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We left Chieti early in the morning (7:00 am.) and went
to Sulmona..... The trip begins in Sulmona ( 403 mts above
sea-level ), a town situated in the heart of the Peligna valley. The town, which is
well-known as the birth-place of Ovidio, the poet of love, is known nowadays as being the land of confetti
(there is also a museum of confetti). Its many fine monuments date back,
mostly, to the economic and cultural heyday of the town, during the XIV and XV centuries The Natural History Museum of the Mountain Community, with
its entomological section containing almost 7,000 examples of local insects, is worth a visit. The next stop is the town of the
snake-catchers, Cocullo, whose
residents have combined the millenary Marsican traditions with the Christian devotion to S. Domenico. From here the trip continues on
the provincial road to Ortona dei Marsi, going through a karst depression area. Then it reaches Bisegna passing through the lovely
Giovenco valley, and from here it ends up in the heart of the National-Park, i.e.
the town of Pescasseroli.
Still proceeding along the Sangro valley, the tour touches Opi and afterwards the town of Villetta Barrea, whose artificial lake hears the
same
name. The tour starts back from the lake of Barrea and, following the S.S. (State
Road) n. 479, it climbs the mountains through the woods of Scalone up to the pass of Monte Godi and then it descends to the town and lake of Scanno.
Here it is worth making a stop and taking a walk in the narrow
streets, many of which contain the typical fights of steps. In this way you can admire the characteristic women's clothes of oriental origin that some elcerly women still wear, especially of holiday.
And you can also do some shopping in the goldsmith's shops. After leaving Scanno, the
car goes through Villalago and, at the end of the Sagittario Valley, Anversa degli Abruzzi, the town where D'Annunzio's
play "La fiaccola sotto il moggio" is set. After
driving 50 more kilometres the trip ends back in Sulmona.
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