Monte Vettore (from Latin ''Vector'', "carrier", "leader") is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

of the Umbro-marchigiano

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

in Italy. It is the highest peak of the Sibillini massif. It is located in the Ascoli Piceno province, Marche, Italy.

Geology

Monte Vettore is a

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

mountain, which rocks belong to the umbro-marchigiana succession and that formed mostly during the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

period, with a fossil record comprising mostly of

ammonites Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

and

gastropods Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and from the land. Ther ...

. Structurally, Vettore represents the highest portion of the

Sibillini mountains The Sibillini Mountains, or Sibylline Mountains (Italian: ''Monti Sibillini'') are one of the major mountain groups in the Italian Peninsula, and part of the Apennines range. Most of the peaks are over ; the highest is Monte Vettore at . Sinc ...

overthrust, which was active during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

. During the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

period, after the uplift of the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

glaciers eroded the northern slopes of the mountain, while on the western side

normal faults Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

created intermontane plateaus, like the Piani di Castelluccio. Extensional tectonic activity is showed by structures like the Cordone del Vettore, a

fault scarp A fault scarp is a small step-like offset of the ground surface in which one side of a fault has shifted vertically in relation to the other. The topographic expression of fault scarps results from the differential erosion of rocks of contrastin ...

that reactivated after the 2016–17 Central Italy earthquakes.

Geography

The southwestern side of Sibillini massif, including the Vettore peak, is in Sibillini Mountains National Park. Below the summit of Vettore lies a small glacial lake in a small enclosed valley between Redeemer Peak.

History

Sibillla Appenninica di Adolfo de Carolis

The local medieval tradition was that the Apennine Sibyl, a mysterious prophetess not counted among the

Sibyl The sibyls were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophet, prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by Pausanias (geographer), PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he desc ...

s of

Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

, was condemned by God to dwell in a mountain cavern and await

Judgement Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the ''Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus, Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God in Abrahamic religions, God of a ...

, having rebelled at the news that she had ''not'' been chosen

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-bearer ...

, but that some humble Judaean virgin had been favored. The peak of Monte Vettore, surrounded by reddish cliffs was recognized as the crown of ''Regina Sibilla.'' Less stringently Christian legend set her in an underworld paradise entered through a grotto in the mountains of Norcia. Nearby the magical lake is fed by water from the cavern. Whoever stayed longer than a year could no longer leave, but remained deathless and ageless, feasting in abundance, amid revelry and voluptuous delights.

In popular culture

In '' Il Guerrin Meschino'', written by

Andrea da Barberino Andrea Mangiabotti,Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, eds. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Âge''. Collection: La Pochothèque (Paris: Fayard, 1992. ), pp. 62–63. called Andrea da Barberino ( 1370–1431''The Cambridge History ...

about 1410, the central episode of the sixth part (Canto V) contains the "prodigious adventures" of Guerrino with this enchantress, the "Fata" Alcina, whom he seeks out, against all advice. He locates her cavern in the mountains of central Italy with the aid of Macco, a speaking serpent. She shows him the delights and horrors of her cavern, where sinners have been changed to the appropriate animals, but where sin is the only path to the knowledge of his real parents that he seeks, and Guerrin has to flee.Abstract
/ref> The long informative captions in the maps of

Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ('' ...

' 16th-century atlas, ''Cartographia Neerlandica'', offer some detail about this Apennine Sybil: Locally the Sibilla was in some sense a beneficent ''

fata The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a autonomous administrative division, semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from Independence Day (Pakistan), 1947 until being merged with the ...

'' whose retinue would descend from her mountain at times to teach the village girls all the secrets of spinning and weaving (see

Weaving (mythology) Mention of textiles in folklore is ancient, and its lost mythic lore probably accompanied the early spread of this art. Textiles have also been associated in several cultures with spiders in mythology. Weaving begins with spinning. Until the ...

for other European weaving goddesses), and perhaps to dance the

saltarello The ''saltarello'' is a musical dance originally from Italy. The first mention of it is in Add MS 29987, a late-fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century manuscript of Tuscany, Tuscan origin, now in the British Library. It was usually played in a f ...

with the best of the young men. But if they were not back in their mountain fastness by sunrise, they would be denied access and would become mere mortals. On one occasion, what with dancing and pleasure, the ''faterelle'' had not noticed the approach of dawn. Scrambling up the Vettore, their goatlike feet crushed the rock to fragments. They reached the safety of their grotto just before dawn, but the long slope of talus is still pointed out as the ''Path of the Fata''.

Notes

External links

''Cartographica Neerlandica'':
Text for Ortelius' map No. 137

(abstract in modern Italian).

Cooperation Network for European Culture
Ascoli Piceno. Casual reference to the Pontius Pilate connection. *Monique Bouquet and Françoise Morzadec, 2004. ''La Sibylle: Parole et représentation.'' Collection "Interférences". (Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes) discusses

Antoine de la Sale Antoine de la Sale (also ''la Salle'', ''de Lasalle''; 1385/861460/61) was a French courtier, educator and writer. He participated in a number of military campaigns in his youth and he only began writing when he had reached middle age, in the late ...