GIVI Magazine - November de 2010 - EN

15 gorge. “Go, go ahead” - the Queen replied - “but remember and never forget, you must return to the cavern before sunrise. No ray of sunshine must touch you...” The fairies got carried away at the ball and didn’t notice that dawn was breaking. They were very scared and returned to the cavern in such a hurry, that they left a light coloured streak on the mountain slope. It is commonly called the “fairy path”. PILATE’S LAKE - Another legend of these mountains is that linked to the figure of Pontius Pilate: below the peak of Monte Vettore on the western slope, at an altitude of 1940 metres is Pilate’s Lake. The most ancient legend describes it as a place that, from time im- memorial, was devoted to devils and only necromancers could visit it. Legend has it that, the Roman Emperor Titus Vespasian, after destroying Jerusalem, brought Pilate to the Eternal City and sentenced him to death. Before his execution, Pilate requested that his corpse be placed on a cart pulled by oxen, left to wander where destiny took them. The Emperor granted his wish and when the oxen arrived in the Sibillini Mountains, they fell into the reddish waters of the lake and Pilate’s body disappeared forever. FIASTRONE GORGE - LAME ROSSE - GROTTO OF THE FRIARS - From the sky-blue Fiastrone Lake, which mirrors the peaks of the surrounding mountains, the path rises towards the suggestive Lame Rosse (red blades), amazing rock formations created by rainwater erosion. It then continues downhill towards the Grotto of the Friars, with the hermitage of the Clareni monks which dates back to 1000 AD. The hermitage is perched above the impressive Fiastrone Gorge, eroded by the torrent of water over the course of centuries, which can be reached after a steep descent. Passing through the gorge, sometimes submerged by water, you return to the Fiastra dam where the itinerary begins. FRONTIGNANO - PASSO CATTIVO - SAINT LEONARD HERMITAGE - INFERNACCIO GORGE - RUBBIANO - The Infernaccio (literally Hell’s Gorge)! This is a slippery and impenetrable gorge which no- one had dared to cross before 1820. The natural course of the River Tenna, as we see it today, is not the original one; a landslide from the slopes of Mount Sibilla completely obstructed the gorge, forcing the water to find a new bed, abandoning the course that it had eroded for centuries. The original river bed is where the mule track rises now and the river flowed abundantly between the steep slippery cliffs and was impossible to cross. Today this route can be used without problem: a massive wall follows the River Tenna to the “Muline” where the monks built a small water mill to grind the fruit of their work. It is one of the most spectacular gorges of the whole Apennines. Crossing through it is breathtaking, as the sheer cliff faces seem to close in on you, almost as if they were warning you, that they could close the passage at any moment. The Castelluccio Plain. The Great and Small Plains, which in spring brim with wild flowers in full bloom.