I was living 45 minutes from Roccamorice but I had never been there.

From Pescara, taking the highway, in the direction of Rome, you get, in les than half hour, in Scafa traversing the valley of the river Pescara just after the exit, looking towards the Maiella, you can see the face of the Indian. Climbing towards Roccamorice the Indian guides you across the hills letting itself be admired from different angles . The more we see it coming close the closer we are to our goal. Passing San Valentino our mountains climbs in front of us. The surroindings (landscape) change continuously, Roccamorice is not in view yet but, finally, at the cast bend we are repaid from waiting. We are in the middle of a view that belongs to other parts of the world. We are impressed from the canyon around us hidden among mountains as an old medieval castle, the village is built on a rock still and silent. She is there, without pretentions (presumptions), a cluster of houses built of stone not aware of the privilege that nature has bestowed on it. From Roccamorice we carry on towards our farmhouse, the same trail that brings to the famous celestinian heremitages : we discover in front of us the view of the park.
It is the sweetest part of the Maiella the one we are traversing and we discover an open view up until the top. We are going across the park of the Maiella and it is not rare to come across wild boars or deer and with little luck, following the fly of the hawks, we come directly upon the Tholos farmhouse. In fact, just few yards from us, it stands upon the valley of the Immen an other precipice that harbour (shelter) hawks nests. We have got to our goal and the firt thing that welcomes us it is the Tholos itself built of only stone, generous gift of our mountains: the characteristic white stone of the Maiella . All our homes are built from stones coming from the Maiella: the mother mountain. It is said that an Indian goddess, Maja, come to us with her diyng child because only here grew a sacred and scented plant that could save him. Unfortunately in that period there was snow, the plant could not be seen, and her child died. From that day goddess Maja remained with us and when the wind blows you can hear like a cry among the mountains and that is believed to be the grief of the mother for her dead child.

Somebody has said that the Maiella is the Tibet of Italy, certainly it as always been the sacred mountain of the Abruzzi! Already from prehistory human settlements have been found (like the San Bartolomeo Heremitage ) and they where religious places. A mountain peopled since the paleolitic age that leads us to believe the myth of the mother goddess, Maja, the Majella, sacred mountain that is host to the greater number of religious places in all Italy.