Roccascalegna - Roccascalegna

Roccascalegna is a center ofAbruzzo.

To know

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

Geographical notes

Mountain center ofAbruzzo Apennines in the area Frentano-Alto Vastese, is 33 km from the Adriatic coast, 25 from They launch, 9 from Casoli, 12 from Bomb, 50 from Chieti, 46 from Ortona, 56 from Vast, 50 from Rivisondoli.

Background

Among the various hypotheses on the origin of the name of the town, the most popular one argues that the current name derives from "Rocca con la scala di legno", a wooden ladder that led directly from the town to the tower of the castle. municipal coat of arms.

The Catalogus Baronum places the origin of the town in the twelfth century, more precisely in 1160, perhaps on a pre-existing settlement. In the locality of Collelongo some ruins of the Eneolithic period have been found and in Capriglia and in Colle Cicerone some ruins from the Roman era. Monks probably already lived and the Church of San Pancrazio already existed in 829; the current one dates back to 1205 as a reconstruction of the pre-existing church.

Originally the village arose as a Lombard outpost for the control of the Rio Secco Valley to defend the area against the Byzantines. The Lombards erected a watchtower where the castle is now. They were replaced first by the Franks, then by the Normans. The real castle, however, is probably from the Norman period. In 1320 Roccascalegna was named "cum castellione" in the Angevin period: at the time, therefore, the castle already existed.

In the fifteenth century a soldier under the command of Giacomo Caldora, Raimondo Annechino, was the feudal lord of the town; his family remained the feudal lord of the village until 1525 when Giovanni Maria Annechino had the castle rebuilt. With the advent of the modern age there is the usual succession of feudal lords and various passages from the feudal lords themselves to the Royal Court and from this to a new lord to whom the Chapters are accepted. In 1531 Diego Sarmemto confirmed these Chapters or Statutes, but immediately afterwards the town returned to the Royal Court which sold it to Giovanni Genovois di Chalem who sold it to the Carafa family. Orazio Carafa oppressed the villagers until October 15, 1584, they rose up and, aided by the priest, killed him. At the end of the century the Carafa, overburdened with debt, are forced to sell the castle. The Carafa are succeeded by the Corvo or de Corvis. The last feudal lords of Roccascalegna were the Nanni.

The castle at the time was in poor condition. Their residence was moved lower, to a place deemed more comfortable. Today this building is used as a private residence, but there is also an oven and a workshop of an artisan. With the unification of Italy, mourning, robbery, emigration and banditry prosper while the rich bourgeois speculate on landed property. To be restored, the castle will have to wait until the end of the millennium.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

Its municipal territory includes the villages of Agoniera, Aia di Rocco, Articciaro, Capriglia, Collebuono, Colle Grande, Finocchieto, Fontacciaro, Pagliari Gentili and Solagne.

How to get

By plane

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

By car

• It is not far from the former state road 652 Sangro Valley Fund

By bus

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

How to get around

What see

• 42.06258114.3049081 Castle (The fortress). Located on the top of a rocky ledge, in a dominant position over the town, it has a very ancient foundation and underwent numerous additions between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. After the restorations carried out in the last years of the twentieth century, the castle can be visited again.

It was built around the 11th-12th century when a simple watchtower of Lombard origin was enlarged. The first mention of the castle dates back to 1525 when it is told of restoration of the castle itself. In the 16th century the walls were rebuilt higher than the previous ones but without battlements. : During the lordship of the Annechinis, the existing towers were strengthened and a circular one was added. However, the major interventions were carried out during the Carafa barony, a barony that lasted in the country between 1531 and 1600: the chapel of the Most Holy Rosary was erected in 1577 and the supply of rainwater was improved. During the subsequent lordship of the Corvi, which lasted between 1600 and 1717, other interventions were seen, in particular after 1705 when the drawbridge was destroyed and the sentry box of the entrance and the protective wall of the access ramp were built. . In the following years the castle, after years of neglect, saw various collapses including in 1940 that of the "Torre del Cuore" (so called for the coat of arms on the main door). In 1985 the last owners, the Croce Nanni, donated the castle to the municipality which decided to restore it, which started in the 1990s and was completed in 1996.

Through a steep flight of steps that starts from the plain of San Pietro, obtained through inclined terraces on the rock, you reach the entrance where the remains of the drawbridge remain. To its right there is a tower called Torre di Sentinella. The courtyard leads to other towers: the prison tower and the Angevin tower as well as to the chapel with a gutter for the collection of rainwater that flows into a cistern made with waste materials. A further ramp leads to the watchtower built with hewn stone and brick masonry with openings on all four sides. The castle walls surround the overhanging rocky spur. The walls are as high as the towers and are made of lightly hewn stone, pebbles and fragments of bricks. The chapel was a single room and devoid of any ornament.

The legend

A legend linked to the castle concerns the application of the so-called norm Jus primæ noctisAccording to this legend, the baron of the castle, Corvo de Corvis, in 1646 claimed to enforce this rule, which obliged all the women of the town to spend the first wedding night with him rather than with their newly married consort. Legend has it that the last new bride, or the legitimate consort disguised with her clothes, who went up to the fortress for the expected consummation, instead stabbed the baron; it also seems that the latter, while dying, also left the indelible imprint of his bloody hand on a rock. In fact, according to rumors, this imprint (which was clearly visible after the collapses of 1940) would reappear continuously, despite being washed away every time. 

