Many visitors to Rome do not realise that a startling and intriguing contrast to the city is available within a 90-minute drive. Heading eastwards, visitors reach soaring peaks, Europe's southernmost glacier, uncontaminated nature and magnificent medieval churches.

The Abruzzo, the region that occupies much of the centre of the peninsula, is dotted with ancient villages set amid imposing mountains. But it also flanks the Adriatic sea. It is as if Tibet were bordered by California.

House-hunting foreigners who discovered Umbria after Tuscany are now interested in the Abruzzo but it differs from the other two regions. It is rugged sheep country rather than farmland and almost a third consists of parks where wildlife thrive, from innocuous brown bears (recently poachers have killed some) and wolves to deer.

Rather than having a Renaissance or Baroque imprint, it has been shaped mainly by the Middle Ages.

The biggest park is called after its highest mountain, the Gran Sasso, which rises to 3048 metres and has a distinctive jagged outline. It is the apex of the Apennines, the spine of the Italian peninsula. Here, snow and ice are found even in midsummer. It has Europe's highest plateau, Campo Imperatore, where visitors can find public barbecue sites and meat on sale. They can also visit the Campo Imperatore Hotel where, in the summer of 1943, Benito Mussolini was held prisoner by the Allies who believed it was inaccessible until, in a daring raid, German gliders rescued him so he could lead a last-ditch Fascist republic in northern Italy (Mussolini said he was glad to avoid trial in Madison Square Garden or imprisonment in the Tower of London ). The hotel still functions: Mussolini's room is intact and there is a photographic record of the German raid.

In summer, sheep guarded by handsome white Abruzzo dogs populate these highlands. For hundreds of years, millions of sheep grazed in the Abruzzo highlands and were accompanied southwards each winter, in a trip which took about three weeks, to milder coastal plains.

Florence rode to power on the sheep's back and many of the sheep were Abruzzesi. Florentine producers of fine cloths used to flock to the capital of the region, L'Aquila, whose churches were witness to its prosperity before Australian and other wool producers ate into the market, forcing many Abruzzesi to migrate. Among the heirs of these migrants are Madonna, Michael Buble{aac} and American novelist John Fante and the Italo-Australian Rocky Mattioli, who now lives in Milan.

Ninety-nine villages agreed in the 13th century to establish L'Aquila and are commemorated there in a remarkable fountain with 99 spouts. The 14th-century Collemaggio cathedral, with its pink and white marble chequer-pattern facade, is not to be missed and the Spanish fortress-castle, dating from the time that Abruzzo was the northernmost province of the kingdom of Naples which depended on Aragonese rulers, has a fine museum of Abruzzo culture and history.

Close to the Gran Sasso Park is the postcard village of Santo Stefano in Sassania, a skein of streets around a Medici family tower. The demographic decline in the region is illustrated by the decrease in its inhabitants over a century: from more than 1500 at the beginning of the 20th century to 70 at the beginning of the 21st century.

But tourism offers it a chance: at 1066 metres, Santo Stefano offers easy access to the ski runs of the Gran Sasso and a short car ride uphill takes visitors to Rocca Calascio with its spectacular views, a 17th-century octagonal church and a ruined castle. The scenery is so striking that many film directors have chosen it as a film site, including Bruce Beresford for King David. In Santo Stefano, an Italo-Swedish entrepreneur, Daniel Kilgren, has established a hotel which consists largely of refurbished apartments spread throughout the village. His criterion in this development is to respect Abruzzo traditions.

A contiguous park around the sloping wedge of Maiella mountain is one of Europe's most challenging mountain-walking zones with a broad biodiversity and fauna such as chamois, otters and countless butterflies. A church in Manopello village has what is alleged to be an authentic image of Christ's face. Credence was lent to this belief when Pope Benedict XVI came to pray before the image for the 500th anniversary of its arrival in Manopello.

Faith has played a key role in the Abruzzo. St Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism, was born nearby. St Francis of Assisi was active in the region and it is haunted by the memory of Celestine V, who was called from an Abruzzo monastery he founded to become Pope but abdicated after a few months. It is a region of magnificent Romanesque churches. One of the most rewarding is in the tiny village of Bominaco. It is a perfectly preserved medieval structure with an adjoining chapel whose walls are covered by fascinating affreschi painted over several centuries. Distinctive crosses and symbols suggest it was once influenced by the warrior-monks, the Knights Templar, who were later suppressed by the Vatican.

Bominaco is in the Navelli plain, one of the few open spaces amid the Abruzzo mountains. The plain, where precious saffron is grown and sold, lies between L'Aquila and Sulmona (25,000 inhabitants), the most attractive town in the Abruzzo. Known as the Siena of the Abruzzo because it was divided into competing wards, it was the birthplace of the Roman poet Ovid and bears the imprint of its successive medieval French-Neapolitan and Germanic rulers. Like Manhattan, it is flanked by water: the new quarters have grown outside the town whose main street has historic buildings on either side and some interesting shops, such as barbers which have ornate facades, including mirrors.

Abruzzo food tends to be hearty mountain fare with rich peasant soups or antipasti, lamb, Italy's best lentils, some good red wines and a variety of liqueurs from the sickly sweet to knockout potions such as Centoerbe, which has a 72 per cent alcohol content.

The coast has mile after mile of broad sandy beaches but the sea is shallow. It is fine for children but don't go there for surf. The main coastal town, Pescara, is almost completely modern, which, according to Tim Parks in his excellent book An Italian Education, says more about contemporary Italy than all its famous monuments. Further down the coast is the pleasant town of Vasto, which is twinned with Perth where many of its fishermen emigrated.

