Territories
Abruzzo is a region situated in south Italy and L’Aquila is its capital. The region is bounded to the north by Marche, to the southwest by Lazio, to the southeast by Molise and to the east by the Adriatic Sea.
It covers an area of 10.798 square kilometres, with a population of 1.312.727 inhabitants (Source: ISTAT February 28, 2007). Abruzzo is divided in four provinces: L’Aquila, Chieti, Pescara and Teramo.
The Region consists in two distinct parts: one is the Adriatic coastline presenting very regular borders, without any inlets and interrupted only by the mouths of the rivers that run down the Apennine ranges, and the other is the inland area, characterized by hills and plateaus that gradually rise till reaching the highest peaks of the Apennine system, as the Gran Sasso massif (Monte Corno 2.914 metres a.s.l.), La Maiella (Monte Amaro 2.793 metres a.s.l.) and Monte Velino (2.487 metres a.s.l.).
Frequently in between these mountainous massifs there are present either extended Basins, such as the Basin of Sulmona, of L’Aquila and the most extended Basin of Fucino, or very narrow and deep incisions, as the Gorges of Popoli and the high valley of Sangro.
The lack of water resources in Abruzzo, in which predominate seasonal streams with very limited courses, is due to the predominance of calcareous rocks and to the consequent developed karst phenomena.
The most important rivers are the Aterno-Pescara (145 kms), the Sangro (117 kms), the Tronto (93 kms) the Trigno (83 kms) and the Vomano (70 kms).
After the drainage of Lake Fucino, Lake Scanno is the only noteworthy lake in Abruzzo.
The climate, highly influenced by the orography, is continental in most parts of the Region and Mediterranean on the coastline.
The vegetation is distinguished in five particular areas: the Mediterranean area, the cultivated area, the wood forest area, the pastures areas and the maritime area, with a predominance of walnut trees, chestnut trees, oaks, junipers on the mountains and of maritime pine on the coastline areas.
The fauna is essentially composed by the following main mammals: red foxes, badgers, weasels, fur seals and martens, stone martens, skunks, squirrels and dormouses, among which the Moscardino, a typical autochthonous breed, while bears, chamoises and wolves are common animals of the National Park of Abruzzo.
The emblem of the Abruzzo Region is a sanniticshielddivided in three transversal white, green and blue strips separated by golden bars. This shield belonged to one of the people which took part to the Italic league in 98 BC, in order to obtain the same rights of the roman citizens. The white colour represents the snowy mountains, the green represents the forests and hills, while the blue represents the sea. In this way the coat of arms suggests the geographical structure of the Region.
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Ironing board, cherry red with blue cover and iron holding grill in chrome plated iron.
The chestnut groves of the Roveto Valley extend along the right of the Liri River, across the entire valley.
Ratafia is a widespread liqueur throughout the region, made with amarena cherries and red wine from Montepulciano variety grapes. Following the local recipe, it is traditionally made by putting who ...