Overview
If you love heights and landscapes that look like painted pictures projected into the sky, don't miss the soft beauty of Bellante, in the province of Teramo.
The town rises on the ridge that divides the valleys of the Tordino and Salinello rivers, offering magnificent views between the blue Adriatic Sea, the green hills of Teramo and the icy white of the often-snow-capped peaks of the Gran Sasso d'Italia.
Its artistic heritage, in addition to its wide views of the horizon, is sure to leave you surprised by the conspicuous and refined evidence of its medieval past, especially during the period when it was a fief of the Acquaviva family, one of the most important families of the Kingdom of Naples.
There is no shortage of artifacts from prehistoric times: the most important, the so-called "Cippo di Bellante", a stele referable to the first millennium B.C. with inscriptions in Oscan characters found in 1869 in the locality of Collemoro, is currently kept at the National Museum in Naples.
Step slowly into the historic centre: the ancient walls that surround it tell the story of the typical layout of the incastellations, with narrow alleys enclosed by houses, elegant buildings, such as Palazzo Tattoni, and churches, such as the parish church of Santa Croce, whose Renaissance portal and high bell tower you can admire, and the church of Santa Maria with a terracotta facade and 16th-century portal. Inside, you will find valuable works such as a painting of the epiphany by the Ascoli artist Nicola Monti, dated 1793 and belonging to the school of Paolo Veronese, and the silver processional cross attributed to Nicola da Guardiagrele, one of the great Italian artists of the late Gothic age.
Reach the Belvedere, from which it is possible to admire the surrounding valley and neighboring villages: here is the Mountagna dei Fiori, the Monte dell'Ascensione in the Ascolano area, below, the Salinello valley with the town of Sant'Omero and, in the background, wide glimpses of clear, serene sea.
Behind you stands the civic tower on the top of which flies an imposing weathervane with the initials of the four cardinal points at the base and on the sides on one side the symbol of the cross and on the other the town's coat of arms with the inscription "Universitas Bellanti."
After a lunch of "scrippelle", or timballo di chitarra con le pallottine, a must of this part of Abruzzo, you can take a "detour" to the hamlet of Ripattoni, where a mighty stone and brick tower, probably 14th-century, with a quadrangular base and scarp base, is preserved in the framed part.
Another round stone tower that belonged to the ancient fortifications survives in the northern part between the houses. Just outside the small village you will find another religious building, the medieval church of Santa Maria in Herulis.