Peoples (Italy) - Popoli (Italia)

Peoples is a city ofAbruzzo.

To know

Geographical notes

It rises at the confluence of Pescara (which starts not far away) with the Aterno, at the southern limit of Vestina; is bordering on Aquilano is Peligna-Alto Sangro Valley. It is 66 km from Pens, 15 from Torre de 'Passeri, 16 from Navelli, 18 from Sulmona, 41 from Chieti, 52 from Pescara, 49 fromEagle.

Background

In 800 A.D. Popoli is remembered as the ancient village of Pagus Fabianus. In 1269 Charles I of Anjou gave it as a fief to the Cantelmo who held it with the ducal title until 1749.

The city was once nicknamed the key of the three Abruzzi, as an obligatory stop between the coast and inland areas, between Florence is Naples, between Rome, Bussi and the Pescara valley until the second postwar period.

It was the largest fortress of the Cantelmo domains in Abruzzo, guarding the Aterno valleys, the Sagittario valley and the Pescara valley. The feud then passed to the princes of Montemiletto (Leonardo di Tocco) until 1806, when feudality was abolished in the Kingdom of Naples.

During the Second World War it was bombed twice by the Royal Air Force, on January 20, 1944 the bridge over the Pescara river on the Rome-Pescara road was destroyed, then on March 22 of the same year the city center was destroyed and many inhabitants were killed. For the hardships suffered in the war and for the courage shown in adversity it was decorated with the silver medal for civil valor.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

The city is traditionally divided into four quarters, which annually give life to costume parties and the Palio.

The Quarters are:

• Quarto d'Attoia - goes from the area at the foot of the castle hill to the hill overlooking the Pescara river. It takes its name from the church of Santa Maria d'Attoja. The colors of the Quarto are red and green with a fountain in the middle, symbol of the fourth, before it was destroyed by the bombing of the last quarter;
• Quarto di Castello - is the expansion area, mostly inhabited by shepherds and hunters. The colors of the Quarto are blue and pink dominated by a hawk, symbol of the fourth because the latter housed a natural ditch where the hawks built their nests;
• Quarter of Sant'Anna - its colors are blue and brown, with a hawk in the center holding a sword with its beak.
• Quarter of the Hague Tower - has the colors yellow and green with a tower in the center.

How to get

By plane

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

By car

• It has the Bussi - Popoli motorway tollbooth on the A25 motorway Rome - Pescara
• It is crossed by the former state road 5 - now regional - Tiburtina Valeria

On the train

• It has its own railway station (Popoli-Vittorito) on the Rome - Pescara line

By bus

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

How to get around

What see

• Ducal tavern (14th century). Used in our times as a venue for art exhibitions, it was built by the Cantelmo in the first half of the fourteenth century; in the historic center, it is the oldest building in the city. In Gothic style, it has a pointed portal and bears the coats of arms of the baronial family and of the families related to it. At the time it was used as a tavern, to then transform its destination into a post office and also the seat of the duty. 
• Church of S. Francesco (15th century). It has the forms given to it with the restoration of the first half of the fifteenth century, when a sacred building already existed in the first decades of the fourteenth century, when it had annexed a convent.

The façade is preceded by a staircase on which two Romanesque-style lions insist. The lower part is from the fifteenth century; the upper one is a late seventeenth-century renovation following the collapse of the ceiling after an earthquake. The coexistence of different construction periods can also be seen in the bell tower, with building interventions dated 1480, 1688 and 1714, as you progress in height.

Above the Romanesque portal stands a Renaissance rose window, with the Cantelmo and Carafa coats of arms; the baroque upper part includes a window.

The interior preserves a fifteenth-century fresco, the Pity, and a frontal in ceramics by Castelli in the chapel of San Francesco; the interior was also the subject of restorations for the earthquakes of 1915 and 2009 .. 

• Church of San Lorenzo (XVI century). The original nucleus of the church is already documented in the twelfth century; in 1562 the building was enlarged with the addition of the front.

Valuable works are the eighteenth-century high altar, the wooden choir of the same period and the stoup, obtained in the sixteenth century by working a single block of local stone.

The church is unusable following the 2009 earthquake. 

• Church of SS. Trinity (XVI century). Built in the mid-sixteenth century, it was almost rebuilt in 1716 since the building had deteriorated by now. In Baroque form, it has a central plan with a domed lantern. The facade has three portals; the central is surmounted by a bezel with worked frames.

The theme of triangle, signifying the Trinity; at the top of the façade four stone amphorae underline the baroque taste.

The bell tower on the side is a sixteenth-century work with seventeenth-century renovations. The interior contains a 1750 high altar by Nicodemo Mancini, with paintings by Triumph of the Trinity of 1748, Madonna with Child between Saints Peter and Philip Neri, the Marriage of the Virgin, some paintings by Gamba (1732), the statues of the Trinity and the risen Christ.

