Overview
Enjoy your summer in Taranta Peligna and the Cavallone Caves. These are places of great emotion, in the Maiella National Park, that we recommend you to choose for a stay or simply for a weekend.
We begin with the majestic caves, a scientific and geological paradise reopened at the end of June (For more information, visit the dedicated website).
The journey starts from the cable car that you can take at Pian di Valle crosses. The cable car crosses the Vallone di Taranta Peligna up to the entrance of the wild caves, which are ancestral underground mouths, also known as the “Grotte della Figlia di Jorio”, because they inspired the painter Francesco Paolo Michetti for the set design of the tragedy written by Gabriele D'Annunzio in 1903.
You are about 1,400 metres above sea level and in front of you are 300 steps carved into the rock by the hands of skilled stonemasons from Abruzzo in 1894.
Are you ready for the ascent? The important thing is that there is an experienced guide next to you.
The path can be visited for more than a kilometre and winds its way through several rooms interspersed with wells and ponds, such as the “Galleria della devastazione” and the “Sala di Aligi” where you can admire the “Sentinels”, marvellous stalactites and stalagmites that have been playing with time and water for tens of millennia. “Come forth to see again the stars”, after an hour of lights, shadows and darkness.
Those who are not familiar with enclosed spaces can visit “Cavallone Easy”, the virtual museum of the Cavallone Caves, in the cellars of Palazzo Malvezzi, in the historic centre of Taranta Peligna. Here you will find four exhibition rooms, with low temperature, high humidity, low light and reconstruction of a corner of a cave with concretions, water drops and ponds, which give the feeling of being underground, even going through the rooms and thanks to huge touch screens with paths animated by spherical photos.
At the foot of the Vallone di Taranta on the Aventino river, the discovery of the village leads to a visit to the Merlino woollen mill, one of the oldest in Italy, and one of the last factories that still carry on the ancient art of weaving with great sacrifice. Its foundation dates back to 1870 by Vincenzo Merlino, the progenitor of four generations, who have made the “factory” a symbol of Abruzzo's textile craftsmanship. It’s an iconic site that houses rare machinery, such as a fulling mill for fulling fabrics, vats for washing the raw material, a carding machine, and then a spinning wheel, warper, twisting machine and other weaving tools.
You can also have a “customised” blanket made – one of the classic, warm and indestructible, Abruzzese blankets – that tell the story of a town and a very ancient art, probably recovered in the 1500s by Lorenzo Malvezzi Medici, who came to the area to spread the art of wool.
But hurry, the blankets and the activity are rare jewels in danger of extinction.
Opposite the wool mill, you will find the "Acque Vive" Nature Park, another ideal place to spend a day immersed in the botanical garden and nature trail, with several areas equipped for campers, picnics and children.
At the table, ricotta and spinach ravioli with truffle sauce, pappardelle and tagliatelle with wild boar ragout, porcini mushrooms and truffle, lamb “a scottadito”, "pallotte cace e ove", and roast cheese await you!
What else to see:
- The Church of San Biagio
- The Madonna della Valle Sanctuary
- The Church of St Nicholas of Bari
- The Church of the Holy Trinity
- The Church of the Madonna del Carmine
- The Shrine of the Brigata Maiella