E | Strane pietre

The forests of Mount Subasio provided timber for the construction of two architectural jewels that are Assisi and Spello. However, this led to terrible deterioration which reduced it to a desert of stones in the early 20th century. Starting in 1928, eight million trees were planted in a substantial reforestation project that ended in the1950s.

Legend has it that Saint Sylvester (AKA Pope Sylvester I) had forgotten to thank Emperor Constantine for granting peace to the Church. He therefore took a horse and rushed to Rome in all haste. Indeed, the same horse hoof prints found along this trail can also be seen on Mount Soratte, on the Vecchia Flaminia road, in Marolo in Rignano Flaminio, and in Prima Porta, Rome.

Along the trail, visitors can observe that the layer of topsoil is extremely thin, with rocks dominating the landscape. The outcropping rocks are of ‘Scagliabianca’, a white calcareous rock. Many of them have been perforated by the solvent action of rainwater rich in carbon dioxide, resulting in surprising visual effects, and some of them have been covered with moss and lichen, creating forms reminiscent of abstract landscapes.

At the highest point of this Section, at an altitude of about 800 metres, a sudden large concentration of rocks devoid of trees enables the eye to gaze out over the mountains of Brunette-Serano (1429 m), Sasso di Pale (958m) and, in the background, the peak of the highest of the Sibylline Mountains:Mount Vettore (2479 m), 50 kilometres away as the crow flies.