Home » Highlights » Itineraries in L'Aquila » Hills, Villages, and Valleys: Nature Meets Culture
Mountain-bike itinerary, the middle part of which can also be walked. An experience combining the unique natural environment with historical remnants from different periods.
Author: Sandro Cordeschi - Lhasa
This tour departs from the old farmyard in the town of Monticchio (birthplace of the war hero Andrea Bafile), a popular gathering place nowadays. You will then pass through a section of the village, on the right side, going towards the wooded hills. After the last residence, you will go up a dirt path which is wide and quite steep at first but then narrows and becomes grassy and nearly flat. At that point, we recommend that you slightly deviate from the main path and go towards the right; finding yourselves at the edge of the most spectacular of the many sinkholes with rocky cliffs that this area is known for. Continue along the flat section and at the end, the path will become rocky and more challenging.
To your left, you will have an extraordinary panoramic view over a vast, medium-altitude section of the Aterno Valley and its towns. A short, downhill slope will lead you to the Convent of Sant’Angelo d’Ocre, formerly a hermitage, that is situated atop a rough peak, just like the hermitage in Verna, province of Arezzo, where St. Francis received his stigmata. It is also worth stopping at the convent so that you can take an inside tour. On the right, before exiting onto the paved street, you will see a steep hill, which is not easy to pedal up. At the top, to the left, you will find the many ruins of the Ocre Castle. It takes some patience and a sense of direction, but the view from the outside of the fortified village (not visible from inside) is well worth the effort.
There is a narrow and windy, but paved road which you can take back down towards Fossa. Before heading left, towards the town’s large square, it is worthwhile to continue on to the mystical Santo Spirito monastery, which is now a centre for cultural activities. A tour around the alleyways of Fossa will give you an up-close view of the layout of a mediaeval village. There are remnants of a castle and a great deal of symbolism tied to the stories and physical presence of many saints and blessed figures who came here. The interior of the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria ad Cryptas, is a true diamond in the rough, since one would never guess what magnificent frescos hide behind its walls. Once you have reached the Aterno Valley, you can go on towards the ancient necropolis. This dates back to the 9th century B.C. which still maintains the fascinating ambiance of a place from the distant past, and in many ways, enveloped in mystery. From the necropolis, you can head back towards the river, which has several easy and picturesque paths nearby that intersect with a horse trail. Staying to the right, you will pass by farmlands, canals, riparian vegetation, and small rural structures, eventually bringing you back to your starting point without requiring too much effort.
km 3.93
42.321 N - 13.465 E
Monticchio is a district of L'Aquila with just under 1,000 residents. It is located about 9 km from the city proper, near the mediaeval settlement of Forcona, which was successor to the ancient city of Aveia. In 1254, it took part in the founding of L'Aquila, belonging to the neighbourhood of San Giorgio. Sometime between the 1200s and 1300s, a number of feuds were established in Monticchio by noble families.During the Italian Unification, so many people from Monticchio became members of the Carbonari that Giuseppe Garibaldi himself came to the town.
Monticchio is the birthplace of Andre Bafile (1878), a vessel lieutenant in the Marines. A Gold Medal of Military Valour was awarded in his memory, and the “Liceo Scientifico dell'Aquila” (scientific high school) is dedicated to him. One worthwhile stop for tourists is the single-nave Parish Church of San Nicola di Bari and smaller building with a triple-arched loggia.
km 2.31
42.300 N - 13.479 E
The Blessed Bernardino da Fossa believed the Monastery of Sant'Angelo d'Ocre to have been founded in the early 1200s and credited this to Countess Sibilla d'Ocre. The monastery was originally built for the Benedictine nuns and was later taken over indefinitely by the Franciscans. This group was responsible for various expansions and alterations, some of which were led by the Blessed Bernardino da Fossa, a friar and chronicler whose relics are housed here.
After being abandoned and then used as a sanitarium in the 1800s, it was eventually destroyed during the German invasion, when the extensive library and furniture were burned. Restoration projects at the convent continued until the early 1970s.
