The Montagne del Morrone are a mountain group in Abruzzo

Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

, central Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, part of the Apennines. Overlooking the town of Sulmona

Sulmona

thumb|150px|Celestine V's hermitage and the remains of the Shrine of Hercules Curinus.thumb|150px|Palazzo SS. Annunziata and Museo Civicothumb|150px|Church of SS...

, they are bounded by the Valle Peligna

Valle Peligna

The Valle Peligna, also known as Conca di Sulmona, is a plateau in central Abruzzo, southern Italy, included in the province of L'Aquila. It has a surface of some 100 km²....

, the river Aterno

Aterno

The Aterno-Pescara is a river system in Abruzzo, eastern Italy. The river is known as the Aterno near its source in the mountains, but takes the name Pescara, actually a tributary, nearer the city of Pescara and the Adriatic sea.Having the greatest discharge basin of the rivers flowing into the...

 and the Majella

Majella

The Maiella is a massif in the Central Apennines, in Abruzzo, central Italy, at the boundary between the provinces of Chieti, Pescara and L'Aquila....

 massif. They are included into the Majella National Park

Majella National Park

The Majella National Park is a national park located in the provinces of Chieti, Pescara and L'Aquila, in the region Abruzzo, Italy....

.

The range is composed of limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, and have their highest peak in the Monte Morrone (2,061 m).

Vegetation include typical Apennine woods of beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

 and mountain pine

Mountain Pine

Pinus mugo, the Mountain Pine or Mugo Pine, is a high-altitude European pine, found in the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathians, northern Apennines and Balkan Peninsula mountains from 1,000 m to 2,200 m, occasionally as low as 200 m in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high...

, as well as the rare orchid species Nigritella widderi. Wildlife include Marsican brown bear

Marsican Brown Bear

The Marsican Brown Bear , also known as Apennine brown bear, is a highly threatened, unrecognized subspecies of the Brown bear, with a range restricted to Abruzzo National Park and perhaps the Montagne del Morrone in Italy...

, italian wolf, mouflon

Mouflon

The mouflon is a subspecies group of the wild sheep Ovis aries. Populations of Ovis aries can be partitioned into the mouflons and urials or arkars...

, red deer

Red Deer

The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

, golden eagle

Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...

, peregrine falcon

Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...

, Eurasian eagle-owl and Ursini's viper. Until the early 20th century, the bearded vulture was also present.

On a terrace of Mount Morrone are the remains of a Roman villa which allegedly belonged to the poet Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

, which have been recently recognized as a sanctuary of Hercules Curinus. Here it was found a small statue of Hercules resting, considered by some an original by Lysippos

Lysippos

Lysippos was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic period. Problems confront the study of Lysippos because of the difficulty of...

 (now in the Archaeological Museum of Chieti

Chieti

Chieti is a city and comune in Central Italy, 200 km northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region...

). Nearby are is the 13th century Morronese Abbey. In the mountain are also two caves in which future Pope Celestine V

Pope Celestine V

Pope Saint Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio , also known as Pietro da Morrone was elected pope in the year 1294, by the papal election of 1292–1294, the last non-conclave in the history of the Roman Catholic Church...

lived his hermitage from 1239 and 1241.