Camaioni Forest

The Camaioni Forest is a testament to an ancient woodland. The presence of pine trees within it has been favored by the long centuries of wood exploitation to fuel the kilns active in the Montelupo, Samminiatello, and Camaioni areas, which reduced the presence of oak and holm oak.

The church of San Michele a Luciano deserves a brief mention, a little-known gem: an ancient building on the so-called St. Michael’s line that starts from the Skellig Michael sanctuary in Ireland and reaches the Mount Carmel monastery in Israel, along which all the main religious buildings dedicated to the Archangel are found, such as the evocative Mont Saint-Michel in France and the Sacra di San Michele in Turin.

It is a small Romanesque church from the 13th century whose semicircular apse is frescoed with a scene depicting the Last Judgment, the work of an unknown artist from the early 15th century.

The face of Christ shows significant similarities with the Holy Face of Manoppello and is attributed considerable historiographical importance linked to the lost Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome.

Trail length: 3.16 km
Total elevation gain: +144 m – 144m
Estimated time: about 2h
Difficulty: easy

The Camaioni Forest is mainly composed of oaks (Genus Quercus) very resistant to arid and shallow soils with the presence of carbonate rocks such as downy oak and Turkey oak. Other more valuable species, the sessile oak and pedunculate oak, have been reduced to remnants by human action. There are also hornbeams and ash trees. Over the years, the forest has undergone many changes due to human action and is currently managed as coppice, with cuts every 10 years or so.

Downy Oak (Quercus pubescens): it is the most widespread oak species in Italy, so much so that in many places it is simply called oak. It belongs to the Fagaceae family. Resistant to drought, it can also adapt to relatively cold climates. The main diagnostic feature to identify the species is to feel the leaves or buds: they are covered with a fine hair that can be easily appreciated. The rusticity and plasticity of this plant, thanks especially to the enormous vitality of the stump, have allowed the Downy Oak, through the centuries, to withstand the destructive interventions of humans. Fun fact: it is easily recognizable in winter as it retains its dry leaves on the branches unlike other oak species.

Manna Ash (Fraxinus Ornus): in Italy, it is very common throughout the peninsula, from the pre-Alpine belt of the Karst, to the Lombard lakes; it penetrates the main valleys up to the heart of the Alps, climbing the mountain slopes up to about 1000 m in the north and 1500 m in the south. A rather thermophilic and xerophilous species, it prefers slopes to shady and cool valleys and is formidable in recolonizing forest areas where a fire or previous old reforestation has occurred, showing high rusticity and seed production. It has an erect trunk, with smooth grayish, opaque bark, the wide crown is formed by opposite deciduous leaves, the upper side is a beautiful green color, while the lower side is lighter and hairy along the veins.
Fun fact: in Sicily, some plants were cultivated for manna production!

Ferns: Walking through the Camaioni Forest, especially in areas where humidity is maintained throughout the seasons, you will encounter various species of ferns and a species belonging to the Lycophytes (Selaginella denticulata), not to mention the multitude of mosses and liverworts. Ferns and selaginella do not produce flowers but have sporophylls, leaves that produce sporangia which are the organs responsible for reproduction. Reproduction is not seed-based but spore-based. One of the fundamental events, in the early moments of plant invasion of the mainland, was the development of spores with durable protective walls, capable of tolerating arid conditions; however, this does not free ferns from the presence of water to complete reproduction. Often contained in yellow or brown structures, they can be mistaken by the less experienced for insect eggs and thus considered harmful. Generally, the period in which the spore-bearing structures in ferns can be observed is from May to August and obviously changes depending on the species.