Palena - Palena

Palena is a center ofAbruzzo.

To know

Palena is among the countries that have been awarded the Orange Flag brand of the Italian Touring Club.

Background

Fossils have been found in Capo di Fiume and are now on display in the municipal paleontological museum. The municipal territory of Palena has already been inhabited since the Paleolithic era: some artifacts from this period have been found in the area of ​​Palena. In the Italic period and in the Roman period some districts of Palena are inhabited as evidenced by some tombs and buildings of the time. The municipal capital dates back to the early Middle Ages when the town was a fief of the Gualtieri, the Orsini, Antonio Caldora, Matteo Di Capua and D'Aquino. Various Benedictine monks have inhabited the area.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

The municipal territory of palena also includes the villages of Aia dei Cordoni, Palena Stazione and Quarto Santa Chiara.

How to get

By plane

• Pescara airport (Abruzzo International Airport), Via Tiburtina Km 229.100, ☎ 39 085 4324201. 

By car

• It is affected by the former state road 84 Frentana

By bus

• Bus lines managed by ARPA - Abruzzesi regional public bus lines [1]

How to get around

What see

• Church of San Falco. It is the patronal church of the town, dedicated to San Falco di Palena, a Basilian monk who died in Palena in the 11th century, and to Sant'Antonino Martire.

A first church was erected during the period of evangelization in the eighth century by the Benedictine monks of Volturnes on the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to Jupiter or Hercules and was dedicated to Santa Maria de Palena. After the arrival of the Franks of Pipino and subsequently of Charlemagne, the temple was dedicated to Sant'Antonino Martire, who arrived in Italy from Burgundy, according to tradition, to have passed to Palena in the fifth century. Several times the place of worship was destroyed by barbarian raids and earthquakes, but it was always rebuilt on the same site. Around the 11th century, the counts of Valva, feudal lords of Palena, embellished it within a larger plan of remodeling churches and monasteries in their possessions, as evidenced by the discovery of some capitals attributable to the proto-Gothic art of the 11th century .

With the translation of the remains of San Falco from the church of Sant'Egidio to the present building, the latter changed its name. The saint's body and the reliquary cabinets managed to escape from the violent earthquake that destroyed the church and three quarters of the town on November 3, 1706. However, the new reconstruction had to be demolished in 1841, when it became too small to contain the increased population. The temple was raised again, but it was razed to the ground by the American bombing of January 13, 1944, on the day of the anniversary of the death of San Falco.

Since the reconstruction of 1953 only the bell tower is part of the previous church, but the external forms remain faithful to it.

The basilica has a Latin cross plan with a large transept decorated with two rose windows.

The red brick facade is squared with marble bands and has a large rose window; above the transept there is a very low and wide octagonal dome with a porthole on each side.

The bell tower is an imposing tower divided into three sectors by frames. The last two sectors have arches on each side. On the top there is a lantern with arches ending with a spire. At the base of the bell tower there are traces of the original structure and of the round arches. On the right side, the rock on which the bell tower rests connects with the Aventino river and has a hollow inside which the statue of a Madonna has been placed.

The interior of the church had Baroque paintings but almost all of them went missing with the destruction. The original frescoes, however, have been faithfully recovered. Furthermore, the relics of San Falco da Palena are still preserved near the altar. 

• Hermitage of the Madonna dell'Altare, State road 84 between Valico della Forchetta and Monte Porrara, to the left of the Aventine. It was founded by the Celestine monks near a rocky buttress where Pietro da Morrone lived in a cave for about four years. Since 1970 the complex has been owned by the municipality. The hermitage is located on a cliff that makes the building impenetrable on three sides. The whole is made up of a church, an inhabited complex and a hanging garden. The inhabited structure is distributed on three levels, including the basement. The portals have jambs and a round arch.

The church has a gable roof on the south side and an irregular roof on the north. The façade has an architraved portal with jambs, a molded frame and a frieze with a central coat of arms. On the sides of the portal there are two pilasters on which there are six capitals with scroll ornaments and of a vegetable and floral type. Above the portal there is a semicircular opening with a lowered arch. The church has a rectangular plan. The interior of the church mirrors that of a wealthy family home.

On many occasions, pilgrims arrived at the hermitage and spent the night there. : Currently we arrive on 2 July for the feast of San Falco di Palena. The legend about the foundation tells of the appearance of a sacred image to a shepherd boy. Another holiday is September 12th. Subsequently the hermitage is closed on November 21 to be reopened during Pentecost. 

• Church of San Cataldo, along the State Road 84 (San Cataldo locality). It was built in the 11th century but was remodeled after the Second World War due to severe damage. The facade is in the typical structure of the Abruzzo religious architecture. On the sides of the portal there are two classic devotionis windows typical of rural churches. On the sides of the church there are three windows on each side. The added block on the back served as a sacristy. The single nave interior has an altar made of stucco and a plaster statue. Another statue depicting San Cataldo was taken to another place after the church was closed for worship. However, the church is the destination of the saint's celebrations. 
• Church and convent of Sant'Antonio (location Villa Galardi). The religious complex dates back to the 16th century; later it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1706, subsequently rebuilt by making some changes following the architectural canons of the time. Recently the complex has been restored in the external finishes. Currently the convent, which is on two levels, houses in addition to the "Museo dell'Orso Marsicano", also a tourist-cultural accommodation facility. The cloister of the convent is surrounded by a portico, also on two levels which rest on stone pillars on which are developed round arches; the ceiling has a cross vault.

