Nature Trail in Badia Prataglia

Welcome to Badia Prataglia

The heart of the National Park is made up of the Casentinesi State Forests: over 50 km2 of Biogenetic Reserves and two Integral Reserves with an extraordinary naturalistic value between Romagna and Tuscany.

In Italy, important natural environments have often been safeguarded thanks to their marginal role towards human activities. This is not our case! The forests that you can admire today are the result of a thousand-year history where culture has evolved forms of respect and management of the territory perfectly compatible with natural balances.

This Nature Path goes up the small and enchanting valley of the Archiano d’Isola stream (a tributary of the Archiano), covered by a spectacular beech forest. This is the “Archian rubesto”, quoted by Dante in the fifth canto of Purgatory, about the episode of Bonconte da Montefeltro who, wounded in the battle of Campaldino (near Poppi) of 1289 between Guelphs and Ghibellines, saw pushed and dispersed his body right in the waters of the Archiano river in flood. Badia Prataglia is the most important inhabited center within the park; the name derives from the ancient Prataglia Abbey, of which only the church remains today which preserves a beautiful crypt dating back to the beginning of the 11th century. The inhabitants of Badia have always had a special relationship with the forest and for centuries they have been skilled craftsmen in woodworking. But let’s not waste any more time; let’s go along the path, and dedicate ourselves to observing nature.

• Download the  description of the path.