Overview
The territory of Tossicia, in the province of Teramo, nestled in the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, deserves not one, but several days. A paradise of history and nature, whose origins are lost in the mists of time.
You are in the Mavone Valley, on the northern side of the Gran Sasso, also called the Sicilian Valley (maybe because its original inhabitants were the Siculi, or because of the Via Caecilia, which once passed nearby and connected Rome to Giulianova, on the Adriatic coast).
As you can observe, the village develops on a rocky spur between the Chiarino and the "della Valle" torrents, at 409 metres above sea level on the slopes of the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif. Together with Isola del Gran Sasso and other surrounding villages, it followed the fate of the Sicilian Valley, of which it was the capital under the dominion of the marquises of Alarçon y Mendoza.
Who were these people, you may ask? Nobles from the lineage of the soldier Ferdinand Alarçon y Mendoza, whom Emperor Charles V wanted to reward after the victory at the Battle of Pavia, crucial for the end of the war between France and Spain. Instead of the previous rulers of the valley, the Orsini family, friends of the French, the Spanish arrived. A spoil system ante litteram.
Visit the church of Sant'Antonio Abate, adorned with a large Gothic portal signed by Andrea Lombardo and dated 1471, as well as a beautiful wooden crucifix from the 1400s. Then move to the church of Santa Maria Assunta (Santa Sinforosa) with a rustic façade, two portals by Nicola da Penne (15th century) and many precious works of art, including the painted and gilded terracotta statue of the Madonna of Divine Providence, from the 16th century, the Baroque wooden altars and the Renaissance furnishings.
In the village, besides the mediaeval houses embellished with mullioned windows with two lights, ogival portals and Orsini coats of arms, admire the Palazzo marchesale, which houses the Museum of the Material Culture of the People of Abruzzo, with its permanent exhibition dedicated to the local artist Annunziata Scipione, a naive painter known beyond the local borders.
Admire the chapel of the Madonna della Neve in the Vicenne district, known as Cona di Santa Teresa, a small rural church from the 16th century, in Renaissance style, attributed to the artist Girolamo da Vicenza, with sculptures by the master Silvestro dell'Aquila.
Azzinano is also worth a visit, the village painted with evocative murals dedicated mainly to the traditional games of the past. And if you are a horse-riding lover, you can enjoy the La Sella del gigante Equestrian Centre, with indoor and outdoor riding stables and equipped trails for horseback riding in nature.
At lunch, enjoy the cult dish of the area, to which a festival has been dedicated for 40 years in the hamlet of Aquilano: the timballo.
What else to see:
- The nature trails of the Colle Pelato Mountain.
- The Fiume-Fiumetto Nature Reserve
- The Fir Forest