The Foreste Casentinesi

The Riserva Integrale di Sasso Fratino is the first integral reserve established in Italy in 1959, awarded the European Diploma of Protected Areas in 1985 and becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, together with a large surrounding buffer area. The ancient beech forests of Sasso Fratino and the Casentino Biogenetic Reserves represent the heart of the Foreste Casentinesi National Park, one of the most valuable forest areas in Europe between Romagna and Tuscany, in Italy.

The monks dedicated great efforts to the cultivation of their forest, and in particular they gradually replaced the original mixed forest with pure plantations of silver fir. This was because this species was then more valuable, or perhaps because the columnar and severe structure of the fir woods aroused in the monks a greater sense of mysticism and religiousness, compared to the mixed woods dominated by broadleaf trees.

This is a photo project I did in November 2021, to tell the beauty of these centuries-old forests of both pure beech and pure white spruce, with the typical fog that makes the natural environment full of charm.