It looks out over the Aterno Valley, standing sheer on the slopes of Mt. Circolo. It includes cloisters from the 1200s and two rows of arches. The single-nave interior contains beautiful frescos from the Renaissance period.
km 0.56
42.292 N - 13.488 E
Fossa is located on the slopes of Mt. Ocre in the Subequana Valley, where the ancient town of Aveia once stood.
There are still some sections of wall remaining, in addition to the remnants of residences, arches, viaducts and aqueducts. It has restored and preserved the heritage of the necropolis dating back to the 8-7th centuries B.C.
Visitors can tour the churches of Chiesa dell'Assunta and Santa Maria ad Cryptas (damaged in the earthquake of 6 April 2009), which boasts Cistercian-Gothic architecture, and is adorned with fresco series from the Benedictine and Tuscan traditions, dating back to the 13th,14th, and 15th centuries respectively.
The medieval residences, especially Palazzo Bonanni, are of particular interest.
km 2.6
42.296 N - 13.488 E
The Gothic Cistercian Church of Santa Maria ad Cryptas, also known as Santa Maria delle Grotte, built during the XIII century, can be found a short distance from the medieval village of Fossa. The single internal nave is completely covered by series of murals, considered among the most significant to be found in Abruzzi: the series on the right wall dates back to the late 1200s, while the left side represents the story of the Virgin, completed by Sienese artists probably around the time of the earthquake in 1349. The Passion of Christ is represented in the presbytery, which, according to more recent studies, portrays the French feudal lord Morel de Saours, who had commissioned the work and was governor of Ocre from 1269 to 1283.
Besides the numerous other paintings, the small crypt with its primitive stone altar, the square apse and the portal are all of interest. Two lions lying on pillars decorated with floral motives stand guard.
42.311 N - 13.505 E
Some of the best evidence of protohistoric Abruzzo was uncovered in the 1990s at the Necropolis of Fossa, which is a true historical treasure for the area of L’Aquila.
Necropolises of this type are most highly concentrated in the Apennine area of central Italy (Terni, Tivoli, Borgorose, Scurcola, Celano, Fossa, Castelvecchio Subequo, Caporciano, Barisciano, Bazzano) and were common among the Piceni, Etruscans, and peoples from Latium.
The necropolis in Fossa is located in the present-day Casale and extends along the Aterno River. It belongs to the category of tombs marked by circles of stones, which date back to the early Iron Age (10-8th cent. B.C.) and have been found mostly in the Abruzzo areas.The oldest tombs were used by the Vestini peoples, and then in later centuries, also by the Romans.
From the 8th century B.C. on, populations began developing tombs enclosed by a circular ditch and covered with a mound of earth. These tumuli seemed to be arranged in parallel rows running north to south.Aside from one case, where the body was placed inside a ditch dug into the clay earth, all of the other tombs have a “bed” made of stones. The tombs are positioned east to west, with the head of the deceased at the eastern side. Some hypothesize that the stone arrangements have an astronomical or calendar-related purpose. A few differences can be observed in the last section of the necropolis, which dates back to sometime between the 4th and 1st century B.C. While the earlier sections (first Hellenistic phase, 4th – 3rd cent. B.C.) consist of tombs dug into the ground, containing only one body, with no weapons among the funerary objects, but a wealth of ornaments made from various materials, the sections from the late Hellenistic period (2nd – 1st cent. B.C.) demonstrate a new trend in monumental tombs. They started to build common tombs, with various chambers dug into the rock, designed for the burial of more than one body.The most interesting find within the Necropolis of Fossa, at least during the last ten years, is undoubtedly the funeral bed made of bone.
The bed has some interesting details, for example, the four legs depicting the face of Dionysus, framed by an alternating pattern of imaginary animals and cherubs riding sea monsters.The presence of luxury items such as this provides evidence of L’Aquila’s high status during the Roman period, and help shed light on the area’s relations with the largest and most wealthy cities in central Italy. The bed was found in September 2000. It was then restored by the Soprintendenza Archeologica d’Abruzzo (archaeological board), in the laboratories of the Museo Nazionale della Preistoria d’Abruzzo (National Museum of Prehistory in Abruzzo) located in Celano (L'Aquila).
