Teramo

Teramo (Latin: Interamnia Praetutiana, Interamnia or more rarely Interamnium and Interamna) is a city in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo.

The town is situated near the confluence of the Vezzola and Tordino rivers and is a very old city, founded in pre-Roman times, though the general aspect is more recent, due to many 19th- and 20th century buildings. Since for a long time it was a border place between the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Papal States, it acquired a separate identity and, because of the difficult communications with the other parts of Italy, it stayed isolated for long periods of time.

The Gran Sasso tunnel recently allowed Teramo to move out of this isolation.

Campli

Campli is a communal city located in the Province of Teramo.

The town was captured by the French under François de Guise in 1557 during his failed campaign against the Spanish in Naples. The most attractions are: Museo Nazionale Archeologico (National Archeological Museum), housed in the ancient 14th century Farnese palace. Chiesa di S. Pietro (Church of Saint Peter), known for its walls containing Ancient Roman and High Medieval stone fragments.

La Scala Santa (The Sacred Step), 28 wooden steps which, if climbed on ones knees, bring absolution of sins by decree of Pope Clement IV. Every year since 1964 in the month of August, there is celebration that goes by the name of Sagra della porchetta italica (Feast of Italian Pork). It is considered to be the first such event established in the Region of Abruzzo and one of the earliest organized in all of Italy.

Castelli

Castelli is a hill town and comune in Teramo province in the Abruzzo region of eastern Italy.

The hillside town lies within the Gran Sasso National Park beside Mount Camicia and on the eastern side of the Gran Sasso Massif. Castelli is famous for its ceramics which were collected by the nobility of Europe for centuries and which were at their pinnacle in the 16th century.

Today, Castelli is a favourite destination for tourists and art lovers; it hostsan an art institute and ceramics museum. Castelli's main church is San Donato. It holds a majolic altar-piece by Francesco Grue (1647) and a medieval silver cross of the Sulmona school.

Atri

Hatria was a Roman colony from which many historians also derive the name of the Adriatic Sea. According to Strabo, it was founded by the Sabini, which is proved also by the remains of an early Iron-Age settlement on the Colle Maraldo di Atri and the necropolis at La Pretara and Colle della Giustizia.

In the VI century BC the town was one of the four major Greek harbors in the Adriatic Sea. In 290 it was conquered by Rome. After the fall of the Roman empire, the territory came under the power of the Lombards (VI century A.D.) and was annexed to the Duchy of Spoleto.

Then the Normans came, and in 1393 Atri was bought by the House of Acquaviva, under whose power a period of great splendor for the city began. At the end of the XVIII century it was given by the Acquaviva to the Kingdom of Naples.

Civitella del Tronto

Civitella del Tronto is a town and comune in Teramo province, within the Abruzzo region of central Italy.

The medieval borough is dominated by the Fortress, the northernmost Bourbon citadel in Italy, and the last to surrender to the armies of Vittorio Emanuele I in 1860. From the top of the Citadel it is possible to enjoy a spectacular view all around, the Montagna dei Fiori, Campli, Monte Ascensione and the Adriatic.

Medieval re-enactment groups still keep high the memory of the fierce resistance of the fortress with a number of re-enactments during the year, among them medieval banquets in costume inside the fortress.

San Gabriele

St Gabriele dell’Addolorata (Francesco Possenti) is one of the popular saints of Christianity.

His sanctuary is at the foot of Gran Sasso and is visited annually by over 2 million pilgrims. In 1959 Pope John XXIII declared him patron saint of Abruzzo. Nowadays the presence of young people is a characteristic of the shrine.

St Gabriele is principally a saint of the young and thousands of young people go to pray to him. Each year, at the beginning of March, 10,000 high school students from Abruzzo and the Marche visit his tomb, 100 days before their final graduation examinations.

The Gorges of Salinello

Near to Civitella Del Tronto it’s possible to make some excursions in the gorges of Salinello.

A natural environment, which connect history, culture and nature between the two slopes of the Twin Mountains: “Montagna di Campli” and “Montagna dei Fiori”.

Author of this natural monument was the torrent “Salinello”, whit his influence on the entire mountain, realized in millions of years a few kilometres long gorge, 200 m high and from 5 to more quantity of 10 meter large, determining waterfalls, caves and cavities.

Madonna dello Splendore

Sanctuary of Madonna dello Splendore, a little outside the centre of Giulianova, dedicated to Our Lady who, according to the tradition, appeared to a farmer called Bertolino, on 22 April 1557, right in the place where the building rises; attached is the Capucine Convent.

The National Park of “Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga”

Covers an area of 160,000 hectares, 135,000 of which are in the Abruzzo region.

Comprises 44 local borough authorities. The Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga mountain chains lie entirely within the park..

The Corno Grande, with a height of 2912 metres, is the highest mountain of the Apennines..

On the Corno Grande is the "Caldarone", the only glacier of the Apennines and the southernmost in Europe. South of the mountain range is the immense plateau of Campo Imperatore, at an altitude of 1600 metres.. The Monti della Laga of particular importance for its geology, wildlife and vegetation.

L' Aquila

L'Aquila is a city and comune of central Italy. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the Aterno river, and surrounded by the Apennine Mountains, with the Gran Sasso d'Italia to the north-east, it is both the capital of the Abruzzo region and the seat of the province of L'Aquila. Described as "the most handsome city of the Abruzzo" by the Financial Times, L'Aquila sits upon hillside in the middle of a narrow valley, tall snow-capped mountains of the Gran Sasso massif flank the town. A maze of narrow streets lined with baroque or renaissance buildings and churches, opening onto elegant piazzas, home to the University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila is a lively college town and as such has many cultural institutions: a repertory theater, a symphony orchestra, a fine-arts academy, a state conservatory, and a film institute.