The dry-stone huts and agro-pastoral complexes of Abruzzo are an extraordinary example of spontaneous architecture deriving from human life on the mountain and animal husbandry. The dry-stone walls were built by industrious farmers and nomadic animal herders from the “maceri”, heaps of rocks meticulously removed from the fields by the local communities over thousands of years and used to fence small properties and ancient tholos structures. The stones were also used to dam and protect precious water sources.
These structures can generally be found on the middle mountains of Abruzzo. The largest number of stone huts is concentrated in the Maiella range, with the highest density in the municipalities of Abbateggio (Valle Giumentina has one of the biggest tholos in the Maiella area), Roccamorice (Valle Onofrio, Fosso Capanna, Colle della Civita) and Lettomanoppello. Structures of this type can also be found easily in Decontra at Caramanico, La Valletta-Passolanciano between Pretoro and Pennapiedimonte, Colle Malvarano and Passo San Leonardo in Pacentro, Monte Manicola and Colle del Vescovo in L’Aquila, Montagna dei Fiori between Civitella del Tronto and Valle Castellana.
Film Commission d'Abruzzo
Centro Regionale Beni Culturali - Sulmona
Phone: + 39 0864 576303
Email: crbc@regione.abruzzo.it
