A slice of paradise was created by a landslide at Mt. Rava a thousand years ago, forming Lake Scanno, a heart-shaped mountain lake 1,050 meters above sea level in the Sagittario Valley of Abruzzo. “It boasts incredible biodiversity just waiting to be discovered,” says Enzo Gentile, a local who volunteers at the Museo della Lana, a museum that tells the story of Scanno and its traditions.

As he sits on the shore of the “blue flag" lake, moments of energy catch Enzo’s attention as hundreds of swallows twirl in the turquoise sky. Scanno’s ancient pastoral traditions are so little altered by modern life that the romantic village still offers a beauty that has bewitched for centuries. Illustrious past residents include Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio and Dutch graphic designer M.C. Escher. “The youngest son of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, Colm Thomas, lived by the lake. He died last year and is buried here,” says Enzo.