The racket is a dry stone hut built and used by the shepherds of the Apennines of central Italy. Commonly known as a hut in Tholos, Abruzzo and Marche is called, precisely, of the racket.

Structure

The structure is built of stone without the use of mortar binders. The shape is hemispherical or arched. The construction technique allowed the shepherds the realization without the use of complex equipment and ribs of wood. The particularity lies in the fact that the construction has the characteristic dell’autosostegno, thanks to the sphericity of the structure which has, proceeding upward, concentric circles overlaid with a diameter slightly decreasing, so that the next ring is supported by the one below. The technique is to bow cantilever.

Use

The caciare were used by shepherds to their admission and to perform, in a sheltered place for processing and temporary storage of cheese. The term racket could come from “cheese” and then the place where it is produced and the cheese is hospitalized. Another theory, the most recent, less likely, is linked to the word “house” used by local people to indicate the huts where farmers would admit the work tools to be used for land sites in higher and therefore more difficult and tiring to reach.

Sites

The caciare are present on the Twin Mountains and especially the Mountain of Flowers northeast Laga Mountains on the border area between the provinces of Teramo and Ascoli Piceno. Over 50 huts are still visible today and some of them have a good state of preservation. Other examples, are in the mountain area of the province of L’Aquila,  in Valle del Vasto, in places Ienca.

Montagna dei Fiori

Mountain of Flowers (or Mountain of Ascoli for its proximity to the capital Piceno, commonly called the Mëndàgna dialect Ascoli and Mundagnë in Abruzzese dialect) is a relief of Abruzzo (Teramo) on the border with the Marches, within which extends partially. It is located at the eastern end of the group of the Monti della Laga and, along with the Mountain of Campli, the solid form of the Twin Mountains, separated from Salinello Gorges. It is about 20 km from Ascoli Piceno (San Giacomo di Valle Castellana is 18 km away) and can be reached through the road of the Colle San Marco. The mountain is located in the municipalities of Valle Castellana, Civitella del Tronto and Ascoli Piceno. The mountain has two main peaks, called Swivel Mount (1,814 m) and Mount Peas (1,676 m), both belonging to Abruzzo. The first, on the southern side, is a destination for professional climbers, but born on the north and northwest is easily accessible in the summer, from hikers not particularly equipped. The second is a popular winter tourist destination of Ascoli because of its skiing facilities. Houses, about 1,110 m above sea level, the village of San Giacomo, a meeting point for many excursions. Here are also the main tourist facilities open in summer and winter. At an altitude of 1,426 m are located ski, consisting of a chairlift and a treadmill that reach a height of 1,643 m. and they are visited by many amateurs. You can be reached through a road not paved.