Lauretana Pilgrimage Route in Italy and Protected Areas Along the Route

Lauretana Pilgrimage Route in Italy and protected areas along the route National and Regional Parks XVI cent. Lauretana postal route of the Stato Pontificio Sites of Community Importance (SCI) Plestian Plateaus and Colfiorito Regional Park Zone of Special Protection Colfiorito Regional Park Sanctuary of Santa Maria of Plestia (1) Colfiorito Marsh of Colfiorito (2) (1) 0 10 20 40 Km (2) The Lauretana Pilgrimage Route and the Colfiorito Regional Park. 138 Landscape linkages between cultural and spiritual values. The wetland of Colfiorito and the Lauretana pilgrimage route in the Plestian Plateaus. Chiara Serenelli This article constitutes part of a re- given by the presence of Natural Pro- search aiming to investigate the utility tected Areas and Regional or National of historical cultural and spiritual routes Parks along the ancient route. in promoting landscape management and conservation at local level. Land- scape is the prominent feature of the Cultural and spiritual linkages project. The research takes into con- across the Plestian Landscape sideration the landscapes of Central It- Along the Lauretana Pilgrimage Route, aly crossed by the Lauretana pilgrim- ca. 150 km north from Rome, the trav- age route connecting Rome with the eller reaches one of the crucial stages Sanctuary of Loreto, in the East Coast of the Cammini Lauretani, the city of of Italy. The pilgrimage creates a net- Foligno. Embedded in the landscape work of territorial and local linkages matrix of the Umbrian Valley, the town based on traces of ancient roads that had been an important crossing of the can operate as cultural and ecological Flaminia Roman road. Continuing from connections between people and Foligno towards Loreto, the Lauretana landscape mosaics. While cultural val- enters the Menotre Valley and then ues are rendered by the historical crosses the mountainous chain of Ap- landscapes shaped by the pilgrimage pennino Umbro-Marchigiano through dynamics, ecological ones are also the Colfiorito mountain pass, beyond 139 which lies the ample plateau of Colfio- not communicating with the others is rito. It is named Plestian after the an- located a few kilometres south-west cient settlement of Plestia, and its eco- from the marsh and is separated from logical and cultural values make it one the rest by a narrow ridge. The whole of the most characteristic areas of the plateau system is well visible from the pilgrimage. top of Mount Trella, overlooking the archaeological site of Plestia, from The Plateau is a system of seven which the relations between the plains karstic tectonic plains. While once they and the layout of the roads that cross all were lake basins, they were later them are well discernible. drained as outcome of natural mecha- nisms and human activities. Even to- The road commonly known as Lauret- day, however, they appear flooded ana, which is also named Romana, can during some periods of the year, de- nowadays be identified with the course pending on seasonal precipitation. The of the National Road 77 (Val di Chienti drainage of water is caused only Road). It crosses the Plains from the slightly by the network of ditches and south-western to the north-eastern side, canals, while the seasonal variation in running along the southern side of the water levels is due to a sub-surface marsh of Colfiorito. Pilgrimages toward capitation system that relies on the Loreto began in the fourteenth century, presence of inghiottitoi, i.e. natural but it was from the sixteenth century that ground pits also used in agriculture. it was possible to use the postal road of The Plestian system is one of the most Stato Pontificio, suitable for carriages. interesting natural areas in the Central Today Road 77 is a highway, unsuitable Apennines (Orsomando and Catorci, for walking. It is possible to recognise, 1997). It contains the line of the Um- though, other traces of ancient routes, in bria-Marche watershed and is sur- many cases unpaved country roads rounded by mountains overlooking crossing the Plains, stretching among the Mount Sibillini National Park on hilly pastures broken out by herbaceous the eastern side. It includes biotopes crops and woods of Turkey oak. The that are very important for the conser- whole road network connecting the Pla- vation of biodiversity in Italy, i.e. the teau with its surroundings is of historical marsh of Colfiorito, legally protected and scenic interest. While the network of since 1970 (Pedrotti, 1996), interna- ancient roads that cross the Plateaus tionally recognised as a Ramsar site from west to east mainly corresponds to since 1976 and made a Regional Park the Lauretana pilgrimage network itself, in 1995. Around the 355 ha of wet- other important roads cross the Basin land, located at the centre of the Ba- lengthwise, whose ancient courses can sin, the landscape opens out from the still be discerned on the Plains’ land- Colfiorito Plain onto five surrounding scape