What to see in Fontecchio, an itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including the Clock Tower, the Castle Gate and the 14th century Fountain.
Tourist information
Immersed in the territory of the Sirente-Velino Natural Park, in the Aterno Valley in Abruzzo, stands Fontecchio, an ancient fortified medieval village characterized by cobbled streets and flights of cobbled stairs.
In the sections of the walls there are the Porta dei Santi, surmounted by the Clock Tower, the Porta Piazza, also called the Castle, and the Porta dell'Orso.
Of particular interest is the Clock Tower, which strikes fifty strokes each evening to commemorate the fifty days of siege which ended the Marquise Corvi, with a blow of the push against the heads of the assailants of the army of Braccio da Montone.
The clock is one of the oldest in Italy, as shown by the Italian dial divided into 6 hours.
What see
Outside the village there is Piazza del Popolo, which overlooks the typical shop-houses, the ancient municipal oven of the fifteenth century, the Parish Church dedicated to Santa Maria della Pace.
At a lower level than the square is the remarkable fourteenth-century fountain which is the symbol of Fontecchio.
From an architectural and artistic point of view, Palazzo Muzi and Palazzo Corvi are interesting, buildings that can be reached by proceeding from the Torre dei Santi towards the town.
In the adjacent hamlet of San Pio stands the ancient 12th-century Convent of San Francesco, currently used as an accommodation, which boasts an elegant Romanesque-Gothic portal and a characteristic cloister, built with stone arches supported by columns characterized by capitals of various shape.
