Villa Santa Maria

In the Bovino castle in Crecchio, there was a chef from Villa Santa Maria – in the province of Chieti – who prepared the dinner for Victor Emmanuel III and his family on their way to Anglo-American-occupied Italy on 8 September 1943. 
Visiting (by appointment only) the unique Museo del Cuoco (the Museum of Cook) housed in Palazzo Caracciolo, you can learn about this and several other “tasty” tales.

It is a more unique than rare museum, which offers a collection of historical evidence of the work of the great chefs of Villa Santa Maria, with a series of objects used by them and a wealth of paper and photographic documentation on the work they did in the world's greatest hotels and in the homes of nobles and titled people.
As you will notice, some of the panels tell the story and the classification of these starred chefs. There were the “Maccaronari”, the “Pastari” and the “Monzù” (those who served the noble and prestigious families).
If you haven't figured it out yet, you are in the home of chefs. It says so on the road sign welcoming you to the village, strategically located along the Val di Sangro and a few kilometres from the southern shores of Lake Bomba. 

Here – among the houses perched on a rocky spur – were born illustrious chefs, authors of memorable banquets at all the European courts. You may be wondering why this is so.
The tradition was born in the 16th century when many castles in the Medio Sangro were dominated by an ancient Neapolitan family: the Caracciolo Pisquizi. They also gave the Church a saint and the village a patron saint – Saint Francis Caracciolo – born in Villa Santa Maria in 1563 and the protector of cooks, too.

A representative of this family brought a chef from Villa with him to Naples. The chef gave an excellent demonstration of his culinary art and so other local chefs were then called upon to direct the gastronomic “dances” of other patrician families. An emigration began and continued over the following centuries, also involving the neighbouring towns. This was also possible thanks to the start of the Hotel School of Villa Santa Maria in the 16th century inside the Caracciolo family castle. The current Hotelier Institute is still a point of reference for the training of new professionals in international cuisine.

It is a beautiful story, which we invite you to experience especially at the table… the right place to savour Abruzzo delicacies such as “maccheroni alla chitarra” or local ones, such as 'Uccelletti', little bird-shaped sweets filled with grape jam and usually prepared for the Feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot or during the Easter period. 
Be sure to taste the punch of Villa Santa Maria – created right in the village – and a range of other liqueurs produced by local companies, such as the “amaro villese”.

What else to see:

• Caracciolo Palace
• Castracane Palace
• The Pecoritto spring
• The Church of San Nicola
• The Church of the Congrega
• The Church of Santa Maria in Basilica