they cross. Still nowadays, this plains located at an altitude of 750– route system allows the ancient settle- 800 m above sea level. The only plain ment of Plestia located into the Plestian 140 basin to be connected with other nu- administrative organisation. The trails, merous landmarks that define the Ples- therefore, have always been of great im- tian landscape’s history and keep con- portance for the locals (Sensi, 1984). veying stories of popular traditions and religious devotion. All along these trails we can reconstruct the route of the ritual Signs of historical evolution and processions to the places of worship of spiritual values of the landscape the Plains and the near Menotre Valley. Religion has offered the much-needed The diachronic evolution of the land social cohesion for a population that has and its settlements, together with an always been subjected to consecutive investigation of its religious traditions, episodes of conquest and change of can surely contribute to the under- A scheme of the Plestian Plateau System. Vigna valley Geographic boundaries of the Plestian Plateau system surrounded by hills and mountains and the northern, M. Faeto eastern, south-western Chienti River valley openings Perimeter of the 7 tectonic-karstic plains creating the system M. Boundaries of Prefoglio protected areas into the Plestian system Boundaries of Colfiorito Regional Park Marsh of Colfiorito Colfiorito village Sanctuary of Plestia M. Menotre River valley Tolagna Layout of the upcoming motorway crossing the M. Plains, above and M. under ground and the della Civitella junction of Plestia le Macchie 141 1 Sanctuary of Madonna del Piano 2 3 Sanctuary of Madonna di Ricciano 4 Hermitage of Santa Maria Giacobbe Sanctuary of Madonna delle Grazie Left: The main sacred sites in and next to the basin forming the system of ‘Therapeutic sanctuaries’ Right: Present-day rituals and processions of local people and religious confraternities. standing of the current structure and latest republican Roman Age can still be layers of the landscape. found in the remains of a domus, in the archaeological site of the Casone Plain. Traces of pre-Roman settlements char- acterise the area surrounding Mount Following the barbaric invasions of the Orve. In Roman times, however, the High Middle Ages and the destruction most important centre certainly became of Plestia, the population moved to the Plestia, built on the bank of the Plestian surrounding hills and started the con- Lake, which was drained to obtain agri- struction of castles in defence of the cultural lands (Sensi, 1984). The main main roads. This fostered the particu- public spaces were once situated lar hillock settlement system that still around the lake. A historical sign of the characterises the area. 142 The only remnant of the ancient Plestia sanctuaries (Sensi, 1984: 207-231), that is the sanctuary of Saint Mary an early is, places of worship generally of very Christian basilica which became cathe- old origins, whose denomination derives dral in the eleventh century. In effect, from their religious and spiritual function because of its location at an important and their position. They are in fact told crossroads, the sanctuary came to rep- to have apothropaic powers (therapeu- resent a prominent centre for religious tic sanctuaries) and they are located at participation and the spreading of the confluence of lands belonging to dif- Christianity. In the Middle Ages, the ferent administrators (sanctuaries of area where the Basilica was located be- frontiers). Even today, their presence came a junction where the rivalries for and role is acknowledged as they the setting of boundaries among the helped people conserve a certain de- townships of Camerino (Marche), Folig- gree of religious freedom and a distinct no and Spoleto (Umbria) developed. cultural identity. The majority of these The townships were all striving for the sanctuaries are dedicated to the Virgin control of the Plateaus, and thus caus- Mary and are located along the Menotre ing their administrative, civil and reli- Valley and the Plestian Highlands. Their gious fragmentation. Therefore, where- presence has facilitated the establish- as once all pivoted around Plestia, by ment of a network of small pilgrimages the twelfth century the Basin was divid- from the surrounding villages, often ed along the two main defence lines – along the ancient routes connecting the Camerino on the one hand, Foligno on settlements. the other. Both display traces of fortifi- cations, as the ruins on the top of some Even today, on the occasion of local hills still reveal. festivities people from the different villages of the Plains find religious refer- Nowadays, the regional boundary be- ences in many of these sanctuaries, tween Marche and Umbria runs all along which continue to be destinations of lo- the buffer zone which lies between these cal pilgrimages and processions (Sen- two ancient frontier lines.

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