Marmore Falls

 Marmore Falls

Marmore Falls

We have a day of travel up to Terni and Spoleto, Italy from Caserta which takes us from a very arid climate in Caserta into some high alpine regions close to Avezzano very near the tree line. The wind from the start of the day off the Bay of Napoli is very strong and traffic up to Capua is dreadfully slow. As we get further from Caserta traffic diminishes to a point where riding our bike is more fun even though road maintenance isn't that great.

Explanation

Once we are on the road to Reiti from Avezzano the roads improve dramatically. As we weave over a back road  near Marmore  I get a first glimpse the release of water over the Falls on Tuesday afternoon. There is a lot of info regarding the water release, when it's scheduled and why, some tourism based now, but much of it dates back into BC times. On Wednesday we take the tour of the Falls and visit a museum that is utterly fantastic. We weren't supposed to get entrance with our ticket but the Italian lady took pity on us and we were so impressed by the engineering information provided.
We wish Kaden, our grandson could have been there as well.

Just before the 11 am release the waterfall  looks like the above photo.

As they gradually release the water from the dam it builds to this.

It was great to see Europe's tallest waterfall and learn all about the engineering over centuries to deal with different issues associated to the water.

 As we find out later the area around Spoleto with these falls, Assisi and now the Tibetan bridge at Sellano we have again missed a must see destination. 

Sellano

Hidden in the mountain range to the NE of Spoleto, only 34 twisty kms away, is this Tibetan foot bridge which connects Sellano to Montesanto Castle. A 50 min. walk 175 meters above the gorge, this is the tallest 'bridge' in Europe. People who walk it are provided with a helmet, and harness. It looks like we missed a great attraction. Not sure I could have crossed it, but it would have been nice to see. And Spoleto and our Agritourismo Rosa would have been the perfect location for another day trip. 

You can see a youtube video on it here. https://youtu.be/KzQNhZ99Tlg?si=mIHtD3F0iYvXi65e