Lush Green Hills

Lush Green Hills
Umbria
Nel verde
Magazine: May 2007

In the greenest depths of Italy, between Umbria and Marche, not far from Foligno, the Colfiorito Natural Regional Park offers uplands that feature seven hollows, the now dry basins of ancient lakes. The reserve, declared an international natural heritage site for its abundance of flora, guards a treasure: the roundshaped marsh (top) with 100 hectares of blossoming aquatic and paludal vegetation, a flower fest alive with a myriad nesting birds. As we walk to the top of Monte Orve, the site of the area’s most important pre-Roman settlement, we are treated to a magnificent view of all the surrounding marshlands. A not-to-bemissed opportunity to discover this and the region’s other parks, with guided weekend trekking and ‘slow travel’ tours offered by the “Parchi in festa” (“Parks in Festival”), with trips and tasting events planned at Colfiorito on 3 June.