Civitella Alfedena Things to Do

We didn't visit the museum - we preferred an ice-cream in the cafe nearby ;-) Nor did we manage to see any wolves in the enclosed sanctuary - they were hiding or asleep somewhere. However its worth climbing up the little hill behind the museum for the view over the village from the pak land there.

The village has origns from a fortress built by the Cassino's monks in the year 1060. This castle was later destroyed along with other strongholds in the Sangro valley in 1240. Today the oldest part of the village centre is represented by the "Tower", the first fortified struture after the distruction of the stronghold. It has a lovely setting in the midst of the old village and is gaily decorated with flowers on the steep steps.

Across the road from the grassy park area above the museum is a recreational area - just past this is a vantage point of the the lake of Barrea and at the far end of the lake Barrea, known as the "Pearl of the Abruzzo" can be seen. Barrea is also worthy of a short visit. Please check out my Barrea page for more pics and info.

As you wander around the narrow steep streets of hillside Civitella Alfedena you can see where the animals - most likely mules- used to be tied up by the ring posts which are still evident in the old centre.

Civitella has a wolf musem -the building was originally a stable; it contains detailed information on the life of the Appennine wolf. There are resident "lupos" in a large enclosure just outside the city walls. They are rarely seen though as they tend to be sleeping in the undergrowth. The official explanation is that wolves in the wild are interbreeding with dogs, and that this is an attempt to maintain a genetically pure strain, but the zoolike aspect is undeniable.

A more recent structure in the old town is this quaint fountain - hard to believe it was built in 1958!! Glad they kept the look in keeping with the rustic style.