The Comino Valley has a lunar landscape in the middle of winter. The feet sink into the soft snow. The low and dense clouds blend in with the white mantle and together draw strange shapes: a star, a fish, an immense expanse that could even look like the sea.
Ph. Ludovica Baratta
The fog is sometimes so thick that you can't see what's beyond your body. So you look for some friend who is hiking with you, you call them out loud to be sure you are not alone. The small footprints of the wolf, geometrically aligned, almost perfectly, are an integral part of the landscape. Set between the borders of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, in the National Park of the same name, the Comino Valley has the shape of a basin over an area of over two hundred square kilometers, in the province of Frosinone.
Ph. Ludovica Baratta
White and cold in winter, green and mild in summer, it is not too far from Naples or Rome, but it is far enough to offer silent walks and clear, pungent air. With Monte Meta standing out against the peaks and surrounded as it is by villages that are authentic jewels, it is the ideal place for hikers with snowshoes or for those with only hiking boots in warmer temperatures. And also for those looking for slow days that have the scent of fireplaces and the taste of wood-fired bread. I
Ph. Ludovica Baratta
Its name probably derives from the old Roman city of “Cominium”, destroyed during the third Samnite war in 239 BC, as told by Titus Livius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Although this name was never found in any Roman finds. However, we know that the Valley was certainly called Comino already in the Middle Ages and followed the fate of the Kingdom of Naples and the two Sicilies, becoming the scene of a fierce resistance against the unification of Italy, with the brigands who fought and hid between the mountains of the area.
Ph. Ludovica Baratta
A past rich in history, today partly preserved in the spirit of the villages surrounding the valley: Picinisco, with its towers, crenellated walls and large entrance door; Posta Fibreno, famous for the lake of the same name and the reserve, kingdom of nutria and mallards. San Donato Val di Comino, with its intricate streets, covered passages and small squares; Atina, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, which legend has it was founded by Saturn, god of Olympus, who fled from Greece and hid in Lazio where he founded five cities, including Atina.