of neutrinos, high-energy cosmic rays, dark matter, nuclear decay, as well as the study of geology, and biology. The laboratory employs over 700 scientists from twenty different countries. The LNGS was the destination of the neutrinos involved in the faster-than-light neutrino anomaly publicly announced in September 2011 and retracted in July 2012. In the summer of 2014 the facility was instrumental in confirming previous theories about the Sun's main source of energy, when proton-to-proton fusion-produced neutrinos were detected and measured, virtually at the Sun's core. Tourism The Gran Sasso is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. Running through this nature preserve is a portion of the Italian State Highway 80 (SS80), known as the Grand Highway of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park ("Strada maestra del Parco"). While frequented by skiers in winter, and mountain climbers and hikers in other seasons, the Gran Sasso is remarkably free of tourists despite its proximity to Rome and the events of the Gran Sasso raid that took place there in 1943. This is especially true in summer with most Italians preferring beach vacations and foreign visitors more likely to visit the mountains of northern Italy. Pope John Paul II loved to secretly ski at Gran Sasso where he would retire often and pray at the church of San Pietro della Ienca. When he died Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, gave the local Abruzzo community some of the late pontiff's blood as a token of the love he had felt for the mountainous area. The Shrine of Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows at Isola del Gran Sasso d'Italia with average of two million visitors per year is one of the 15 most visited sanctuaries in the world. Acclaimed international movies shot at Gran Sasso include Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Red Sonja, Ladyhawke, King David, Keoma and The Barbarians. Points of interest Alpine Botanical Garden of Campo Imperatore References External links Inside Abruzzo: Insider Tips Uncovered The National Park of the Gran Sasso Apennine Mountains Mountains of Abruzzo