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Sacred Wood of Monteluco
Monteluco, above Spoleto, Umbria
Italy
Active (now a Christian/hermitage forest)
Single grove
- Location
- Monteluco, above Spoleto, Umbria
- Coordinates
- ~42.73°N 12.75°E
- Elevation
- ~800 m
- Size
- Mountain-top holm-oak wood (not specified)
- Age / Founded
- Pre-Roman; protected by Lex Spoletina (late 3rd–early 2nd c. BC)
- Status
- Active (now a Christian/hermitage forest)
- Deity & Religion
- Jupiter (Iuppiter); Roman religion → later Franciscan hermitage
- Community & Guardians
- Ancient Spoletines; later Christian hermits
- Vernacular name
- Lucus / Bosco Sacro
- Record type
- Single grove
Cultural practices & uses
Tree-felling forbidden for ~4 millennia; one annual sacrificial exemption (ox fine for violation)
Plant species
Ancient ilex / holm oak (Quercus ilex) wood
Biome & fauna
Apennine holm-oak forest
Threats & protection
Lex Luci Spoletina — considered Italy's first forest-protection law; cippi in Spoleto museum
Source
Wikipedia 'Monteluco' & Umbriatourism — Bosco Sacro di Monteluco