As we know, Abruzzo is rich in landscape variety, with golden beaches, green hills and majestic mountains. Speaking of the latter, we’ll tell you a story that took place right in the heart of Abruzzo: Campo Imperatore.

This spectacular plateau on the slopes of the Gran Sasso, aka Little Tibet, is the ideal destination for outdoor lovers; with its trekking paths immersed in green meadows, ski slopes and its large plains perfect for tourism on two wheels.

An unmissable scenario to enjoy immense spaces and their ancestral silence, whose only inhabitants are the typical fauna of the Gran Sasso National Park.

It’s on this plain that in 1987 a monument soars in memory of a sad story: the story of the shepherd Pupo Nunzio.

A storm to remember

In 1919, sunny October days brought a shepherd with his flock and sons to settle on the slopes of Monte Bolza, Campo Imperatore plateau. The other shepherds had already left on September, heading towards Apulia following the routes of Transhumance.

Suddenly, the morning the sky changed announcing a terrible storm and they were soon fighting for their lives. The blizzard was furious but they almost managed to reach Calascio. Meanwhile,  Pupo’s wife was waiting for them anxiously but, sadly, they never returned to the village. In despair, the woman tried to advance in the storm in search of her family, also losing her life.

The sheperd’s monument

Sculptor Vincentino Michetti wanted to commemorate this moving story with a white marble statue in their memory. This also honors the sacrifice of all the shepherds and the adversities they were facing. In 2006 the statues were sadly vandalized, as if the shepherd’s odyssey wasn’t enough. However, relatives managed to recover the missing pieces later on.

The monument stands out at the crossroads of Fonte Vetica, area of greatest visibility of Campo Imperatore  and spectacular panoramic point.

A perfect opportunity for tourists and motorcyclists visiting the area to stop and commemorate the monument, contemplate the landscape that opens before them, and then set off to discover the wonderful plains of small Tibet.

Easily reachabled in just over an hour, this wonder of Abruzzo is about 80 km away from Eurcamping.