Pollino National Park – Garden of the gods (Simon Laurenzana)
It was march 11, 1988 when the Pollino Park was officially established. With its almost 193 thousand hectares of postcard scenery between Basilicata and Calabria, the park is the place to breathe the air of the southern Apennines which nature is distinguished by mountain paths, lush greenery, plateaus, beech woods, amazing native fauna and authentic villages.
The Pollino Park is a paradise for hikers and a cathartic and genuine place for nature lovers. Its richness, however, is not only in its landscapes. The Pollino National Park is, in fact, the largest newly established protected area in Italy. Among its mountain peaks, the Bosnian pine, a symbol of the region whose millennial history is written in its trunk and among its interwined branches, is preserved and protected. The park is home to several monumental trees, plant patriarchs that represent a precious wealth for the whole local and national territory. But the real surprise is that which leads the visitor to find himself on one side of a mountain massif covered with snow throughout the year which, from its over 2000 meters high, protects and observes the sea from coast to coast, from Lucania to Maratea and Metaponto, and embraces more than fifty municipalities.
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