| Calascio | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Abruzzo | |
| Territory | Aquilano | |
| Altitude | 1,210 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 39.44 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 137 (2015) | |
| Name inhabitants | Calascini | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0862 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 67020 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | St. Nicholas (May 9) | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Calascio is a village ofAbruzzo.
To know
The tiny village is part of the Campo Imperatore-Piana di Navelli mountain community. Tourism is mainly focused on the old medieval village of Rocca Calascio and on the castle. Hundreds of visitors per week explore the castle and the valley below of Navelli is Castelvecchio Calvisio, another medieval village of considerable historical interest. The scenographic environment is chosen by mountain and photography lovers as the villages of Santo Stefano di Sessanio is Castel del Monte. Local products are also wine and meat. From nearby Santo Stefano it is possible to reach the plain of Campo Imperatore. It is part of the Authentic Villages of Italy.
Geographical notes
The territory of the municipality falls within the boundaries of Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park constituting in fact one of the access gates in its southern part. It is 5 km from Santo Stefano di Sessanio, 6 from Castelvecchio Calvisio, 14 from Barisciano, 23 from Bominaco, 32 from Campo Imperatore, 35 fromEagle.
Background
The existence of the village, of Norman origin, is testified as early as 816 in a document of Ludovico I as a possession of the Volturnensi monks. Subsequently, around the year 1000, the fortress was founded on the mountain above, originally a simple sighting tower. In the fifteenth century the fortress grew in importance and size: passed from the barony of Carapelle (XIV century) to the Piccolomini family (XV century) and then to the Medici family (XVI century), was placed in control of the heads of sheep involved in the transhumance on the director of the royal sheep track for Foggia. The structure of the castle was modified and enlarged and a small village was formed on its slopes, also perched.
For a long period of time there was therefore the coexistence of two villages, Calascio and Rocca Calascio, with different strategic functions being the first place on the slopes of the mountain directly on the road that leads to Santo Stefano di Sessanio and toEagle and the second in a predominant position on the entire plateau of Navelli and near the pastures of Campo Imperatore. In 1703 it was devastated by a violent earthquake following which the strongly damaged fortress was almost completely abandoned and a large part of the population moved to the underlying Calascio which from that moment developed more than the fortress.
How to orient yourself
Calascio: full screen map.The town is characterized by a compact nucleus of early medieval origin, located on the road from Santo Stefano di Sessanio goes towards Castel del Monte, surrounded by some modern structures, especially from the 19th and 20th centuries. On the mountain above is the village of Rocca Calascio and the ruins of the castle. The residential architecture is dominated by the tower-house typology, with a structure similar to a masonry tower, with a very small base and considerable development in height (five or six floors).
Neighborhoods
Its municipal territory also includes the Rocca Calascio locality.
How to get
By plane
- Pescara airport (Abruzzo International Airport), Via Tiburtina Km 229.100, ☎ 39 085 4324201.
By bus
Bus lines managed by ARPA - Abruzzesi regional public bus lines [1]
Bus lines managed by ARPA - Abruzzesi regional public bus lines How to get around
What see
- Church of San Francesco (Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie). Inside it has a candlestick and a 17th century ciborium, a canvas by Giulio Bradeschini (16th century) and another depicting a Madonna with Child.
- 1 Church of Santa Maria della Pietà (in Rocca Calascio). Near the fortress, on the path that leads to Santo Stefano di Sessanio, there is this small temple built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 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.
- Church of San Nicola.
- 2 Rocca (in Rocca Calascio). The foundation of the fortress dates back to the year 1000 even if the first historical document attesting its presence dates back to 1380. The original structure consisted of an isolated quadrangular tower with already squared stones and had the function of a lookout tower .
- In the 14th century it was owned by Leonello Acclozamora of the barony of Carapelle.
- Subsequently, towards the end of the 15th century, it was granted by King Ferdinand to Antonio Todeschini of the Piccolomini family who strengthened the fortification by equipping it with a pebble wall and four cylindrical towers for military use. During this period the fortress saw its economic weight grow, as it was placed in control of the heads of sheep involved in the transhumance on the direction of the royal tratturo for Foggia, and at its feet a small village developed, in turn surrounded by walls.
- In 1579 the Medici family bought the fortress and the nearby village of for 106,000 ducats Santo Stefano di Sessanio in order to extend their possessions to exploit the wool trade. In 1703 it was devastated by a violent earthquake following which the highest area of the village was abandoned and a large part of the population moved to the nearby town of Calascio, whose birth is linked to the destruction of the fortress.
- In the twentieth century, even the last remaining families left the village and the fortress remained uninhabited. At the end of the century, however, also in the wake of the success deriving from the setting of some films (above all Lady Hawke from 1985), some houses were recovered and others were converted to accommodation facilities; moreover, the castle has undergone an important restoration and consolidation operation and is now one of the main tourist attractions in the area.
- Castle. It dominates the Tirino valley and the plateau of Navelli not far from the plain of Campo Imperatore; it is located on a ridge at 1,460 meters high, in a very favorable position from the defensive point of view and was used as a military observation point in communication with other nearby towers and castles, up to the Adriatic.
- The structure, entirely in white stone with squared ashlars, consists of a central keep, probably pre-existing, of a crenellated wall in pebbles and four corner towers with a strongly sloping circular base. Access is through an opening on the eastern side located about five meters from the ground, which is accessed via a wooden ramp, originally retractable, resting on stone shelves.
- The castle, damaged by the earthquake of 1703, was subjected to a series of conservative restorations between 1986 and 1989 aimed at restoring the structure and allowing its architectural-functional recovery, and is now available for free to visitors.
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- 3 Borgo of Rocca Calascio. The village, located south-west of the castle, along the path that leads from Santo Stefano di Sessanio to the town of Calascio, composes with it a single fortified organism.
- Its development is linked to the modest size of the castle and the small number of men it could host, as well as the need to safeguard the population from the assaults of invaders and pirates. The connection with the castle was through a wooden drawbridge, now replaced by a simple ramp.
- It can be divided into two parts, an original one adjacent to the castle and one located further downstream and more recent. The upper part was practically abandoned already following the destruction caused by the earthquake of 1703 and is today in the form of a ruin; the lower part was instead inhabited until the very first postwar period and has undergone numerous conservative restorations over the years. Alongside forms of restoration, so to speak "public", there are also interventions by simple enthusiasts of the Abruzzo mountains who have contributed to the recovery of the site.
Events and parties
What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Average prices
- 1 The Taberna della Rocca, Via della Torre (in Rocca Calascio), ☎ 39 338 8059430.
- 2 Da Clara Restaurant, Via Playa, ☎ 39 0862 930365.
- 3 The Path of the Foxes, SS17bis, 1, ☎ 39 333 7813150.
- 4 Trattoria Da Maria, Via Gatti Santurino, 21, ☎ 39 346 5223144.
Where stay
Average prices
- 1 The Rocca Refuge, Rocca Calascio locality, ☎ 39 338 8059430. A widespread hotel in renovated houses in the town
- 2 [link not working]B&B by Nataliya, Via XI February, 71, ☎ 39 0862 930346.
- 3 B&B Accà Lascio, Via Preta Jerta 10, ☎ 39 347 5572714.
Safety
How to keep in touch
- 1 Italian post, Via Lembo di Cola, 1, ☎ 39 0862 930136.
Around
- Santo Stefano di Sessanio
- Castelvecchio Calvisio
- Barisciano
- Bominaco - It boasts an important religious complex with the abbey of Santa Maria Assunta and the frescoed oratory of San Pellegrino. Remains of a castle.
- Campo Imperatore
- L'Aquila
