Abruzzo after the earthquake: agriturismo/agripellegrinaggio?

From L'Aquila:

On a recent autumn afternoon, half a year after a devastating earthquake struck here, a small flock of sheep and goats made its way through the ghostly, ravaged center of this ancient hilltop city. . .

The flock was organized, if one can say so, by Tracturo 3000, a small group of local activists, animal-lovers and dreamers to celebrate an ancient tradition in the rugged central Abruzzo region: the annual migration of the flocks from summer pastures in the central Apennine Mountains east to winter pastures in the Puglia region on the Adriatic. . .

For centuries, shepherds made the journey with their flocks until flatbed trucks came into use in the 1950s. Fueled by nostalgia and a deep sense of place, Tracturo 3000 has made the trek on foot for the past three years, borrowing flocks from local shepherds along the way.

Using old maps and looking for traces in the landscape, they have charted 150 miles of paths from L’Aquila southeast to Foggia in the Puglia Region. . .

Tracturo 3000 one day envisions a formal trail, akin to the network of pilgrimage routes leading to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, by legend the tomb of St. James, where tourists could stop at rustic inns and taverns along the way.

“Our goal is to get recognition by Unesco,” said Pierluigi Imperiale, a veterinarian and L’Aquila native who founded Tracturo 3000. The paths belong to the heritage of humanity, he added, as he led the herd past apple trees — and many ruined houses.

Posted by David on November 17, 2009 9:54 AM