Welcome to Bocca Trabaria, the gateway of Massa Trabaria, a millennial crossroads of travelers, saints and ... beams.
Located just over 1000 meters above sea level, the Bocca Trabaria pass is the border between Marche and Umbria, between Valle del Metauro and Valle del Tevere.
We are in the heart of Massa Trabaria, the historical region, so named for the presence of woods and large trees, used in the past to supply construction beams and boards to a large part of central Italy. The great basilicas of Christianity such as San Pietro are built with beams from these woods, transported to Rome thanks to that water highway that is the Tiber River, which rises not far from here. As the historian Vincenzo Lanciarini writes: "The wild character is evident in the toponymy: Carpegna, Farneto, Cerrone, Casteldelci, Faggiola, Licciano, Avellana, Sorbetolo, Sorbolongo, Spinabeto, etc.".
In Bocca Trabaria nature is the protagonist, the surrounding ridges and valleys are crossed by a network of suggestive paths, some of them can be taken directly from the square at the peak of the pass.
Among the paths that overlook the views of Bocca Trabaria, the most famous and visited is certainly the Sentiero Italia that passes through all the peaks of the Alpe della Luna; it offers panoramic points with a 360- degrees view, and let see, in one shot, 3 regions. From Bocca Trabaria, in fact, it is possible to run the Sentiero Italia that there meets the GEA (Great Apennine Excursion ) and arrives to Poggio Tre Termini (1170 m), where Marche, Umbria and Tuscany meet. Just below the hill stands the Tre Termini Refuge, an equipped structure available for walkers as a place for bivouacs, it is equipped with a kitchen and bathrooms. Going up toward Bocca Trabaria, the gaze is certainly captivated by the Ripa della Luna, an enormous and very steep wall of stratified sandstone, which plunges 300 meters of altitude difference and overlooks solitary and uncontaminated woods. That’s exactly the Ripa della Luna, that gives its name to the whole mountain range, really it is recommended reach the top and enjoy the unique landscape of the whole Metauro valley. Once you arrive at the Ripa della Luna you just have to reach the highest peak of the area, the Monte dei Frati, massive and impressive, with its 1453 meters placed on wooded sides. The peak, marked by a pyramid of stones and a sign, is completely covered by a fairytale beech forest; just below is the Paolo Massi Bivouac, a small wooden building that is always open. From the Bocca Trabaria pass, the Meta stream also descends; it has its sources here and after about 10km, in Borgo Pace, it will join with another stream, the Auro, to form the Metauro, the longest river in the Marche region, that Torquato Tasso defined as "richer in history than in water". Bocca Trabaria is also one of the two areas in Marche where the silver fir survives, a legacy of the fir trees that up to the 12th century covered the entire side of the Massa Trabaria, here a protected floristic area, of about 20 hectares, tries to preserve this important biodiversity.