The oratory has a wooden altar of the seventeenth century, a table of the Deposition of 1557 from the school of Daniele da Volterra, canvases of the Nativity; Furthermore, frescoes have been recovered that bear the date 1555 and depict Santa Lucia and Sant'Antonio.

Other frescoes are in the sacristy, with the date of 1766; here there is an underground room in which the dead were buried and now they are in a state comparable to mummification. 

• Cantelmo Castle. It is a construction built for defensive purposes in the years around the turn of the 1000, between 970 and 1016 at the behest of the bishops of Valva, the diocese to which Popoli was subject. Located at 485 meters above sea level, it represented one of the first castles of the Peligna Valley, of fundamental importance given the role that Popoli would assume in the following years, as "Key of the three Abruzzi". The castle had a triangular structure with three towers, all surrounded by a double row of wall surrounded by the moat. : In 1269 it passed to the Cantelmo family who, although they kept the fief of Popoli until the eighteenth century, decided to abandon it once the Ducal Palace was built in the city towards the end of the fifteenth century. Since then it has remained in disuse until 1997, the year in which the municipal administration decided to carry out a restoration, also providing it with a suggestive night lighting. 

Area of ​​environmental interest

• 42.168313.82251 Guided Nature Reserve Sources of the Pescara River. It is a protected natural area ofAbruzzo, established in 1986. The wetland is located to the right of the railway and the Pescara-Rome motorway, from which it is widely visible, for an extension of about 135 hectares, between the protected area (49 ha), and the area of respect (86 ha) in a place called Capo Pescara.

Although established in 1986, only in recent years, several projects have been launched to study its biodiversity. The management is entrusted to the Municipality of Popoli, with the collaboration of WWF and Legambiente.

The flora is typical of wetlands, including the Myosotis scorpioides, the water plague (Elodea canadensis), several species of the genus Potamogeton, the flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus), the Echium parviflorum, the Agrostis gigantea, and others Most common.

The fauna is typical of wetlands. 

Events and parties

• Certame de la Balestra. Every year the city is the scene of the Renaissance historical re-enactment inspired by the events of the Cantelmo family and in particular by Restaino Cantelmo, fourteenth lord and seventh Count of Popoli, warlike and cunning, courageous and ruthless, but always faithful to the Crown of Spain. His recognized ability as a fighter and leader and the proud character also led him to clash with numerous characters of his time, including King Ferrante I of Aragon himself. The event intends to recall the reconciliation with the royal house of Aragon through the meeting between Restaino and Alfonso of Aragon, son of the king and future monarch, which took place on November 22, 1485 in Popoli.

The Certame de la Balestra intended as an event consists of several moments, the Historical Parade, the Changing of the Guard and the actual Certame. The challenge takes place between the Captains aided by crossbowmen and archers of their trust in a crossbow and archery competition, which in the end will receive, from the hands of Countess Diana Lalle Camponesco, the Palio to the captain of the fourth winner. .

The event is preceded by other side events. 

• Festivities of the Quarters. Starting from the Monday of the Certame de la Balestra week, the four quarters (the four main areas into which the city of Popoli is divided) are preparing day by day for the oath of allegiance of their captain, the designation of the shooting team , to follow, the celebrations. 
• Dies Nundinarum. After the four evenings dedicated to the parade of the quarters with the oaths of loyalty of the relative captains, on the day before the Certame de la Balestra in the ancient village of Popoli the Dies Nundinarum market takes place, the faithful Renaissance re-enactment at night of the traditional fair of San Lorenzo. In the evocative courtyard of the Renaissance Palazzo Cantelmo, during the Dies Nundinarum, dinner takes place in costume and with a typical Renaissance menu of the Desinar co lo Conte, according to the rules of the ancient way of eating. 
• Shrimp and trout festival. August 15. is a culinary event held in August. 

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Where stay

Safety

How to keep in touch

Post office

• Via Guglielmo Marconi 15, ☎ 39 085 98330, fax: 39 085 98270. 

Around

• Abbey of San Clemente a Casauria - One of the largest Romanesque monumental complexes in the wholeAbruzzo with evident Cistercian Gothic influences, erected by the Benedictines in the 12th century., the Abbey has returned to its new splendor after the restorations carried out following the damage of the earthquake ofthe Eagle in 2009. An '' antiquarium '' located in adjacent rooms collects salvaged material from the Roman and early Christian periods.
• Navelli
• Sulmona - City of Peligni, Municipium Roman, homeland of the Latin poet Ovid (Sulmo mihi patria est), capital ofAbruzzo in the thirteenth century, Sulmona is the reference city of Peligna-Alto Sangro Valley; it boasts an important monumental center and also links its name to the production of sugared almonds, already flourishing and renowned in the past.

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