Overview
Would you like to experience a day with the woodland spirits? Come to the Kingdom of the Mazzamurelli in San Pio delle Camere, in the province of L'Aquila, in an environment of great significance, suitable for everyone. Even for you adults.
In the park located in Cerquelle, take archery and orienteering lessons, test your leg strength with walks in the green, learn about the area with environmental workshops, enjoy a picnic lunch in the picnic area or cook your favourite delicacies, arrosticini, in the barbecue area.
You are near the Navelli plateau scented by the almond tree where San Pio delle Camere stands, still protected by the remains of the medieval walls and a tower, which scans the horizon.
You should know that the town rests on land dug out by small caves, which in pastoral times were used as a shelter for herds. A few times a year, they are used by producers as "rooms" for tasting local products, in an atmosphere of times gone by.
The "chambers" that make up its name, therefore, derive from these underground environments that witnessed the practice of transhumance, once the strong nucleus of the economy of San Pio delle Camere. The village was crossed by the Tratturo Magno which, with its 244 kilometres, connected the Aquila in Foggia and where the flocks coming from the Gran Sasso massifs were conveyed towards the pastures of the Tavoliere delle Puglie.
A historical symbol is the 13th century pentagonal tower, nestled with what remains of the 12th century castle on Mount Gentile close to the state road. Travelers and visitors can admire it as they pass along the state road 17 of the central Apennines and Appulo-Sannitico.
The area of the manor house has been made safe and cleared and can be reached to pretend to be the lords of the Middle Ages, when the village was part of the County of Valva, then of the Duchy of Spoleto and later of the Monastery of San Benedetto in Perillis.
A role-playing game that comes easy around here.
Admire the parish church of St Peter Celestine, already existing from the 12th-13th centuries, destroyed by Braccio da Montone's army in 1423 and then rebuilt.
Inside, among other works, observe the paintings that tell the story of St Peter Celestine.
At lunchtime, you cannot miss the products that characterise this part of Abruzzo, such as pulses and the fragrant soups made from them, without forgetting the real protagonist of the area, saffron, the 'magic' spice with its otherworldly colour and aphrodisiac properties.
Try the chickpea and saffron soup and you will be enchanted all day long.
What else to see:
- The Church of St. Pius I Pope
- The church of Sant'Antonio
- The archaeological site of Peltuinum (in the municipalities of San Pio and Prata d'Ansidonia)