• 42.06245714.3050062 Church of San Pietro. It is located near the castle. It is not clear the time of foundation, whether it is from the 16th century or before. The current church is the result of several restorations carried out over time.

The date 1805 is carved on the bell tower which could lead to the date of construction of the same or to a date of restoration at the time when the church ended being used as a burial place; then a cemetery was built where the bodies that were previously in the church were buried.

The interior has three basilica-type naves with a central apse; the vaults inside are very low.

The naves are divided by pillars decorated with pilasters, separated from each other by low arches. During the various alterations the altars on the sides were built and in particular: in 1709, on the left aisle, the altar dedicated to Sant'Antonio was built; the chapel of San Luigi Gonzaga dates back to 1816. The vault of the side aisles is cross-shaped. 

• Village. The village at the foot of the fortress is made up of houses with one or two floors, partly ruined by neglect until they become ruins and partly restored to be inhabited; it is the road that, following the foot of the mound where the castle is located, leads to the entrance to the castle itself at the church of San Pietro. 
• Church of San Pancrazio (It is located at the cemetery). It was built around the 12th century, in the territory of the then diocese of the monastery of Santo Stefano located in the surroundings of Tornareccio, and has the feudal ownership of many lands in the surrounding area. An inscription on the facade dates the church to 1205. A description of the sixteenth century defines it as one of the most important churches in the territory of Chieti, in fact it consisted of a cloister and many rooms.

A few shreds remain of the adjacent monastery. The church, on the other hand, retains some remains of the original nucleus after recent restorations.

The façade has a horizontal crowning and on the sides there are buttresses made up of ashlars. The bell tower on the left side was once detached from the church. The walls are made with alternating limestone and pebbles.

The access portal is made up of jambs and crowned by a limestone architrave without decorations. Near the portal there are an archivolt and a lunette. On the right wall there is a secondary portal with decorations similar to the main one.

The interior is divided into two naves by means of pillars with capitals-frame; between one pillar and the other there is a pointed arch. The building has no apse. 

• Church of Santi Cosma e Damiano. Founded in the sixteenth century as an alternative to the parish church for the inhabitants of the village outside the town walls, it has a rich interior decoration in Baroque style and is still the seat of a parish. The first news about the church dates back to 1568 in the reports of a pastoral visit by a bishop of Chieti. In 1737 a restoration was carried out, as recalled by an epigraph on the main portal. The church is still officiated and constitutes a parish.

Externally it has a very simple facade: four high Ionic pilasters ideally support a cornice on which a triangular tympanum rests; inside the latter there is a small oculus. Two lower wings are attached to this central body, closing the side aisles, with a sloping roof and opened by a large window surmounted by another small oculus. The entrance portal to the church is from the late Baroque period.

The interior is set on a three-nave plan, without a transept and with a flat apse. The arches and side walls are decorated with a recurring motif of Doric pilasters, supporting an entablature with metopes and triglyphs on which the various ribbed vaults covering the naves are set. A rich general decoration of stuccoes, often colored or gilded, adorns the whole room. The roof vaults are also decorated with frescoes.

On the counter-façade wall there is a wooden choir loft supported by a colonnade, hosting the great organ of the church. 

• Archaeological excavations. The territory has given archaeological finds from different eras:
  • In Colle Longo localities they were found at 80–90 cm. from the countryside level, 250 m. s.l.m., in August 2000 of the archaeological remains including coarse and fine ceramics and lithic industry mostly in sandstone and flint dating back to the Eneolithic, and more precisely to the III millennium BC.
  • In the Collebuono locality, the ruins of a building from the 3rd century BC were found. 

Events and parties

• Night under the Stars. in August. Musical evening that has become a regular appointment for many years; dedicated to the music of the area, it offers fun and dancing throughout the night until dawn. 
• Roccascalegna in Festival. July August. Review of Classical Music and songwriting. It is set in the medieval village and in the church of San Pancrazio. 

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Average prices

• Osteria del Conte and Mazzarò, Via Santa Croce, 87, ☎ 39 0872 987170. 
• Giangiordano Raffaele restaurant, Via Codacchie, 10, ☎ 39 0872 987102. 
• 42.0194914.2609841 Da Ciro Restaurant, Contrada Aia Di Rocco, 37, ☎ 39 0872 987170. 

Where stay

Safety

Pharmacy

• Pica, Via Duca degli Abruzzi, 19, ☎ 39 0872 987318. 

How to keep in touch

Post office

• Italian post, via Quattro Novembre 4, ☎ 39 0872 987108, fax: 39 0872 987007. 

Around

• Bomb - The neighbour lake of Bomba, from whose southern shore you can enjoy a view of the Maiella, it offers tourist services such as camping, restaurants and farmhouses. Of artificial origin, the lake mirror over time has become of environmental interest.
• 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.
• Lama dei Peligni
• They launch - City of ancient tradition, it was the capital of the Frentani and then a Roman municipality. It has an ancient nucleus of great interest, which comes alive on the occasion of the numerous historical re-enactments; famous are the Medieval Week with the Mastrogiurato and the sacred representations of Holy Week. It is a destination for pilgrimages following his Eucharistic miracle

Other projects

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

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