Italy - The Transhumance: The Royal Shepherd's Track

The network of shepherd's tracks links wide areas in the southern part of Italy through the region of Abruzzo, Molise, Campania e Puglia. The routes of the transhumance comprise the grazing in the Gran Sasso and the Maiella up to Capitanata (Foggia). They pass through the inner side of the Apennines which are formed by an extremely variegated land, between mountains and plains. There is also an archaeological area: Sepino in the Molise region. The shepherd's tracks are routes passed through by livestocks for the seasonal moves linked to the transhumance. The transhumance is a type of grazing based on the seasonal move of herds between various regions with different climate. When the plain becomes arid because of the heat, herds and shepherds move to the mountain in spring and they come back to the plain in autumn. This 1000-year phenomena can also be traced in Spain, France, Swiss, Germany and other countries; in Italy, the transhumance presents its most evolved expression in Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Campania e Basilicata. The network of shepherd's tracks, traced down to the pre-roman age, was further developed by Romans and connected to the network of consular routes thus making the transhumance an established, organized and protected economical activity. Thanks to the Aragonesi, the transhumance became the leading sector of the economy as much as Alfonso I of Aragona (1442-1458) established an office for its management and called it Regiae Dohanae Menae pecudum Apuliae and Royal Shepherd's Track. Along the network of shepherd's tracks there are many settlements. The tracks are long green-grass routes and the settlements present sanctuaries, taverns, weaving mills, etc. The town of Saepinum (Sepino) rises along one of the main shepherd's track of Molise. The whole set of public works realized during the roman age in this city were connected to the shepherd activities. The city walls, the gates and the towers were built during the I century A.C. Along the shepherd's track at the crossing with the cardoon, there are the most important public buildings: the macellum, the basilica, the temples. Behind the walls there is a theater, a thermal bath; outside and beside the walls there is the cemetery. Following the depopulation, Sepino has been occupied by farmers which established rural settlements; nowadays the latter have been restored thus representing a further historical evidence. The shepherd's track, instead, has been used constantly up to nowadays.