What to see in Crognaleto, an itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest in this small mountain village, located at 1105 meters above sea level in the Abruzzo region, within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park.
Tourist information
Its name derives from "crognale", a dialect term meaning dogwood.
Inhabited since ancient times, there is even talk of pre-Roman and Roman times, a hypothesis confirmed by the remains of megalithic walls dating back to the third century BC. C ..
The whole area along the valley of the Vomano river was affected by the passage of an important communication route, probably the Via Cecilia.
The first news about Crognaleto dates back to the end of the thirteenth century, when the nearby Amatrice claimed ownership of some places that today fall within the municipal area.
The current municipality of Crognaleto was established in 1813, at the time of the Napoleonic domination.
Crognaleto, which was previously annexed to Roseto and Cortino, later gained its independence by merging numerous inhabited centers which, in previous times, had their own autonomy.
What see
The historic center consists of nineteenth-century stone houses and some buildings from previous eras, including the church of Santa Caterina, dating back to the sixteenth century.
To visit is the small church of the Madonna della Tibia, perched on a rock, dating back to 1617 and equipped with a small bell tower placed next to it.
According to legend, the construction of this small sanctuary would be due to the ex-vow of a wealthy merchant from Amatrice, who had fallen disastrously into a ravine located right there.
The man, fearing death, invoked the Virgin Mary with great faith and, in this way, managed to close this terrible misadventure miraculously reporting only the fracture of the tibia.
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The architecture of the church is characterized by a gable roof and a horizontal crowned facade, from which a bell tower rises, on the top of which are placed two bells not identical to each other.
The major is written an invocation to God that says "Deliver us Lord from lightning and storm".
Above the architrave there is a round window framed in stone, where the year of construction of the church is written in a travertine tile, in addition to the Latin writing that says: "Kneel and venerate the Madonna, or traveler, to guide your steps out of danger. "
On the left there is a small building used for the pilgrims' refreshment function.
The interior of the cult building has a single nave and, in the presbytery area, there is a baroque altar made of gilded wood with the wooden statue of the Madonna della Tibia in the center, to which miraculous healings and powers of disaster protection.
Since 1619 a pilgrimage of one hundred days per year has been granted to the pilgrim who will pay a visit to the church on August 9.
The devotion to the Madonna della Tibia is among those that fall within the popular Marian cult known as the "Seven Madonnas Sisters", widespread especially in rural areas.
