Etappe 10 - dinsdag 17 mei Vertrekpunt: Termoli - Teramo Afstand: 156 km
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TERMOLI
It is the most important tourist destination of the Molise region, which has received several times the Bandiera Blu (blue flag) for the quality its waters. Old town, with the Torretta del Belvedere from which visitors can admire the port and the beach, is located on a rocky promontory. The Svevo Castle, in a strategic position along the Adriatic coast, shows the defensive walls with all its century-old stratifications: from the first towers, dating back to the Lombard period to the enlargement of the Norman age, until the interventions requested in the thirteenth century by Frederick II, Duke of Swabia. Also the Cathedral, one of the most important religious monument of the region, dates back to this period. The façade in Romanesque and Apulian style has a magnificent portal, which lunette hosts the Presentazione al Tempio high-relief. In the modern crypt visitors can see the remains of the pre-existing church of the fifteenth/seventeenth century with wide section of mosaic flooring with animal figures. Termoli is known as ‘città delle trattorie di mare’ (the town of seafood restaurants): there are almost 60 restaurants specialized in seafood recipes, among which the famous Termoli-style soup: a fish soup cooked and served in earthenware, different from the other soups prepared in the Adriatic area since prepared with small quantities of mullets, mantis shrimps, dormouse and cuttlefish but full of flavor. A funny strangeness: among the fishermen houses there is the small house were the famous comic-strip writer Benito Jacovitti was born. To discover the house just ask residents.
FROM TERMOLI TO TERAMO
Vasto
Homeland of artists and poets such as Gabriele Rossetti, Vasto is the ancient Histonium, founded – based on tradition – by Diomedes. The town hosts the remains of its glorious past, among which the Amphitheatre, the Thermal Baths, embellished by a beautiful mosaic with marine images and the imposing Caldoresco Castle located on a promontory which overlooks the coast and which dates back to the fourteenth-century, though restructured. Vasto is also the kingdom of the ventricina, a pork sausage, coarse-grained, sprinkled with salt and minced pepper.
Fossacesia
The Abbazia di San Giovanni in Venere is one of the most suggestive places of this coastal area. Surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, the abbey has been founded in 1015 on the remains of an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the goddess of beauty. The church has a Cistercian structure with a nave and two isles, a crypt decorated with frescoes dating back to the twelfth/fourteenth century and a portal with friezes dedicated to the life of John the Baptist. A masterpiece which astonishes especially at sunset for the contrast of lights and colors which take shape on the façade.
Ortona
The small town, cherished by D’annunzio, faces a stretch of sea with a rocky shoal, small beaches and coves among the most enchanting. Also the magnificent Castel overlooks the sea. It has presumably been constructed upon request of Alfonso V of Aragon, initially with a defensive purpose and then transformed into a residence. In the neighborhoods sightseers can visit Palazzo Corvo (fifteenth century), seat of the Enoteca Regionale d’Abruzzo (regional wine cellar), where a stop is advisable to taste the local production. The San Tommaso Cathedral hosts the mortal remains of the apostle. Unmissable is Palazzo Farnese, which houses the Pinacoteca Cascella with the largest collection of the artist’s paintings and the Museo Civico (municipal museum) with medieval and Renaissance works and archeological finds.