Lama dei Peligni is a comune and town in the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of Italy with 1,155 inhabitants. It is also part of the Aventino-Medio Sangro mountain community and the municipal territory is included in the Maiella National Park. The town, known to naturalists as the country of chamois, is located in a florofaunal area of particular interest.

History

The territory has been inhabited since prehistoric, as amply testified by a series of rock paintings found in the caves of the area and from the remains of a village from the Neolithic period. In Contrada Fonterossi, right in the vicinity of the Neolithic site, the so-called "Uomo della Maiella" was found at the beginning of the 20th century, human remains of a prehistoric burial dating back to 7000–5000 BC.

Name origin

The toponym is of pre-Latin derivation, coming from the word lamawhich literally meant 'counterbore', that is, 'land where water stagnates'; the addition referring to the Italic people, the Peligni, which would have gone as far as the territory of the Aventine river, is considered to have come later.

Geography

Located at an altitude of 669 meters, the town is located between the Aventino river and the southern slopes of the Majella massif. To connect the two banks of the river, several bridges were built, which have collapsed except one called the Iron Bridge, built with pieces of wood that were used in railroad track construction. The environment of Lama dei Peligni is varied: it ranges from the lower-elevation area where vast oak forests prevail, passing through the steep rocky crags inhabited by squirrels, roe deer and wild boars, among others, up to the flat areas at high altitude where, for example, the Apennine edelweiss grow.

Palaces and public monuments

Caves

Museums

Culture

At the Verlengia palace in Piazza Umberto I is the municipal library, dedicated to the philologist and Abruzzese Francesco Verlengia, also director of the provincial library of Chieti. The library contains many of his original manuscripts.

Literature

The town is bordered by the village of Taranta Peligna which was chosen by Gabriele d'Annunzio, together with the Grotta del Cavallone, (accident in the Taranta Valley) as the scene of his tragedy The Daughter of Iorio.

Events

Society

Demographic evolution

The following graph shows the population over time: