Progetto - La contea Gentile

Everything you have wanted since you were a child, here has turned into reality!
The contea Gentile is a very particular place. As soon as you arrive you feel it immediately: a mix of excitement and peace, of potential adventures and friendships hidden around the corner. Thousands of people who have already come to this land have said the same thing: "here you can breathe true Magic."

The project of La contea Gentile, still nearing completion, is the creation of a fantastic village immersed in the unchanged countryside of Abruzzo, already full of stories, legends, good food and fresh air! Here you'll find comfortable homes carved into the hillside, adventurous dwarven caravans, woods where laughter rings, a cool river to dip into in the summer months, and the good old farmland.

Our events with fantastic themes are known all over the world and people come from all over the world who can finally feel at home!
Do you feel like a warrior armed with sword and courage? You will be welcome here!
Do you feel close to the nature and wonder, typical of the elves? Here you will find what you are looking for!
Are you in the mood for adventures and fun evening feasts? We have just the thing for you here!
Are you looking for a place to feel at home and enjoy the peace you deserve? Here you are in the right place!

Follow us on our social channels, participate in our events and support the creation of La contea Gentile because, remember:

"La contea is not a place. La contea is a hope "

One person alone can't build all this, many together Yes!
Whoever donates will be mentioned in the "Libro Mastro of La contea Gentile" where the salient facts of its creation and the names of those who made it so will be reported.

A real shire

La contea Gentile is located in Bucchianico (Ch) in C.da Porcareccia, immersed in fresh oak groves, bathed by the clear Foro river and surrounded by the scent of cultivated fields.

Since 2018 it has been the main meeting place for those who love a fantastic life combined with a simple and happy vision of existence. Here we don't pretend to experience magic, here we really live it!

Anciently Bucchianico was a real shire. At the beginning of the year 1000 the noble Tresidio, with the help of Aldemaro the Wise, became count of Bucchianico and made this small town a little gem in the heart of rural Abruzzo.

La contea di Bucchianico all’epoca divenne anche una potenza militare che in Abruzzo era seconda solo alla cittá dell’Aquila. La contea Gentile vuole richiamare quelle atmosfere ancestrali tipiche del territorio unendole con il fascino della fantasia, sia autoctona (qui innumerevoli sono i racconti popolari dedicati a popoli misteriosi, folletti e mostri di ogni risma) che presa in prestito dal fantasy moderno.

Can you visit La contea Gentile?

Not yet. Although now the contea Gentile is already characteristic, there is the little house and in itself it is delightful, with the ancient oak, the green hill, the woods all around and the little river, we advise against coming now. It may sound bad, but we want you to see 100% completed, while for now you would only see an unfinished work.

In occasion of the Events of the contea Gentile it is possible to participate and have fun together with other enthusiasts! We keep the site up to date. All official information and ticket purchases will be available on the dedicated pages

Can you sleep at La contea Gentile?

For now, unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate people for the night, not even in tents. We'll have to wait a little longer for that

When will it be completed?

It all depends on the outcome of the fundraiser

Can you organise private parties?

For now, unfortunately, we cannot organize hen/bachelor parties or private parties in general

Which are the next events?

We will update the website with more details in view of upcoming events. We advise you to follow the profile Instagram and subscribe to the Newsletter to find out the latest news

What we have accomplished so far

First House of La contea Gentile

Look at it carefully: it's just a 15m2 shack with a trapezoidal shape with the only advantage of having a round door and windows.

Yet it was the beginning of the magic, the beginning of all hope, of every test overcome to get to where we are now (and we are still far from the complete realization of the project!). It has become iconic even though it bears little or no resemblance to the houses seen in the films.

But I love it.
And I hope you too. I already called this place "shire" when there was only her, when I had to get muddy by climbing on her across the field to reach her.

But can you see? It's like the symbol of La contea Gentile, the acorn. From a small seed an extraordinary shoot can be born. And you are the water and nourishment that is making the county grow so beautifully!

Round Doors

The 4 round doors in the bright colors of Yellow, Orange, Red and Blue were built starting from a need: to make the slopes of the contea Gentile safer! In fact these are not real houses, although the little windows, the roofs and the door handles seem to call out to you and tell you: "come on, come in!".

In 2022 we secured some small slopes located in 3 different points of the shire by building small surrounding walls. But walls placed at random in a place that had to be as natural and rural as possible were not beautiful, neither conceptually nor visually.

So I thought of "disguising" them as houses dug into the hill to give more color and shape to the shire and they actually carried out their task very well: thousands of people every year are enchanted by admiring this type of architecture and, although for now they are fictitious, already they look forward to when they will finally be able to cross the threshold of a real Halfling house and say out loud: "I'm home!".

Dwarven Caravan

“What does this have to do with the contea?” some might ask.
Well, this caravan is the result of several thoughts:

1) The contea as we know it is beautiful, fantastic and unique, but I actually wanted this to have a little more personal feel. I wanted something more. I thought of the Dwarves and cutting-edge means of transport for their time and therefore these caravans, ready to cross all of middle earth!

2) It was also a "logical" choice: not all of the contea is buildable due to its proximity to the river. So one day there won't be too many little houses. So I thought, in order to accommodate more people, to create these caravans that don't need building permits to stay in the contea.

3) I imagined a maximum of 3 dwarf caravans: arranged in a radial pattern, with a cauldron in the centre, at night, while cooking a nice soup or roast meat and everyone sitting around the fire singing about ancient deeds and extraordinary wonders below the stars of La contea Gentile

Moongate

The contea was born thanks to a dream, one of the real ones of course. One night twenty years ago, I dreamed that I was on a path in the woods and at the end of this path there was a stone wall with a gap, exactly like this one.

At the time I had already read the books, seen the films and already wished I could live in the middle earth. When, in the dream, I crossed this gap, in front of me there were my family and hundreds of people waiting for me with smiles and beyond them, the contea!

Here, this gap is the real entrance to what will be the contea with the actual houses. But it also symbolizes something else: that if you dream hard, very hard, in the end dreams come true!

For this reason, as you cross this portal, make a Wish, whatever it may be. And once on the other side you must be convinced, or rather 100% convinced that this dream has come true or is about to come true.

Ents Avenue

Now it might seem like a small thing, but the trees planted a few weeks ago, the magnificent maples, will one day provide shade, coolness and shelter along this avenue onto which the halflings' houses will overlook.

We called it "Viale degli Ent" in honor of those wonderful creatures, daughters and protectors of the forest that we would like to exist in this world too.

In a few years, if you have the pleasure of returning to the shire, perhaps with a few gray hairs and some extra adventures in your pocket, you will see the difference and the beauty that "simple" trees can give to a place.

Professor's Bust

On September 2, 2023, in front of several hundred people, we unveiled the statue dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Professor's death. The contea Gentile is the result of a mixture of countless tales and fantastic stories but his works have had a great impact and an undoubted importance in the creative development of this place.

50 years after his passing, it was right to pay homage to him with a memory that everyone, coming to the shire, could admire: the bronze bust of the writer towering on a Majella stone column sculpted with leaves and flowers, symbols of a paradisiacal place in the land of half.

The bust was sculpted by the Anglo-Saxon artist Steve Paterson while the column was turned and sculpted by Antonello Palmerio, a sculptor from Pretoro (Ch), a few kilometers from the contea Gentile, thus uniting England and Abruzzo. During the inauguration, elven songs were sung in honor of him with harps, violins and flutes and it was one of the most emotional moments that the contea Gentile has ever experienced, and will always remain engraved in our hearts.

When you walk along the gentle paths of the contea Gentile, stop for a moment in front of this statue and give heartfelt thanks to a man who gave us a wonderful world.

Events

Over the years we have held many events. This year we plan to organize others: cultural, thematic and fantastic parties and initiatives! Exhibitions, shows, food, markets, cultural meetings, dwarven blacksmiths, artisans, artists and much more!

Journey in Middle Earth

Have you ever wished you could enter middle earth, experience the adventures of halflings, elves and dwarves? And if I told you that this dream has come true?

Aware of our wonderful Earth, I felt the strong call of an adventure!

On Friday 27 August 2021, eight other adventurers and I, dressed up as fantasy characters, set off from Bucchianico (CH), right from the little House which now stands in La contea Gentile and we arrived on 2nd September 2021 on the Vesuvius per gettarvi all’interno l’unico anello!