Overview
Did you know that the small Sant'Eusanio del Sangro was a first-rate cultural centre over a hundred years ago? And that Gabriele d'Annunzio often used to walk through its alleys together with the philosopher Giovanni Gentile?
If this motivation seems too intellectual for a visit to the village in the province of Chieti, come and experience the tranquility and sweetness of the place, framed to the south by the flow of the Sangro river which separates it from the villages of Altino and Atessa.
You are in a very ancient territory, which already in 165 had an important role in the fairs of Lanciano with the name of Euxanum (and even before that as Monteclo).
More evidence appeared around the mid-1100s when the village became "Sanctum Eusanium". It was later colonized by the Benedictines, then a fiefdom of the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere, and then under the jurisdiction of the Filipino fathers of Rome.
At the beginning of Corso Regina Margherita, you find the house-museum of the poet and scholar Cesare De Titta, the most illustrious citizen of the town, who was born here in 1862.
In this Art Nouveau building which he renamed "Cenacolo di Fiorinvalle", De Titta hosted artists, writers and thinkers of the time, such as d'Annunzio (the "Vate") - for whom he translated the work "The daughter of Iorio" into dialect - the painter Francesco Paolo Michetti and, among others, even the Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello.
In the house-museum, which houses a library and a historical archive, you can admire the original furnishings, objects that belonged to the poet and postcards, period photos and a bust portraying him.
At the end of the route there is the wall fountain, made of bricks and with two spouts, dating back to the end of the nineteenth century and celebrated in De Titta's poems.
Also nearby, admire the profile of Palazzo Auriti in neoclassical style, made with worked pebbles and sandstone, while in Piazza Monteclo you will find Palazzo Finamore, from the 19th century, with an Italian garden and a vegetable garden at the back.
If you are tired of cultural heritage, we suggest you a trip to the WWF Oasis of Serranella shared with the municipalities of Altino and Casoli at the gates of the Castellata-Tori district, along the route from the Brecciaio district towards Casoli (reservation is required for the visit). You are in front of a pleasant artificial lake created by the confluence of the Sangro and Aventino rivers, which has quickly become a wetland rich in biodiversity, very important for migratory birds to stop over.
Maccheroni alla chitarra, cod, sagne "a pezze" and pizze e "ffojje" await you, renewing the culinary tradition of the province with their flavors and sealing a blood pact with you: the promise that you will return to these parts.
What else to see:
The church of Our Lady of Fatima
The church of S. Maria Assunta
The church of Santa Croce