Overview
Among the places of peace where well-being, silence and relaxation go hand in hand, Cermignano, in the province of Teramo, earns top honors.
You are more than 500 metres above sea level on a hilltop where, as in the best figurative artistic representations, a baroque church, the Parish Church, rises with its bell tower, which houses in its transept some beautiful seventeenth- and eighteenth-century paintings.
Looking at this scene is already a reason to relax, physically and spiritually.
Shining among the ancient tenements is Palazzo Tartagliozzi, one of the most impressive in the historic center, with another elegant building, Palazzo De Sterlich, the main residence of Scorrano baron Sigismondo De Sterlich, lord of the territory.
At the end of the village, which stands on the watershed between the Vomano and Piomba valleys, is another religious monument, Sant'Eustachio, with fine wooden altars dating from the 14th century.
All to be admired.
The special feature, however, that makes the surrounding area special is found in the hamlet of Montegualtieri, about 3 km from Cermignano, in the form of a tower with a curious triangular shape, also soaring on a hilltop dominating the tiny town in the Vomano Valley: belonging to the De Sterlich nobles from the 16th century, it is about 18 meters high and was part of a system of fortifications to control the territory.
It is rare to find similar ones in the region.
Admire its simple structure, tapered by corbels and battlements and equipped with a single access, from the north, reachable only by an external staircase. The interior, equipped with loopholes and small windows, is empty, with a wooden staircase providing access to the upper part.
In the vicinity of the hamlet, rich evidence of the Italic period has surfaced with a rustic settlement dating to the 1st century AD, three stelae and the remains of a Roman temple.
Proving that even the ancients longed to live in pleasant, peaceful places like this.
At lunch, you are spoiled for choice, among the province's sultan dishes, such as maccheroni alla chitarra, which lends itself to any kind of seasoning, although among the most widely used in Abruzzo are the classic meatball sauce, with three meats, with tomato and basil, or with mushrooms and truffles and even with seafood.
It is considered the Abruzzese first course par excellence.
Don't forget to try arrosticini, another iconic dish of the region, and cac'e ove balls.
And if you are in the right season, add delicious grapes to these dishes: you are indeed in a leading area in the production of table grapes destined for Italian markets.
But mainly to you.