Campo Imperatore

The 'Little Tibet' of Abruzzo at the foot of the Corno Grande

In the heart of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, at an altitude between 1,500 and 1,900 metres, Campo Imperatore is a vast high plateau about 20 kilometres long, a boundless expanse of meadows and pastures surrounded by mountains, with a landscape so wide and wild that it is often called the "Little Tibet" of Italy. To the north it is dominated by the Corno Grande, at 2,912 metres the highest peak of the Apennines, on whose slopes lies the Calderone, once the southernmost glacier in Europe, now reduced by climate change to a small ice field. Herds of horses, cattle and flocks of sheep graze freely on the plateau in summer, and the area has been the setting for many films, especially westerns.

At the western end of the plateau, at about 2,130 metres, is the Hotel Campo Imperatore, built in the 1930s and reachable by a cable car from Fonte Cerreto, in Assergi: here, after his arrest in 1943, Benito Mussolini was held prisoner, and on 12 September 1943 he was freed by German paratroopers who landed with gliders on the meadows. Nearby, the Giardino Botanico Alpino preserves the rare flora of the Gran Sasso, and in winter there are ski slopes. In summer, Campo Imperatore is the starting point for hikes to the Corno Grande and the surrounding peaks. Along the road, the "ristori" sell meat and the famous arrosticini, lamb skewers that visitors can grill themselves on braziers in the open air.

Tip: drive across the plateau at sunset; stop at a ristoro to grill arrosticini; go up to the hotel by cable car.

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