Rognosi Mountains Nature Reserve

Discovering the Green Stone Mountains

An unusual and evocative reserve characterized by green rocks, streams and mines, legendary paths, and castles dotting the mountaintops. A place where it's not uncommon to spot forest animals, walking on the ocean crust surrounded by distinctive plants that make the landscape unique year-round .

This is the realm of the " Snake Rock ," a vast outcrop of 1,500 hectares of ophiolites , which are sections of oceanic crust and the underlying mantle that have risen to form this distinctive relief. In fact, until 200 million years ago, the current outcrop constituted the seabed of the Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean, an ancient ocean that roughly corresponds to the present-day Mediterranean Sea. The term ophiolite derives from the Greek ophis (snake) and lithos (rock); they are in fact also called "snake rocks" due to their scaly appearance and dark green color reminiscent of reptile skin.

Three types of rock are predominantly found within the reserve: serpentinite, gabbro, and basalt. The presence of these unique rocks makes the reserve easily identifiable from the surrounding landscape. At first glance, it may seem rocky, barren, and inhospitable. However, by venturing along the numerous trails, you'll discover the many plant and animal species that inhabit it.

Centuries-old junipers , the highly scented helichrysum and the scented daphne , found only on these mountains in Tuscany, are just some of the numerous plants that can be seen walking through the woods and streams of the Reserve and it is not uncommon to hear the calls of various birds of prey , or come across roe deer , squirrels and foxes .

The Rognosi Mountains also hold many historical testimonies, such as the ancient mines, the Via Ariminensis , which connected Arezzo and Rimini in Roman times, and which was later used for the transhumance of flocks to the pastures of the Maremma, and the Gothic Line with its remains of old trenches.

A rare pearl is the Montauto Castle where Saint Francis , on a pilgrimage to Assisi, left his habit as a gift.