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Abruzzo - Art and Culture
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Romanesque churches and castles, ancient necropolises and museums, hermitages and old fortified centres. This coastal and mountainous land has an amazing array of art and monuments to delight visitors. Every year the number of attractions increases as new and diverse museums open and more hermitages and archaeology sites are renovated and improved. All this increases the charm of Abruzzo. We group the sites in chronologican order in three broad phases: Archaeology in Abruzzo, Medieval Abruzzo and Abruzzo from the 16th century to today.
Archaeology in Abruzzo
The solemn statue of the Guerriero di Capestrano (The Warrior of Capestrano) is the piece de resistance of the Museo-Archeologio Nazionale in Chieti. This 6th century BC statue was found in 1935 and is the most famous piece from ancient Abruzzo, whose fearless peoples (Samnites, Pecenes, Marrucini, Vestini, Marsi, Aequi, Paeligni and Frentani) hampered Romes eastward expension. In 91 BC, these people formed an alliance against the Urbe (Rome), and chose Corfinio as their capital and used the word Italy in a political sense for the first time in history.
Italic Abruzzo is full of surprises for researchers who visit the necropolises, fortresses and urban settlements amid. Prehistoric Abruzzo is also extremely rich as is evidenced by the traces left in the caves of the Majella and the Fucino basin.
The remains of Roman-Abruzzo are relatively modest compared to the surrounding regions, the landscape they are set against offers something special.
Medieval Abruzzo
Medieval churches in the middle of solitary plateaux and hermitages hidden in the nooks of the mountains; impressive abbeys and daunting castles; cobbled roads and sanctuaries. Despite the many centuries of history visible in Abruzzo, the Middle Ages had the most visible and impressive impact on the land, leaving many traces which will forever be engraved in the minds and hearts of visitors. In recent decades, the Abruzzo mountains have become a poor “marginal†land, but in the Middle Ages they fulfilled a fundamental military and economic role. This importance accounts for the abundance of works of art.
Between L’Aquila, the Navelli plain and Sulmona, the Gothic and Romanesque churches have been embellished by hosts of extraordinary artists, often from other regions or France. Interesting churches and castles were built on the hills and along the coast in places such as Castel Castagna, Moscufo, Fossecesia, Loreto Aprutino and Lanciano. In this area, though, recent urban development has deeply influenced the surrounding landscape.
Abruzzo from the 16th century to the present
The turn of the 15th century marks the end of the most important period in the art history of Abruzzo. Although transhumant stock rearing was still important for the regional economy (as proved by the development of the fortresses at the edge of Campo Imperatore), Renaissance architecture and figurative arts left surprisingly few traces among the mountains and hills of Abruzzo.
This trent was only broken in the 19th century with the unification of Italy, when a new generation of artists, musicians and writers enlivened the artistic and cultural life of the region. Some of them, such as Gabriele D’Annunzio, Ignazio Silone, Ennio Flaiano and Basilio Cascella achieved widespread fame, while others, such as the painters Teofilo Patini and Francesco Paolo Michetti, only achieved regional notoriety.
Hermitages and sanctuaries
For centuries, the solemn landscapes of Abruzzo, has drawn men into reflections on the mysteries of faith. The caves and forre (deep narrow gorges carved by rivers) were the scenes of many pagan rituals, then in the early Middle Ages impressive and sometimes almost inaccessible hermitages were created. In addition to these places of pilgrimage, there are still hermitages shrouded in silence and often accessible only on foot. Nowadays, the great sanctuaries are:
The Celestine hermitages – St Peter Celestine (Pietro Angeleri) is one of the most interesting religious characters of Abruzzo. He was born in Isernia in 1215 and at the age of sixteen he joined the Benedictine monastery of S. Maria in Fafoli.
In 1238 he moved to Rome, but after three years he retired to a hermit’s life on the rocks of Mt Morrone. In the subsequent years, under the name of Fra‘Pietro da Morrone, he became the key figure among the hermits of the Majella. He founded convents and hermitages, such as Santo Spirito a Majella. In the summer of 1294, he left the mountain when the conclave named him pope. Under the name of Celestino V (Celestine V), he only managed a few months in the sumptuous papal court of Napes and on 13th December, he gave up the throne of St Peter to return to the rocks of the Majella.
Death came to him on 19th May 1296 in the fortress of Fumone, where he had been locked in a cell by his successor, Boniface VIII. Dante, in his Hell, labelled him "that soul who, in his cowardice, made the Grand Denial". The church contradicted this in 1313 and Fra’Pietro da Morrone became one of the most worshipped Abruzzo saints.
The hermitage of S. Giovanni - Cut into the rock, overlooks the thick woods of the Orfento valley.
The Sanctuary of S. Gabriele - At the foot of the Teramo slope of the Gran Sasso, the Sanctuary of S. Gabriele, visited each year by two and a half million pilgrims, is the best known holy place in Abruzzo.
The hermitage of S. Bartolomeo di Legio - Built into the vertical wall of a canyon, the hermitage of S. Bartolomeo di Legio is one of the most spectacular Celestine hermitages in the Majella.
Traditional Products
Ceramic Pot Le mani sanno (Hands know) is not only the name of a workshop in the Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo but also a truth worth thinking over. Quickly dismissed in many parts of Italy during the industrial boom years, manual work and crafts traditions have fortunately survived in other areas.
Abruzzo abounds with craftsmen of all types, including ceramists, stone-cutters, goldsmiths, engravers, carvers, weavers and coppersmiths. These fine products have been sent to Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the British Royal Family.
Ceramics
Pottery Castelli for more than three centuries has been a crucial centre for Italian ceramic art. It originally found fame in the 17th and 18th centuries with the words of maestri like Grue, Gentile, Cappelletti and Fuina. Rapino, at the foot of the Majella, is another centre for ceramic crafts.
Jewellery
Jewellery The medieval artists in Guardiagrele town originally brought the jewellery of this area fame. Today crafted silver is still of great importance in Abruzzo. Pescocostanzo, Scanno and Sulmona are other important towns. The presentosa (a brooch) is the symbol of the goldsmith tradition in Abruzzo.
Copper & Iron
Man Fasioning Copper Iron is used to produce beds, chandeliers, balcony rails and barbecues. Copper is used for the production of pots and pans, as well as the unmistakable conche, large vases used for centuries to carry water. The capital of crafted iron and copper in Abruzzo are Guardiagrele, Pescocostanzo, Lanciano, Ortona, Vasto, Tossicia and Scanno. One of the most commonly used iron objects is the so-called chitarra (guitar) which is a special implement used to prepare the famous pasta known as "maccheroni alla chitarra".
Sculpted stone
Man Hand Carving Stone Majella limestone, famous for its warm colours, was by far the most used stone for the best works of medieval architecture in Abruzzo.
The stonemason and the carver can still be found in Lettomanoppello, Pretoro, Pennapiedimonte and Pacentro.