2/02/2010

Flight of the Angels

Imagine two small towns in the Southern Italian region of Basilica, in the Lucanian Dolomites, Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa.

To stop locals from migrating and to attract tourists, and because it's relatively cumbersome to go from one town to the other (from Pietrapertosa you have to use a steep footpath down to the valley, over the old Roman bridge and to ascend on the other to Castelmezzano which takes about 90 minutes, by car through another route over the mountains about 30 minutes) - they had an idea.

Why not fly to the other town?

They created the Volo dell'Angelo, the flight of the angels, a mile-long metal cable suspended between two peaks. People hang from a harness connected to the steel rope and then jump off from a special platform to travel across the valley which is 500m below, at a speed of 120 kmph.

Those who've tried the Angel's flight - more than 6000 people since the opening in 2007 - describe the experience with words like exhilarating, incredible, or simply, beyond words.

But see for yourself!




Read more about the Lucanian Dolomites

3 comments:

Lydia said...

O, My! Your blog has been quiet for some weeks ... but this was well worth waiting for, Francessa! Marvelous idea and I can't wait to show this to my husband. I would take this trip in a heartbeat-I feel sorry for all of us who have not done so!

naomi dagen bloom said...

Lydia and I seemed to have same instinct: alert spouse. Mine had already been attracted by the lovely music. Waiting for Lydia to make the trip, write stunning report in Oregonian Travel section!

francessa said...

Ok, Lydia and Naomi, whoever will be there first will have to write a first-hand report for the others! :-)

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