THE PROTECTED AREAS OF THE MARCHES:SIBILLINI MOUNTAINS

By Arbusti Ilenia, Bara Alessandro, Broglia Alice Class 2A

National park of “Monti Sibillini”

The National park of “monti Sibillini” was founded in 1993. It covers an area of 70.000 hectares and it includes the regions of the Marches and Umbria. In the territory of this park there are four different slopes:
  The flowery slope includes the northern part of the park with the lawns of “Ragnolo” where, in summer time you can admire wonderful blooms.
  The historical slope is a rich territory of castles and watchtowers that even today characterize the structure of a lot of towns. From a natural perspective there are very interesting places: the “Gorges of Valnerina” and the “Monte Bove” massif.
  The sacred slope includes the commune of Norcia where San Benedetto was born. Here important monuments and churches included San Benedetto’s basilica can be observed.
  The magical slope includes “ the Gorge of Infernaccio”. In this sector there are some rare species of wild flowers such as the edelweiss. In the middle ages Sibillini mountains were known as the reign of fiends and fairies. The two most famous legends are Sibilla’s and Pilato’s. Nature tends to change as soon as we move from the bottom to the top of the mountain. The most rare species are the edelweiss , the Eugeniae Violet, Anemone millefoliata and Linaria alpine. Fauna is also interesting . In particular the wolf, the wild cat, the porcupine, the deer and the chamois live in this national park. Among the birds there is the golden eagle and the sparrow hawk.