In the Buchianico countryside near the city of Chieti in the Abruzzo region, Middle-earth may soon emerge. Nicholas Gentile, a geologist by training and pastry chef by occupation, bought a piece of land here and, along with other Tolkien fans, began to live like a hobbit, according to The Guardian.
“I realized that books and films were no longer enough for me to satisfy my passion for fantasy, and in particular for The Lord of the Rings,” Gentile says of his hobbit evolution. - It is not enough to read about the lives of others. I want to live my hobbit life to its fullest. " That is why he bought two hectares of land and built a Hobbit house for himself and his family, always open to guests. Immediate plans are to build the Green Dragon Inn and the house of Bilbo Baggins. More distant plans are to turn this piece of Abruzzo into a full-fledged Hobbitania, whose guests can live in a magical world. Moreover, this world is not too different from the reality of Buchianico.
“Over time, I realized that my friends, relatives, local farmers have always lived like hobbits,” says Gentile. “They work like hobbits, in close contact with nature. They celebrate like hobbits with festivals and dancing. And they even dress like hobbits. " For 500 years now, Buchianico has hosted the Banderesi festival, one of the oldest in Europe, where everyone wears medieval clothes, sings songs, dances and cooks local cuisine. “I realized that I have always lived in Middle-earth. The only thing that was missing was to realize this and build a village. Many people laugh at us. They think I'm trying to escape reality. But this is not the case. I live my dream. By purchasing this piece of land, I isolated it from the reality that I do not like, and create the reality that I need. "
In August, along with a support group of Lord of the Rings friends and fans dressed as elf, gnome, hobbit, wizard and humans, Gentile walked more than 200 kilometers from Chieti to Naples to throw a “ring of omnipotence” into the crater of Vesuvius. It was not just a walk. As a true hobbit, Gentile loves and cares for nature, so his gesture is a kind of message to the world. “The earth is threatened by pollution and climate catastrophe - enemies no less terrible than Sauron. We wanted to show that our land, like Tolkien's Middle-earth, must be saved, and so we went to Vesuvius. I am too much of a defender of nature to litter it with pieces of iron, so I symbolically threw a piece of solidified lava into the crater, and gave the ring to a little boy whom we met on the way. "
Gentile documents his project on Instagram, in the account "My Hobbit Life" , which now has more than 100,000 subscribers, including the actors who played in the film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings". After the publications appeared in the press, all three movie hobbits - Elijah Wood, Sean Austin and Billy Boyd - entered Gentile's account with words of support. “Ciao, sono Frodo,” Elijah Wood said in his video message. Great job! I will follow you. And if someday I find myself in your wilderness, I will be happy to visit you. "