The church is preceded by a portico with three arches. The cornice is Romanelle. The baroque interior has a single nave with entablature. The organ is placed above an ambo covered by a lowered dome and separated from the nave by an arch. 

• Church of the Madonna del Carmine, along the State Road 84. It dates back to 1835 where perhaps there was a small niche for travelers. The church is leaning against a hill and is composed of a hall, a narthex, a sacristy and a presbytery. The façade is gabled with three round arched windows. The church is accessed via a staircase. 

• Church of the Rosary, Corso Umberto I. The various inscriptions placed inside the church refer to the various phases of the construction of the plant begun to be built in 1757 on an ancient building. Originally called the church of Santa Maria della Neve, in 1832 it changed its name to the current one. The façade, in Baroque style, is preceded by two flights of stairs and is divided into three bays by means of two superimposed orders of pilasters. The first order of pilasters is of Ionic style, with volutes placed according to an inclination of 45º. The second order is of Corinthian style and is plastered. The central span is higher and is surmounted by a gable with a broken frame. The base is in squared stone. The portal has an eighteenth-century frame, surmounted by a rose window in imitation of a wheel, with decoration of trefoil arches and angel heads. On the sides there are two splayed windows. The church has a Greek cross plan and the interior is completely plastered. Side chapels are placed on the sides of both arms of the Greek cross and are framed by Corinthian pillars and round arches. An organ, inlaid and plated with gold, is placed on an ambo, located in turn above two columns at the entrance to the church. 
• Church of San Francesco, wide Chapters. It dates back to the 14th century. The baroque style of the interior suggests that the church was renovated between the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1984 it was rendered unusable due to damage from the earthquake. The building is preceded by a staircase; the facade ends with a curvilinear tympanum. The lower pilasters are in Doric order with a stone base, the upper Ionic ones with pedestals and volutes. The portal is placed between two pilasters and surmounted by a curved tympanum. The roof has a double sloping roof in which an octagonal drum rises with rectangular splayed windows like those that open on the sides. The bell tower is made of stone and is located in the apse area. The last level of the bell tower is the result of a later modification. The interior is a single room. 
• Castle. The ducal castle is located on a rocky spur, in the highest part of the historic center of Palena. The original building dates back to the 12th century, then remodeled several times due to the violent earthquakes that took place in the town and in the surrounding areas. The seismic event of 1933 caused various damage to the building, including the destruction of the towers, the keep and the belvedere. The castle, as we see it today, is due to the reconstruction carried out in the fifties after the destruction of the Second World War. At present, attempts are being made to re-functionalize its interiors. The various buildings of the castle are covered with double pitched roofs made with a mantle of tiles and Romanelle cornices on three rows of overlapping tiles. A loggia with four arches embellishes one of the longer sides, while on the opposite side there is a series of four arches. The entrance to the castle is possible through an urban door which has a single arched archway. On the opposite side there is an architraved portal with a molded frame and geometric designs. 
• Castelletta. Initially built as a farm to support pastoralism near a sheep track, it is now used for private housing purposes. The construction of the building dates back to the seventeenth century on top of a pre-existing building that popular legends want a temple dedicated to Jupiter or Hercules. In the 1900s with the decline of pastoralism the building was adapted as a residence. Two circular turrets rise on two corners. Some windows are perhaps due to transformations for residential purposes. The facade is austere and unadorned. The canopy is framed with romanelle made up of three rows of tiles staggered with each other. The rural-Romanesque aspect of a fortified farmhouse isolated from the inhabited center. 
• Houses with arcades, Town Hall square. Terraced houses whose original buildings are perhaps medieval. Today's appearance is the result of changes and alterations over time. On the ground floor there are shops, on the upper floors there are private homes. The arcades have round and pointed arches. Often above the arcades there are two floors with a mezzanine with mostly oval windows; they also show string courses either between the ground floor and the upper floors or between the upper floors and the mezzanine. 

Events and parties

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Where stay

Safety

Pharmacy

• Falcone Iannucci Pharmacy, Corso Umberto, 49, ☎ 39 0872 918227. 

How to keep in touch

Post office

• Italian post, Corso Umberto I, 58, ☎ 39 0872 918128. 

Around

• Taranta Peligna - It preserves ancient churches and has areas of naturalistic interest such as the Cavallone cave, the Canosa Cave, the Acquevive, the Taranta Valley.
• Lama dei Peligni
• Roccascalegna - Its castle, located on the top of a rocky ledge like an eagle's nest, dominates the town; the small village, made up of a few low houses, develops at the foot of the fortress.
• Casoli - The urban center, gathered around the ducal castle and the parish church, is perched on a hill to the right of the Aventino river, at the foot of the Majella.

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Palena
• Commons contains images or other files on Palena

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