Alfedena. The Castle

2024

Alfedena Castle is the ruin of a castle dating back to the 10th-11th century in the Italian municipality of the same name of which an octagonal tower and parts of the walls remain. The ruins are located in a dominant position over the town, along Via Luigi De Amicis. The wall rests its foundations directly on the rocky thickness of the mountain hill overlooking Alfedena, has an irregular circular appearance, with multiple layers of walls, and double curtain walls with fornix-shaped entrances are preserved. The tower, although cut off at the top, is the best preserved element. The castle was founded around the 10th century by the Frankish lords, who divided the county of Marsi between them. In fact, Alfedena was among these possessions and, on top of the castle hill, a fortified tower was built, which communicated with those of the other villages, such as Scontrone, Castel di Sangro and Barrea. The tower with an irregular plan was rebuilt in the 13th century, as demonstrated by the octagonal structure, perhaps before it had a cylindrical base, the fact is that it testifies to the ancient function of the castle, which was that of lookout, guarding the town below, developed from the 14th century onwards, and together with the fortified enclosure, it also served as a shelter for citizens during periods of emergency, such as sieges. In the 14th century it was a fiefdom of Simone Di Sangro, the rich family from the Peligna valley, who had various fiefdoms, only to then pass to Giacomo Caldora in 1422. In 1456 a serious earthquake damaged the castle, which slowly lost the ancient central function of Alfedena, given that the main political and economic activities developed further and further downstream, along the Pescasseroli-Candela sheep track. The castle was enfeoffed during the Spanish viceroyalty to various lords, but it never returned to its ancient functions, it was damaged again by the Maiella earthquake of 1706, then by the earthquakes of 1915 (Marsica earthquake) and 1984, being restored only in the first years 2000, to be visited as a panoramic location, together with the octagonal tower.

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Morro D’Oro. Church of SS. Salvatore

At the entrance to the town of Morro D'Oro (Teramo), 210 m above sea level, there is the Church of SS.mo Salvatore. It is also dedicated to St. Nicholas of Bari, patron saint of Morro D'Oro

Fara San Martino. The Gorges of San Martino

the Gole di San Martino opens with a narrow passage from the high rocky walls on the eastern slope of the Maiella, just outside the town of Fara. This is the beginning of the gorge-like valley that leads to the highest peak of the Maiella, Monte Amaro (2793 m), and includes the wildest territories of the entire massif with a 14 km long route and a difference in height of 2300 m . It can be divided into three parts: the Valle di S. Spirito, the Valle di Macchia Lunga and the Val Cannella. The latter ends with a glacial cirque in the center of which is the Manzini refuge. According to popular tradition, these suggestive gorges, just 2 m wide and about 30 m long, were opened by San Martino with the strength of his arms to allow the people of Fares to access the high pastures of the Majella more quickly. After walking a few meters, you can see the monastery of San Martino in Valle which an archaeological excavation has recently brought to light. In reality, this remarkable scenario was produced by the erosive and incessant action of the torrential waters coming from the melting of the surrounding snowfields during the Quaternary, in particular during the glaciations. With an evident franapoggio stratification that highlights the oldest terms as you go up, the oldest rocks of the Maiella emerge here, represented by beige-hazelnut platform limestones dating back to the lower Cretaceous. They contain fossil remains of algae and benthic foraminifera. Near the monastery, it is possible to observe an outcrop full of rudists, lamellibranchs who build cliffs now extinct but clearly visible in Maiella on Cima Murelle.

Mountain range which, compared to the Abruzzo National Park, extends from north to south and whose crests delimit the border between Lazio (west) and Molise (east). Due to its importance both from a naturalistic and faunistic point of view, the mountain range was inserted by presidential decree in the Abruzzo National Park in January 1990. It includes high altitude peaks that are around 2000 meters: Monte Meta (2241), Monte Metuccia, Coste dell'Altare, Monte Mare (2020), Monte Cavallo (2039), Monte Forcellone (2030). The Mainarde, like the rest of the Apennine mountains, are very ancient and of limestone origin. On them the erosion of winds and waters has left clear traces in gorges, gullies and beautiful potholes of the giants, the latter very clearly visible by anyone who looks out from the viewpoint of San Michele. Covered by dense arboreal vegetation (beech groves) up to an altitude of 1800-1900 meters, the Mainarde - beyond this altitude - offer a spectacular turf, ideal habitat for particular types of endangered fauna such as the Abruzzo chamois the Marsican brown bear, the Apennine wolf and the lynx.

Spectacular landscapes and views 2024

Abruzzo - Gran Sasso of Italy

The Gran Sasso (or Gran Sasso d'Italia) is the highest mountain massif of the continental Apennines, located in the central Apennines, entirely in Abruzzo, as part of the easternmost ridge of the Abruzzo Apennines, on the border between the provinces of L ' Aquila, Teramo and Pescara. It borders to the north with the territories of Fano Adriano, Pietracamela, Isola del Gran Sasso d'Italia, Castelli and Arsita, to the east with the Gorges of Popoli, to the south-west directly with the plain of Assergi, further downstream with L'Aquila , to the south it is limited by Campo Imperatore and downstream by the Piana di Navelli, while to the west-north-west it borders the chain of the Monti della Laga and Lake Campotosto, separated from them by the upper Vomano Valley and the state road 80 of the Gran Sasso d'Italia that crosses it. The Gran Sasso d'Italia is a protected environmental area with the establishment of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park. It includes the Gran Sasso mountain community and the Campo Imperatore-Piana di Navelli mountain community.

Manoppello. Abbey of Santa Maria Arabona

Santa Maria de Arabona is an abbey dating back to the end of the 12th century located in the hamlet of the same name in the municipality of Manoppello (PE), declared a national monument in 1902.

Abruzzo, Italy. Spectacular landscapes

Abruzzo is an Italian region located east of Rome, between the Adriatic and the Apennines. The hinterland is mostly made up of national parks and nature reserves. The region also includes medieval and Renaissance villages perched on the hills. The regional capital, L'Aquila, is a city surrounded by walls, damaged by the earthquake of 2009. The Costa dei Trabocchi, with its sandy coves, takes its name from the traditional fishing jetties.

Rocca Calascio (AQ) - Santa Maria della Pietà

Near Rocca Calascio, on the path that leads to Santo Stefano di Sessanio, is the church of Santa Maria della Pietà, a small temple built in 1596 on the place where, according to legend, the local population had the best of a band of brigands . The church, probably founded on a pre-existing Renaissance aedicule, has an octagonal external structure with an environment used as a sacristy leaning against one of the facades and a dome with eight segments. The interior, articulated on a system of Tuscan pilasters, presents a painting depicting the Miraculous Virgin and a sculpture of San Michele armed. The church, now used as a simple oratory, is a destination for faithful and devotees.

The village of Borrello, as also handed down by Benedetto Croce, was a fief of the Borrello family: the Abruzzo philosopher claims to have found a document from the year 1000 which would suggest some lordship of this family already at the end of the 10th century. In fact, the news is also confirmed in the most ancient historical sources, consulted and collected in the eighteenth century also by Antinori for the drafting of his Annali degli Abruzzi, in which the progenitor of the dynasty, a certain Borrello from whom the Castle then took its name and he perpetuated it over the centuries, he would have been a Frankish leader linked to the Counts of the Marsi. Croce, on the other hand, asserts that the family descends from some exponent of the Borel family of French origin.

Palena. The waterfalls of the Aventine river

The Aventine is a 45 km long river in Abruzzo, born from the sources of Capo di Fiume, located within the municipality of Palena, located at 863 m above sea level, downstream of the Cotaio stream.

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