Overview
If you want to experience one of the most heartfelt traditions of Casacanditella, in the province of Chieti, choose the middle week of August for your stay, when the procession in honour of the Madonna takes place.
This is an evocative event dedicated to the apparition of the Virgin. According to tradition it was in 1058, that she appeared shrouded in light and splendour on a large oak tree to a shepherd named Domenico, inviting him to build a church in her name.
Here today is the church of the miracle, the Romanesque shrine of Santa Maria Assunta, at the centre of a procession composed of votive carts adorned with laurel branches, colourful ribbons, and cereals, along with girls dressed in white adorned with flowers and gold jewellery, carrying basins filled with grain on their heads.
An emotional scene, where the scents and colours are still those of a bygone time, that every August 15, seals between faith, culture and environment, the community's pact with the land and history.
Taking part in it means sharing a part of its feeling, becoming for one day a Casacanditellesi doc.
You are located on a hill about 400 metres above sea level between the valleys of the Foro and Dendalo rivers, and from here you can enjoy a breathtaking view that reaches as far as the Adriatic Sea and the Maiella Mountains, both a dozen kilometres away as the crow flies.
You will feel as light as feathers. Explore the centre, set in the sky, with its narrow streets and houses, which according to Latin etymology should all be white (from candidus and house).
Its monuments mostly date from the 19th century, although the village's past is far more distant, dating in fact to the 9th century, with a later mention in 1173 of a papal bull.
Visit the Baroque churches of San Rocco and San Gregorio, and if you are an expert wine taster, reach the castle of Semivicoli in the hamlet of the same name, which belonged to the family of the Dukes of Celaya Sannita until 1790 and was then sold to a family of merchants from Sulmona. Now it has been converted into a hotel facility with a popular local wine cellar. For centuries the palace was the centre of the surrounding village, in fact, the places of processing of raw materials typical of rural life are preserved, from an oil mill dating from 1868, to tanks for making wine.
In this genuine air, where tradition and the products of the land go hand in hand, tasting the typical cuisine of the area comes naturally to you.
The maccheroni alla chitarra, seasoned with a mixed ragout of beef, pork or lamb, is an exaltation of the comforting condition in which you find yourself, as are the fiadoni, delicious rustic ravioli-shaped dishes.
Don’t miss the excellent wines of the Chieti lands, another alliance of the community with nature.