Of course Abruzzo is a magnet for skiers (including Pope John Paul II, who made six official visits and 35 unofficial ones. When he could no longer ski, he slipped away from the Vatican to contemplate the magnificent mountains which reminded him of those near his Polish birthplace).

Abruzzo is also sought out by horse lovers. With the adjoining region of Le Marche, it offers Italy's longest horse-riding trail (the Ippovia Italia) of 840 kilometres which is equipped with staging posts for the horses and accommodation for the riders. At Campotosto lake, sporting types can canoe while nearby they can sky, rock climb and hang glide.

The roads are good and bus services (but not the trains) adequate but a car is needed to really explore the intricate terrain and visit such small centres as Capestrano with its Medici castle, Castelli with it world-class ceramics production and ceramics museum, Pescocostanzo, which is one of Italy's most handsome small towns, Atri, whose cathedral has a celebrated cycle of frescoes, and Scanno, a town on a lake where some women still often wear traditional costumes.

TRIP NOTES

Getting there: Singapore Airlines flies to Rome via Singapore. Rome/Milan fare from $2090. Phone 131 011 or see http://www.singaporeair.com.au. JAL has a daily service to Rome via Tokyo. Prices from $2350. See http://www.au.jal.com.

For information on parks: .www.parks.it/Parconazionale.gran.sasso

Source: The Sun-Herald

Ninety-nine villages agreed in the 13th century to establish L'Aquila and are commemorated there in a remarkable fountain with 99 spouts. The 14th-century Collemaggio cathedral, with its pink and white marble chequer-pattern facade, is not to be missed and the Spanish fortress-castle, dating from the time that Abruzzo was the northernmost province of the kingdom of Naples which depended on Aragonese rulers, has a fine museum of Abruzzo culture and history.

Close to the Gran Sasso Park is the postcard village of Santo Stefano in Sassania, a skein of streets around a Medici family tower. The demographic decline in the region is illustrated by the decrease in its inhabitants over a century: from more than 1500 at the beginning of the 20th century to 70 at the beginning of the 21st century.

But tourism offers it a chance: at 1066 metres, Santo Stefano offers easy access to the ski runs of the Gran Sasso and a short car ride uphill takes visitors to Rocca Calascio with its spectacular views, a 17th-century octagonal church and a ruined castle. The scenery is so striking that many film directors have chosen it as a film site, including Bruce Beresford for King David. In Santo Stefano, an Italo-Swedish entrepreneur, Daniel Kilgren, has established a hotel which consists largely of refurbished apartments spread throughout the village. His criterion in this development is to respect Abruzzo traditions.

A contiguous park around the sloping wedge of Maiella mountain is one of Europe's most challenging mountain-walking zones with a broad biodiversity and fauna such as chamois, otters and countless butterflies. A church in Manopello village has what is alleged to be an authentic image of Christ's face. Credence was lent to this belief when Pope Benedict XVI came to pray before the image for the 500th anniversary of its arrival in Manopello.

Faith has played a key role in the Abruzzo. St Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism, was born nearby. St Francis of Assisi was active in the region and it is haunted by the memory of Celestine V, who was called from an Abruzzo monastery he founded to become Pope but abdicated after a few months. It is a region of magnificent Romanesque churches. One of the most rewarding is in the tiny village of Bominaco. It is a perfectly preserved medieval structure with an adjoining chapel whose walls are covered by fascinating affreschi painted over several centuries. Distinctive crosses and symbols suggest it was once influenced by the warrior-monks, the Knights Templar, who were later suppressed by the Vatican.

Bominaco is in the Navelli plain, one of the few open spaces amid the Abruzzo mountains. The plain, where precious saffron is grown and sold, lies between L'Aquila and Sulmona (25,000 inhabitants), the most attractive town in the Abruzzo. Known as the Siena of the Abruzzo because it was divided into competing wards, it was the birthplace of the Roman poet Ovid and bears the imprint of its successive medieval French-Neapolitan and Germanic rulers. Like Manhattan, it is flanked by water: the new quarters have grown outside the town whose main street has historic buildings on either side and some interesting shops, such as barbers which have ornate facades, including mirrors.

Abruzzo food tends to be hearty mountain fare with rich peasant soups or antipasti, lamb, Italy's best lentils, some good red wines and a variety of liqueurs from the sickly sweet to knockout potions such as Centoerbe, which has a 72 per cent alcohol content.

The coast has mile after mile of broad sandy beaches but the sea is shallow. It is fine for children but don't go there for surf. The main coastal town, Pescara, is almost completely modern, which, according to Tim Parks in his excellent book An Italian Education, says more about contemporary Italy than all its famous monuments. Further down the coast is the pleasant town of Vasto, which is twinned with Perth where many of its fishermen emigrated.

Of course Abruzzo is a magnet for skiers (including Pope John Paul II, who made six official visits and 35 unofficial ones. When he could no longer ski, he slipped away from the Vatican to contemplate the magnificent mountains which reminded him of those near his Polish birthplace).

Abruzzo is also sought out by horse lovers. With the adjoining region of Le Marche, it offers Italy's longest horse-riding trail (the Ippovia Italia) of 840 kilometres which is equipped with staging posts for the horses and accommodation for the riders. At Campotosto lake, sporting types can canoe while nearby they can sky, rock climb and hang glide.

The roads are good and bus services (but not the trains) adequate but a car is needed to really explore the intricate terrain and visit such small centres as Capestrano with its Medici castle, Castelli with it world-class ceramics production and ceramics museum, Pescocostanzo, which is one of Italy's most handsome small towns, Atri, whose cathedral has a celebrated cycle of frescoes, and Scanno, a town on a lake where some women still often wear traditional costumes.