AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Set inside a restored building on Via Roma in the medieval hilltop village of Premilcuore, the Premilcuore Visitor Centre is the gateway to understanding the wild heart of Italy's Casentino Forests National Park. Opened in its current form in October 2021, the centre weaves together two themes — the park's rich fauna and its network of mountain streams — through interactive displays, taxidermy specimens, immersive soundscapes and sensory games designed to delight children and adults alike.↗↗
With a 4.8-star rating from visitors and an approachable, family-friendly layout, it is the single best stop for anyone planning hikes into the park's ancient beech and fir forests, or simply wanting to learn what lives in the streams and clearings just beyond the village.↗
What You'll Discover Inside
The exhibition unfolds across two floors. On the ground level, the Sala del Plastico (model room) gives you an immediate visual grasp of the park's hydrography — the ridgelines, valleys and streams that define this stretch of the Apennines. Next door, an entire hall is dedicated to water: panels, preserved animals, video and audio bring to life the ecosystems of the park's mountain brooks, from the shy white-throated dipper perched on midstream rocks to the freshwater crayfish hiding beneath flat stones. You'll also learn how generations of locals harnessed those streams to power flour mills along the Rabbi valley.
