Overview
At the northeastern foothills of the Gran Sasso d'Italia there is a tailor-made place for you, lovers of history and legends: it is called Bisenti it boasts ancient origins dating back to pre-Roman times and, according to tradition, it is the birthplace of Pontius Pilate.
The whole world, or at least part of it, is familiar with the name of the Roman procurator who ruled Judea in the first century AD, also responsible for condemning Jesus of Nazareth to the penalty of crucifixion.
An important character, for better or for worse. We can visit its medieval house covered with typical cobblestones of an ancient Roman domus.
The building also features an ancient well-cistern connected to the Old Fountain by a series of tunnels: an underground hydraulic system with features like a water supply system known as a "qanat", which brings water to the city of Jerusalem and was built, as some historians document, by Pontius Pilate himself.
You might say “simple coincidences” or “evidence” to support the thesis that the building and the village once housed Pilate?
We do not wash our hands of it, speculating that the former governor, back in his homeland and before being sent into exile, might have built an aqueduct similar to the one built in the land of Israel.
Why not?
Bisenti's charm suspended between history and legend also seeps into the elegant streets and squares of the center - which was a fief of the dukes of Atri - from which the medieval tower soars. It is the only one left of the three towers placed along the city walls. Go visit the Mother Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, dating from between the 15th and 16th centuries, and counted among the major basilicas of Abruzzo: it houses the precious Madonna of the Angels, a terracotta statue made by Giovan Francesco Gagliardelli in the 16th century and considered a masterpiece of sacred art in the region.
Before having a snack also take a look at the church of Sant'Antonio Abate, dating from the 1400s, and then, as they say, stretch your legs under the table, but certainly not for a snack, which does not exist in Abruzzo at lunchtime.
Here either you eat or eat.
We recommend tasting a set of first courses-such as gnocchi, cannelloni ripieni all'abruzzese, pappardelle with tomato sauce dauck or wild pig, fettuccine alla boscaiola-and second courses, including sheep or mutton stews, roast lamb, pork and veal, and sheep arrosticini, now decreed ambassadors of Abruzzo.
Take care to accompany these dishes with one or more bottles of Montonico, a local wine and Slow Food Presidium made from grape rich in merit. For centuries it ensured the survival of local micro-economies and has recently been recovered. A small museum in a historic downtown building is dedicated to this particular grape variety, and a festival, the "Montonico Grape and Wine Revival", which invariably takes place in October with an evocative parade of floats.