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Valli Cupe
The Valli Cupe Canyon is situated into a very rugged mountain area. It is characterized by vertical and inaccessible rocky walls, so rough that climbing up would be really impossible.
Through the ages they became the favourite place for births to build their nests just inside the several cracks created by the corrosive action of atmospheric phenomena, as anyone can notice looking up to the walls of the canyon.
Because of its geo-morphological characteristics this canyon is unique in the whole Italy: nowhere else you can find a flora as rich as this one. Among the different interesting species of plants growing inside the canyon there is the so called Woodwardia radicans, which many scientists definitely consider one of most ancient species of fern ever existed. The time this plant first appeared, in fact, goes back to almost 350 millions of years ago.
The fauna is very rich too. Among the main species living here we can remember the Spectacled Salamander (which we can find only in Italy), the Kite, the Eagle Owl and the Long-eared Owl, the Common Kestrel, the Common Raven, the Vulture.
However, it is not only nature that makes these places fascinating, but also the mysterious legends and stories about ancient villages (whose ruins we can now admire), such as the ones about Barbaro (if you want to know more, take a look at Ancient villages), whose decline probably gave life to Zagarise, one of the little today’s towns of this area.
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Valli Cupe
