Pollino National Park

Listen first. Wind moves through the beech leaves with a dry, steady hiss. Somewhere below, water runs over limestone. Underfoot, the path is a mix of loose white stone and dark, soft earth. The air up here is cooler than the valleys of Calabria, and it carries the smell of resin. You are standing in a landscape of mountains, gorges and old forest. Few people outside southern Italy know it well.

This is Pollino National Park. It is the largest national park in Italy, and it reaches across two regions. Calabria lies to the south, and Basilicata lies to the north. The park was created in the early 1990s. It protects the Pollino and Orsomarso mountain ranges, the southern end of the Apennines. These mountains run down the length of the Italian peninsula like a spine.

The name has an old story attached to it. Some people say that "Pollino" comes from Apollo, the Greek god of light and healing. In this version, the ancient Greeks who settled this coast saw the mountain as his. Others say the name comes from older words for the slopes and their medicinal herbs. Nobody can prove either version. So take it as a local tale, and look up at the peaks.

Those peaks are high for southern Italy. The tallest summit in the park is Serra Dolcedorme, at over two thousand metres. Its neighbour, Monte Pollino, is only slightly lower. Snow can stay on the high ground well into spring. On a clear day, people on the summits say they can see two seas. The Tyrrhenian Sea lies to the west, and the Ionian Sea lies to the east.

Now for the tree that defines this park. Look for a pine with grey bark split into thick, angular plates. Locals call it the pino loricato, the armoured pine. The name comes from the lorica, the plated armour of Roman soldiers. Its scientific name is the Bosnian pine. In Italy, it grows almost only in these mountains. It clings to bare rock and wind-blasted ridges where little else survives.

Here is the first surprise. One of these pines is among the oldest trees ever dated in Europe. Scientists counted its growth rings and studied the wood with radiocarbon methods. They found that it is more than a thousand years old. Researchers named it Italus. Think about that for a moment. This tree was already old when the great cathedrals of medieval Europe were still being built. Its exact location is kept quiet to protect it.

Below the pines, the forest changes. Large beech woods cover the middle slopes. Silver fir, maple and black pine grow among them. In autumn, the beeches turn copper and gold, and the paths fill with leaves. Lower down, the land opens into high meadows called piani. Cattle and horses graze there in summer. These open plains feel almost alpine. Many hikers start their walks from one of them.

The animals are harder to see, but they are here. The park is home to the Apennine wolf, which almost disappeared from Italy in the last century. Roe deer move through the woods at dawn. Golden eagles and other birds of prey circle above the cliffs. In the clean rivers, the Eurasian otter has a refuge. You probably will not see a wolf. But you may find its tracks in mud or snow.

Water has shaped much of this land. The Raganello River cuts a deep, narrow gorge through the limestone. In places, the rock walls rise very close together. On the western side, the Lao River runs through its own canyon, and people raft and kayak there. The geology is so important that UNESCO lists Pollino as a Global Geopark. This is a status for landscapes with special value for the study of the earth.

Here is the second surprise. Some villages in this park speak a language that is not Italian. They are Arbëreshë communities. Their ancestors came from Albania and Greece about five centuries ago, fleeing the Ottoman advance. Villages such as Civita and Frascineto still keep an old form of Albanian. They also keep Byzantine-rite church traditions. Byzantine rite means a form of Christian worship with Greek roots, with icons and chanted liturgy.

People lived here much earlier, too. Near the village of Papasidero is a rock shelter called the Grotta del Romito. On a large stone inside, prehistoric people carved the figure of a wild bull, an aurochs. The carving dates to the last Ice Age, many thousands of years ago. It is one of the finest examples of Palaeolithic art in Italy. The lines are simple and sure.

Other villages sit on the edge of the park like lookouts. Morano Calabro climbs a cone-shaped hill, with houses stacked almost on top of each other. Its old castle stands on the summit. Mormanno, Rotonda and other towns offer local food: beans, cured meats, mountain cheeses and mushrooms from the beech woods. Eating in these towns is part of the experience. It connects the wild land to the people who have farmed it for generations.

A word of care. This is real mountain country. The weather can change fast, and the gorges are dangerous after heavy rain, because flash floods can rise without warning. Many trails are long, with steep sections and few signs. Check the forecast. Tell someone where you are going. For the gorges, consider a licensed local guide. Respect for the mountain is the best way to enjoy it.

Now, look around you once more. Notice the colour of the rock, pale and broken. Notice the shape of the nearest tree, and whether its bark is armoured. Listen for water, for wind, for a bird above the ridge. This land has held wolves, shepherds, refugees and ancient pines. As you walk on, keep your steps slow. The mountain moves at its own pace.