Overview
The deep valley crossed by the Alento river, in the Maiella National Park, is the heart of Serramonacesca and its ancient history.
Go back a thousand years and imagine this place interwoven with cart tracks, paths and mule tracks - the same ones that still run through it today - used by religious: up there a monk on the back of a mule climbing up the hill, down here another operating the mill on the riverbed, while a bell echoes in the valley with the background of the clatter of carts in the distance.
The "movie" you are shooting with your imagination is the life of the monastery of San Liberatore a Maiella, tutelary deity of Serramonacesca, whose history followed its fate.
After traveling along a stretch of the upper Alento valley and having come across a small chapel, about 2 kilometres from the village, the religious monument appears surrounded by cypresses: one of the most significant examples of Romanesque architecture in Abruzzo and among the oldest churches medieval buildings of the Cassinese Benedictine order. An unmissable stop on your tour to discover the region.
A community of monks and an ancient abbey already existed in this place around 884, with a legend linking to Charlemagne the construction of the structure built in the field where the battle won against the Lombards in 781 took place.
After the earthquake of 990, which destroyed the monastery, a phase of reconstruction and enlargement of the building began. The church was embellished with altars and paintings, thanks to the work carried out by Theobald, a "special" envoy from Montecassino, and later by Abbot Desiderius, another powerful religious of the Benedictine abbey.
What you can see today of the powerful religious architecture, all in carefully crafted Maiella stone, is the result of a series of interventions dating back to the 1960s, which preserved few original elements.
The exterior of the church is authentic with its gabled façade in which the three portals open, witnesses of the work of Abbot Desiderio and of the Angevin era.
Inside, with three naves - with the central one decorated with a rare polychrome geometric composition dating back to 1200 - you can admire the beautiful ambo reconstructed with 12th century bas-reliefs, and the frescoes, once united. The first depicts the monk Theobald, the second shows traces of saints' figures.
Nearby there are the Cave Hermitage of Sant'Onofrio, a rock church leaning against the rock, which houses the statue of the saint, of particular value, made of stone, and the Colonne Cave, a gallery of narrow dimensions, but of great interest due to the presence of numerous engravings and inscriptions from the medieval period.
Taste the typical local dishes, such as "Tajarille and fasciule", "callara" sheep, arrosticini and fried pizza. The choice is yours.