Regional park of Roccamonfina

The Roccamonfina-Foce Garigliano regional park is north of Caserta, and is dominated by the Roccamonfina volcano, that is the most ancient volcano in Campania. The park includes a wide area rich in chestnut groves, mountain hamlets, paths and history.

The Roccamonfina park area is amazing, with its rocks modeled by volcanic activity, its waterways and waterfalls, its chestnut and olive tree groves, its animals suddenly popping out along the paths full of orchids and violets, and remains of ancient populations.

The Museo natura viva (Living Nature Museum) in Galluccio houses a great zoological collection that perfectly shows the biodiversity of the Roccamonfina park area, through embalmed animals and interactive itineraries.

This area is full of paths you can enjoy: the sentiero dei Pellegrini (Pilgrims path) that leads to the Santuario della Madonna dei Lattani (Madonna del Lattani Shrine), a peaceful place where you can have some fresh and pure water; the sentiero delle ferriere (ironworks path) that runs along the Savone river with ruins of ancient mills used to work iron all around the area; the sentiero delle ciampate del diavolo (Devil’s footprints path), that starts in Taverna Sant’Antonio and leads to Tora and Piccilli where the 56 footprints of the Homo heidelbergensis who lived 350.000 years ago are; the sentiero degli ausoni, sanniti e briganti (Ausones, Samnites and bandits path) that leads to the megalithic walls of the Frascara mount, also known as the Orto della Regina (Queen’s Garden).

You can check all the paths and itineraries at parcodiroccamonfina.it

There are many mountain hamlets within the Roccamonfina park; one of the most evocative ones is definitely Sessa Aurunca with its beautiful historic centre, the castello ducale (ducal castle), built on a Lombard site with a Norman-Suevian style that was later renovated and that houses the Museo civico (Civic Museum), the Cattedrale di Sessa Aurunca (Sessa Aurunca Cathedral) built in Romanesque-Cassinese style, the teatro romano (Roman theatre) that dates back to the Augustan period, and the cryptoporticus.

Moreover, at the entrance of the park, there is the hamlet of Teano with its majestic Roman theatre, its Museo archeologico di Teanum Sidicinum (Teanum Sidicinum Archaeological museum), and its historic centre full of beautiful churches and palaces.

The hamlet of Sipicciano a Galluccio, the small towns of Tora and Piccilli, Conca della Campania, Marzano Appio and the hamlet of Roccamonfina with its peculiar ice-houses, are worth a visit as well.