Barrea Travel Guide

 sandysmith Says:  We wandered around the cobbled streets in virtual solitude - almost like a ghost town.Some of the houses were pastel coloured and here you can see the steps are so old and worn with the moss growing in them. 

 sandysmith Says:  This was a simpler type of letter box with an italian inscription, "Boca Per Lettere". 

 sandysmith Says:  There supposed to be about 900 people living here but we mainly saw a couple of workmen repairing stone steps. I reckon we saw these 2 locals and 2 other dutch tourists..and it wasn't even siesta time ;-S 

 sandysmith Says:  One of the details in the village that fascinated me was the letter boxes - pillar box red this one but set right into the stone wall of a house. 

 sandysmith Says:  The typical village fountain can be found in the town square .....just wish I could have got rid off that digger at the side. Many repairs were being carried out in the village during the day we visited. Many steps were cracked and broken - the result of several earthquakes... 

 sandysmith Says:  Wander the narrow cobbled alleyways of Barrea old town and just admire the rustic architecture. Listed below are some of the sights which can be seen:The building, used today as the library, was in the VII century a Benedectine abbey, rebuilt by the monks of Cassino in the... 

 sandysmith Says:  This bar didn't look much from the outside but there was a covered bar inside with a great view over the lake -a nice place for a cool drink after traipsing those cobbled steps.Just across the road was a pizzeria - but unlike most they didn't heat the pizza :-( 

 sandysmith Says:  Ok better have a look at the view we climbed to the top of the town for ;-) Here you can see how Barrea really is right in the midst of the Park 

 sandysmith Says:  Barrea is surrounded by the hills of the Meta Massif to the south and Monte Greco to the north. The village itself is on an eastern rocky promotory. Don't be confused by the town of Villetta Barrea - this is a larger town by the river at the other end of the lake - so be... 

 sandysmith Says:  This view shows a deep gorge valley in the National Park 

 sandysmith Says:  Barrea is a small hilltop medieval village some 21 km from Pescasseroli, our base in the Abruzzo National Park. Locals call it "Little Switzerland" and on arrival there is a big welcome board declaring Barrea to be the "Pearl of the Abruzzo".Well with its mountains and... 

 sandysmith Says:  The town only has about 900 inhabitants and possesses many of the same features as the other towns in the valley: an old rural core with an attractive and simple aspect; a hill on which it stands overlooking the valley and the lake of the same name. 

 sandysmith Says:  With the name of Barregias, the village rose together with St. Angelo, a nearby Benedictine monastery, in the VIII century. The area came under the rule of the powerful Sangros, who built a storm-proof fortress which still keeps their name.The historians derive the origin of... 

 sandysmith Says:  There are remains of an ancient military and feudal structures - the castle at the edge, the round tower and the square one, the latter the extreme bulwark entered from the upper and lower gates.I guess the castle is not open to the public, there didn't sem to be a way in -...