05.11.2014
Campo Imperatore on Gran Sasso Mountain is the historic location where Otto Skorzeny (Austrian soldier in WW2) freed Benito Mussolini in a daring commando operation. Today there is a hotel by the same name and an observatory on this mountain plateau, which resembles Tibet or the Andes,.
Campo Imperatore is conveniently situated on the highway between Rome and Pescara.
From the main highway it is only 25 km uphill …
on an immensely beautiful mountain road, a great delight for drivers, …
past cows …
and wild horses …
until you reach the plateau …
where you can imagine Skorzeny hovering in with his glider planes.
Today’s observatory …
some of the residents …
and finally the Campo Imperatore …
which is not always open (there is an alternative hotel at the mountain bottom, the Nido del Aquila) …
and quite a run-down wreck, but nevertheless worth a visit.
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Recommended reading:
“The Eagle Has Landed” by Jack Higgins, 1975
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