THE VILLAGE AND TERRITORY  OF PAGANICO SABINO

The Territory

The Village and its suburbs

The economy

The people

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The territory

The council land covers 9.20 sqkm and includes the Lake of Turano at an altitude of 530 m and Mount Cervia , altitude 1438m. and most of the land is spread out over the mountain of Cervia. The northwest and southwest sides that soar high above the village appear as steep overhanging slopes over Lake Turano, and are covered with a thick undergrowth of hornbeam, manna-ash, and oak  trees , together with juniper, gorse and other prickly thorny plants. Above the village a reafforestation of black pine and larch trees was carried out in the early nineties to protect the built-up area. Among the black pines and larches there is submontane vegetation that becomes beech trees. The highest part of the slopes has beech groves interspersed with large meadows. The southwest side, at an altitude of about 750 m, is a steep, rocky cliff face with numerous caves and rocky overhangs covered with the characteristic decoration of evergreen oaks. The northern side descends sharply into the ravine of the Obito gorge carved out by the waters of this fast flowing stream. The northwest side has beech-wood trees growing on the higher slopes and chestnut copses lower down. The Turano river and lake (the latter formed between 1936 and 1939 with a Cyclopean containment dam for the waters of the Turano river) cut transversally across the Paganico territory. The river bank opposite the village is made up of gently rolling slopes ( that are under cultivation by farmers) that rise up quite steeply to form the foothills of Mount Faito. With  the Regional Law of 3.10.97 no.29 a large part of  the local land ( all the slope of Mount Cervia that protrudes above the village of Paganico) became part of the National Park of Mount Navegna and Mount Cervia that extends into the council lands of  Ascrea, Castel di Tora, Collegiove, Collalto, Nespolo, Marcetelli, Roccasinibalda and Varco The luxuriant woods that cover most of the hillsides are the predominant feature of the landscape of the National Park, including many chestnut groves that contain some beautiful centuries-old chestnut  trees. The spontaneous vegetation comprises deciduous oak-groves with turkey oaks, and beech-woods on the higher slopes. The fauna consists of woodland animals : squirrels, wild boar, badgers, marmots, hares, weasels and many other small woodland  mammals like the woodmouse and the dormouse. Until a few decades ago a pair of eagles was regularly observed in the area. Other birds of prey still present in the zone are the buzzard, the sparrow-hawk, the kestrel, the tawny owl, the screech-owl, and the barn owl, called “u friulone” in our dialect for its insistent and ardent love song that is heard during nights in spring. Green and greater red woodpeckers, hoopoes, chaffinches, tree-creepers, bullfinches, wood –pigeons and peregrine falcons are other birds that nest in the area. Recently there have been numerous sightings of a pair of eagles in our territory.

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The village end its suburbs

The urban territory is made up principally of the centre of Paganico Sabino and some “suburbs” out of the village. The oldest part of the village (medieval)  is on a steep, rocky spur and joined  to the northwestern  side of Mt. Cervia at an altitude of 720m. The newest part of the village ( from the 1800’s and modern) was formed on the slopes of St. Giorgio. The oldest section resembles a medieval fortification with two entrance gateways and very narrow alleyways in the heart of the village. It is thought that there was the old “Rocca”(Rock) at the summit, and in fact that location bears the same name today. There is a battlement with entrance doorways around a large rocky spur (an authentic terrace overlooking the Turano Valley). During the 1700’s the village spread outwards from the original fortifications along to the slopes of St. Giorgio, and it has continued to expand in this direction to the present day. There are isolated houses spread out over Paganico’s territory in the following locations : “Ara Vecchia”, “Polledrone” , “Porta”, “Crugnaletta”, “Leordella” – “Zingari” . On the other side of Lake Turano are “Marcassiccia”, “Campo di Grotte”, “Prata” and “Lesche”. You can reach these “suburbs” by the provincial road “S.P.Turanense” or by a dirt road  on the other side of the lake that is connected to the two bridges of Paganico and Ascrea. They were built to link the two sides after the construction of the artificial lake that provides an important source of water and energy for the electric power plants at Cotilia and Terni.

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The economy

The economy of the village has mainly been based on agriculture and animal husbandry. However between 1700 and 1950 Paganico played a strategic role in the commerce and transport of the Turano Valley. It was a place to barter wooden products from Marcetelli (barrels, tubs for household water, and casks to transport grapes, chestnuts and water by donkey) for local agricultural products such as wine, corn, and broad beans (fave). These exchanges took place at the Fair of St John ( August 30), an event that is still an important occasion today. Until the 1960’s the local population combined agricultural work with seasonal employment during the olive harvest in olive presses near Tivoli and in the Sabine region. Today employment opportunities exist in the industrial zone of Carsoli, local building and house renewals. Farming survives in a very marginal form ( orchards, olive groves and chestnut copses for family consumption) and for the last decade no animals have been raised, although recently a cattle farm has been set up. Tourism is still underdeveloped despite the favourable conditions such as beautiful, pristine countryside overlooking a lake, and places of notable historical and artistic interest. There are encouraging indications of an increase in tourists shown by an upsurge in weekend visitors, an increased number of houses being occupied during the year as well as in the summer vacation, and various enterprises developed by local authorities to attract visitors e.g  the reopening of the castles at Roccasinibalda and Collalto, the restoration of the Castle and the Antuni zone of Castel Di Tora., a contemporary museum in Turania, a lake project etc…). In particular in Paganico two sites for use as youth hostels have been provided by restoring the former public water- mill and the church of St. Annunziata. In the near future a  Thermal Springs Park where water, greenery and the natural environment will be combined, is to constructed at Fonte Palombo . The archaeological site of the “Pietrascritta”, (  Rock with inscriptions) , on the Turanese Road  is to be developed and a plan to have a Didactic Nature Park of the cave zone known as the “Grotte” is underway. All these initiatives to offer more ways to promote tourism in the Turano Valley have been carried out with the aid of  the Mountain Community and Regional Nature Reservation of Mount Navegna and Mount Cervia.  

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The People

There are about 190 permanent  residents or “Paganichese” and most of them are elderly. During weekends  in the summer and in August there is a marked increase in the population, and many of these visitors were born in Paganico. In 1931 Paganico ‘s population was more than 1,000. From the 1930’s onwards many people left Paganico and the surrounding villages due to the decline in productive farming and the industrialization of society.

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