Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga

History
Castel del Monte Canestrato pecorino cheese is the characteristic pecorino cheese of transhumance: as a matter of fact, in the coldest months of the year, shepherds used to move their flocks to the milder grazing lands of Tavoliere delle Puglie, and returned in the mountains of Abruzzi in spring-summer. This kind of transhumance, called horizontal transhumance, is no longer practiced: it has been replaced by the so-called vertical transhumance, with flocks in the mountains during the most favorable months and sheltered in the stables at lower altitudes in winter.