CAMERA DI COMMERCIO DI CHIETI PESCARA
PATH AND CIVILIZATIONS OF TRANSHUMANCE (UNESCO INTANGIBLE HERITAGE 2019)
Abruzzo – Italy
The provinces of Chieti and Pescara are affected by the presence of the Tratturi (sheep tracks), the most imposing monument in the economic and social history of the territories of the Abruzzese-Molisano Apennines and the Tavoliere delle Puglie, paths formed in ancient times in relation to forms of economic production based on on pastoralism, placed under the protection of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage.
In May 2015, the candidacy for recognition of the Way and Civilization of Transhumance as an intangible heritage was presented to UNESCO to enhance these routes from a tourist and cultural point of view.
The largest tratturo that goes through the two provinces is the Tratturo Magno, which starts from the city of L’Aquila and arrives in Foggia after traveling 244 km, crossing several municipalities, including Corvara, Pietranico and Rosciano (in the province of Pescara), Chieti, Lanciano and Vasto (in the province of Chieti).
Another tratturo that crosses the two provinces, at the foot of the Majella massif (the highest peak is Mount Amaro, 2793 meters), is the Centurelle Montesecco, for a total of 155 km, which starts from the church of S. Maria di Centurelli, near Civitaretenga in the Aquila area and ends on the same Tratturo in Molise, passing through the municipalities of Bussi sul Tirino, Bolognano and Manoppello (in the province of Pescara) and Roccamontepiano, Fara Filiorum Petri and Guardiagrele (in the province of Chieti).
The epic of transhumance inspired Gabriele d’Annunzio in his poem “Pastori” in which the poet describes the slow journey of shepherds and flocks from the Abruzzo mountains towards the grassy meadows of Puglia, up to contact with his beloved Costa dei Trabocchi, a rocky stretch of Adriatic coast in the province of Chieti marked by the spread of the trabocco, a fishing machine on stilts. This area is today a place for diving into the flavors of seafood and a destination for tourists from all over the world.
Must See
1
On the Tratturo Magno, in Chieti, excursion to the city center and visit to the city’s archaeological museums and to the Warrior of Capestrano, a sculpture from the sixth century BC, a symbol of Abruzzo. In Lanciano, visit to the tratturi of the city, the Church of the Eucharistic Miracle and the medieval village. Tasting lunch in the Torre Vinaria of a winery in the Frentana countryside; Walk or mountain bike tour on the Costa dei Trabocchi and dinner on a trabocco. Visit to the city of Vasto, walk in the historic center and visit of the Pinacoteca di Palazzo D’Avalos. Lunch in a restaurant with “Vastese-style fish soup”. Visit to the Punta Aderci Nature Reserve by ebike, departing from Casalbordino Lido, Casetta Santini, dune beach on the Tratturo Magno with tasting of dairy products.
2
Pescara, visit to the places of Gabriele D’Annunzio, Birthplace with museum, Vittoria Colonna Museum of Modern Art and Basilio Cascella Museum. Visit to D’Annunzio’s Hermitage in the promontory located in the Portelle district of San Vito Chietino, where Gabriele d’Annunzio resided with his beloved Barbara Leone in the summer of 1889 and originated some of the wonderful pages of his work of the Triumph of Death.
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In the places of the Tratturo Centurelle Montesecco, the monasteries of San Clemente a Casauria (located in the municipality of Castiglione a Casauria) and San Liberatore a Majella deserve a visit. In Abbateggio there is an entire village with tholos, whose stone huts were the daily shelter for wayfarers and transhumant shepherds. Experiential tourism on the tratturo, with cheese and wool workshops and with tales and stories of the civilization of transhumance. Other places to visit: Manoppello, with the Basilica del Volto Santo, and along the tratturo the municipalities of Serramonacesca, Roccamontepiano, Fara Filiorum Petri, a town famous for the folkloristic manifestation of the Farchie.
CAMERA DI COMMERCIO CHIETI PESCARA
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