About Abruzzo

Tagged: Cocullo

San Domenico lake and hermitage from bridge 3

Mountains / Province of L'Aquila

San Domenico Lake

A peaceful green place Tinted by the algae under its shimmering surface and reflecting the foliage around its shores, it’s a study in green. No wonder it’s also known as the emerald lake. Officially, this lake is named after San Domenico, whom we’ve already met. He’s the Benedictine monk whose statue, draped in writhing snakes, is borne aloft in Cocullo every year in the May procession. The lake is named after him because he set up his hermitage here around the year 1000. At that time there would have just been the Sagittario River flowing through the gorge. The artificial lake was formed in the early twentieth century when...

Cocullo, Abruzzo 1

Mountains / Province of L'Aquila

Cocullo

A Quiet Place Cocullo is like a ghost town. There is no one about. As we climb the silent winding streets to the tower, we pass windows boarded up and wooden doors – no doubt beautiful in their time – still in place but gnarled by time and neglect. I half expect tumbleweed to come rolling down the streets towards us. There is life at the top, though not human life.  A flock of swifts, black darts against the azure sky, are giving an aerobatics display. It is still early morning. We rest for a while beneath the twelfth century tower, admiring the still sturdy medieval stonework and enjoying...