 | |
| Area type | Oriented nature reserve |
|---|---|
| State | Italy |
| Region | Abruzzo |
| Territory | Frentano-Alto Vastese |
| Surface | 42.02 km² |
| Foundation year | 1983 |
Fara San Martino Palombaro Nature Reserve is located in Abruzzo.
To know
The reserve extends between the municipalities of Fara San Martino is Diver and is characterized by the presence of Gorges of Fara San Martino, a sort of gorge formed by the erosion of the Verde torrent. Legend has it that the gorges were opened by the arms of St. Martin, a probable Christian reference of Hercules and the columns of Hercules.
Geographical notes
The valley is 14 km long, has a difference in height of 2400 m. and is divided into three parts:
- the first called Vallone di Santo Spirito, named after the cave of the same name;
- the second the area called Macchia Lunga;
- the third called Valle Cannella, ending in a cirque of glacial formation full of sinkholes and sinkholes.
Parallel to the valley of Fara is the Vallone del Fossato. Scattered throughout the reserve, there are also numerous caves, some of which have been transformed over time into places of worship, others have become a refuge for shepherds and brigands.
Flora and fauna
- Flora
The forest is covered with holm oak, strawberry tree and terebinth woods. In the high areas there is the larch, in the Valle di Macchia Lunga there are beech woods and the mountain pine. Other species in the reserve are the black pine, the Valenza gorse, the Cavolini bellflower, the bear's ear primrose, the Apennine potentilla, the Corallorhiza trifida orchid, the Pyrola chiorantha, the lonicera nigra, the Venus slipper, the dwarf juniper, bearberry and sabine juniper.
- Fauna
The rock partridge is the symbol of the reserve. The avifauna is also enriched by the presence of the wallcreeper and the cruiser, while among the birds of prey we remember the golden eagle, the peregrine falcon and the lanner.
Among the mammals, the presence of the Marsican bear, the Apennine wolf, the roe deer, the red deer and the Abruzzo chamois is noteworthy.
In the area of the reserve, human presence has been attested since the Bronze Age. It is a protected natural area of Abruzzo established in 1983.
How to get
By plane
- Pescara airport (Abruzzo International Airport), Via Tiburtina Km 229.100, ☎ 39 085 4324201.
By car
Highway exit Val di Sangro on the A14 Adriatica motorway; then continue with the provincial road 84 towards Casoli - Fara San Martino.
Highway exit Sulmona - Pratola Peligna on the A25 Rome - Pescara; then continue for Roccaraso, Pescocostanzo, Palena, Fara San Martino. Still on the A25 exit Chieti, then continue for Guardiagrele - Fara San Martino.
Highway exit Caianello on the A1 Autostrada del Sole; then continue for Castel di Sangro, Roccaraso, Palena, Fara San Martino.
Highway exit Val di Sangro on the A14 Adriatica motorway; then continue with the provincial road 84 towards 
Highway exit 
Highway exit On the train
Railway station a They launch.
Railway station a By bus
Bus lines managed by ARPA - Abruzzesi regional public bus lines [1]
Bus lines managed by ARPA - Abruzzesi regional public bus lines Permits / Rates
How to get around
What see
- Gorges of San Martino. The Gorges are located behind the village in the crack between the two rocks. The kilometric route leads from the monastery of San Martino to the cave of Lama dei Peligni.
- Monastery of San Martino in the Fara Valley. The remains of the monastery are located between the Gorges. The monastery of the Benedictine monks was founded in the 7th century initially with a small hermitage on the rock then enlarged in the 15th century with the construction of the Gothic building. The monastery was devastated by the Turks in the sixteenth century and was never reused.
- Today the small hermitage on the mountain and the Gothic portal with some colonnades of the three naves remain intact. According to studies, the façade must have been a hut with buttresses ending in soaring spiers.
What to do
Shopping
Where to eat
Where stay
- [link previously not working]Macchia del Fresco Hostel (in Macchia del Fresco in the municipality of Fara San Martino), ☎ 39 339 2615405, fax: 39 0872 980970, @[email protected]. It is a structure of the Maiella Park Authority managed by the cooperative The door of the sun.
Safety
How to keep in touch
Around
- Fara San Martino
- Diver
- Lama dei Peligni
- Taranta Peligna - It preserves ancient churches and has areas of naturalistic interest such as the Cavallone cave, the Canosa Cave, the Acquevive, the Taranta Valley.
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Fara San Martino Palombaro Nature Reserve
