What to see in Castel di Sangro, a village located on the right bank of the stream of the same name in the province of L'Aquila and belonging to the Alto Sangro and Altopiano delle Cinquemiglia area.
Tourist information
Located along the Via degli Abruzzi, Castel di Sangro played a strategic role in controlling the traffic that took place along the "Via degli Abruzzi" and this favored a significant development.
In 1228 the village and the castle of Castrum Sari were destroyed by a fire caused by the troops of Cardinal Colonna, as punishment for the loyalty reserved to Frederick II of Swabia by Count Rinaldo II di Sangro.
Later a young monk from Isernia, Pietro di Angelerio, who later became Pope Celestino V, started his life as a hermit in this place.
When the Swabians fell, the heirs of Rinaldo di Sangro had to suffer looting and fires due to the wishes of revenge perpetrated by Charles of Anjou.
This difficult period lasted until King Ferrante, after defeating Renato D’Angiò's son, granted deductibles and immunities together with the repair of all the damages caused.
In this way Castel di Sangro experienced a new rebirth on the footprint of a new small artisan and mercantile bourgeoisie.
Castel di Sangro became so strong that not even the severely destructive earthquake of 1456 and the contagious plague of 1656 managed to make the town succumb.
All this convinced Charles III of Bourbon to recognize the title of city in Castel di Sangro in 1744.
However, when Naples lost its role as capital, the Via degli Abruzzi also suffered negatively and lost importance.
These problems, combined with other negative factors affecting the south of that time, caused the misery of which the nineteenth-century painter Teofilo Patini interpreted in some of his paintings.
Recommended readings- Giulianova (Abruzzo): what to see
- Abruzzo holidays: travel between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea
- Roccaraso (Abruzzo): what to see
- Abruzzo: Sunday day trips
- Sulmona (Abruzzo): what to see in the homeland of confetti
What see
Little remains of the original historic center as it was largely destroyed during the Second World War.
Among the main monuments to visit, there is the church of Santa Maria Assunta which was built before the year 1000 and rebuilt several times later.
On the facade there are two bell towers and two loggias, while inside you can admire paintings by 18th-century Neapolitan artists, including those by Antonio Vaccaro and De Mura.
