The Orie Terme Oasis Park in Configno, a small hamlet of Amatrice, is an extraordinary site immersed in an uncontaminated ecosystem, boasting centuries-old trees, unique wild animals, and abundant water.
The magnificent view of the Laga Mountains from Amatrice
The nature park, owned by the Betturri family since 1610, includes an eighteen-hectare area, where twenty-two fallow deer and twelve red deer roam freely.
Deer in the Orie Terme Oasis Park
The family, of peasant origins, owned this property until 2005, when Pier Luigi Betturri transformed it into a natural oasis open to the public.
The map of the route within the Orie Terme Natural Oasis
The three-kilometres tour is led by an expert local guide, Elvira Spagnoli, who enthusiastically narrates the site’s fascinating history through its various historical periods. Along this peaceful trail, nature’s dialogues with art, biblical texts, and poetry invite us to rediscover a true happiness.
The words of Pope Francis carved at the entrance to the Orie Terme Park
The mystical experience begins at the entrance, where a marble stump bears some verse s from Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’, exhorting humankind to love and protect our mother and sister earth.
Deer in the park accompanying visitors along the trail
Continuing through the Sacred Woods among centuries-old chestnut trees, beech trees, and oaks, we come across a heart-shaped small lake, fed by three springs, where deer bathe and find refreshment on summer days.
The heart-shaped small lake inside the park
To the right of the lake, stands the ancient Fonte delle Orie, a historic spring, from which fresh water flows even in mid-summer, feeding a small reservoir used for irrigation. Here, women once used to do their laundry or collect water with the traditional copper vessel which they carried on their head. The park is also rich of abundant water sources flowing down towards the Sant’Antonio River, a tributary of Lake Scandarello.
The monolith with the song “Dolcenera” by Fabrizio De André
A monolith along the route features Fabrizio De André’s carved lyrics of his song “Dolcenera” from the album “Anime Salve”. The song focuses on the powerful natural element of water, a metaphor for life but also for destruction and death. The monolith stands just on the spot where large quantities of water convey and then take different directions. From this very point, looking up towards the hill, we can get a glimpse of the Configno cemetery.
The marble slab with the verses of the Canticle of the Creatures
Tour the highlight of the park is the marble slab featuring the verses of the Canticle of Creatures by Saint Francis of Assisi. Half hidden by leaves and wild herbs, it lies on a deliberately uncultivated spot in the woods. The Saint loved this area and these valleys for their humble poverty and the intense beauty of nature, so much that he created the first Living Nativity Scene in the village of Greccio, not far from the park, in 1223. Continuing along the path, we reach the Cristo del Castagno, a rural shrine built on the roots of a majestic chestnut tree, which has been chopped down for safety reasons.
The Calvary of the Orie
Past the Sacred Grove, extends a green lawn, from where a 140 step-staircase climbs up to the Piazzale delle Tre Madri. Here, we can admire the sculpture “The Calvary of the Orie” created Gabriele Visconti and Milos Ippoliti. The work depicts the Golgotha with Jesus crucified, along with Titus, the good thief who repented and converted, and Dimachus, the bad one, who refused salvation. In front of the three figures stand their respective mothers and a plaque with the verses, by the renowned singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André, from the album “La Buona Novella”.
Tender deer in the parrk – FB Photo Passeggiamo Insieme
The tour ends with our farewell to the deer, who, after an initial wariness, accompany visitors along the trail, while the shy ones observe them from the heights.