Mountain Camp: June 12 - 18, 2026
A week-long retreat for artists and creatives seeking to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect—with themselves, with others, and with the rhythms of rural life.
Set across two distinct locations—one tucked within a quiet forest, the other in a medieval mountain town—the Mountain Camp offers space for both solitude and community. Here, participants are invited to engage with the land: put their hands in the soil, witness the process of beekeeping, wander mountain paths and observe local craft practices passed down through generations.
This is not a retreat focused on outcomes, but on presence and process. We will move at the pace of nature, embracing shared rituals, collective experiments, and the creative potential of play, rest, and getting things wrong.
To reserve your spot please email: setteuarciate@gmail.com
Activities will start at 10:00 and end at 16:00 each day so that guests can enjoy unstructured time exploring Bocca di Valle and in the village of Pacentro.
Friday, 12 June – Bocca di Valle
Arrival and forest walk in BoccadiValle
Introduction circle
Welcome dinner at home
Saturday, 13 June – Bocca di Valle
Fieldwork: what’s blooming?
Time to rest, write, or sketch at BoccadiValle
Sunday, 14 June – Bocca di Valle
Visit to local artisan workshop and town market
Lunch in the village, Guardiagrele
Pasta-making workshop – flours of the Majella
Convivial dinner at home
Monday, 15 June – Bocca di Valle → Pacentro
Morning mountain trek
Travel to Pacentro
Apericena: what does June taste like?
Tuesday, 16 June – Pacentro
Fieldwork: the ecology of mulberries and silk
Time in the setteuarciate studio
Wednesday, 17 June – Pacentro
Fieldwork: Beekeeping and sculpture
Time in the setteuarciate studio
Thursday, 18 June – Departure Day
Farewell breakfast
Departure from Sulmona or Pratola Peligna
What is included?
+ Three nights at BoccadiValle (single room or double room, shared toilets)
+ Three nights in Pacentro (single room or double room with toilet)
+ Three dinners at Boccadivalle
+ One dinner in Pacentro
+ Five midday meals: Mountain cheese, fresh bread, seasonal greens, or a nourishing sandwich
+ Transports — pick up at Chieti Scalo and drop off in Sulmona
Why Abruzzo:
Abruzzo is one of Italy’s wildest and most unspoiled regions.
Our two residencies are located on opposite sides of the Majella—Abruzzo’s Mother Mountain.
Far from the touristic image of Italy, this mountain offers space for focus, reflection, and embodied practice. Its slow rhythms invite a different kind of attention—one rooted in landscape, silence, and ancestral knowledge.
Here, you’ll experience another Italy: raw, quiet, and astonishing in its natural beauty.