Pacentro

Pacentro has a long history that culminates in the events of the Kingdom of Naples, in the endless disputes of noble feudal families such as the Orsini, the Colonna, the Barberini, to then live the period of decline due to the brigandage and the migratory flow of many villagers in America.

The village is all to be discovered: miniature houses, characteristic narrow streets, buildings attached to each other, very narrow passages connected by small arcades and steep steps, to form a sort of unique labyrinth.

The majestic Caldora Castle, built to protect the town and the valley, dominates the town from above.
The town is gathered around the Piazza del Popolo with the monumental seventeenth-century fountain, once used as a sepulchral urn and the fifteenth-century church of Santa Maria Maggiore or della Misericordia, with the sundial on the portal and the slender bell tower.

A walk through the village allows you to discover other interesting places. I Canaje or the ancient public wash house where women used to go, from every point of the country, carrying on their heads the uaccile features (copper basins).
The Preta tonna, or scandal stone, is a huge sunken stone used as an ancient unit of measurement of grain, on which insolvent debtors were forced to sit naked before passers-by, as a form of public humiliation.

The food and wine proposal reflects the rural and genuine tradition, with a simple cuisine based on beef, sheep and pork, sheep's milk cheeses, and of course extra-virgin olive oil.
Maccheroni alla chitarra with mutton sauce and meatballs, ricotta ravioli, boiled sheep in the “lu cutter”, are just some of the protagonists of the pacentrana cuisine along with the “polta”, a typical dish of the country based on beans, potatoes and cabbage sautéed oil with garlic, oil and chilli and among the events not to be missed, in mid-August there is a festival in honor of this delight: the Polta Festival, ideal for tasting and getting to know Pacentro.

The name Pacentro is also known to be the place of origin of the Ciccone family, from which the pop star Madonna descends.

BY CAR

• From North and South, on the A14 (from the north: direction Ancona; from the south: direction Pescara), in the direction of Rome, take the A 25 motorway and exit at Bussi / Popoli. Follow the signs for L'Aquila, continue on the SS 17, cross Popoli and turn on the SS 153 in the direction of Pacentro.
• From L'Aquila, take the SS 17 towards Pescara, continue on the SS 153 towards Navelli, continue on the SS 17, cross Popoli and turn onto the SP 13 towards Pacentro.

ON THE TRAIN

• Sulmona railway station

BY BUS

• Regional Public Buses of Abruzzo: from Pescara, L'Aquila, Teramo to Sulmona and from Sulmona to Pacentro.

BY PLANE

• Pescara airport
• Rome Ciampino Airport
• Rome Fiumicino Airport
• Naples airport

BY SEA

• Tourist port of Pescara
• Port of Naples

• "The Cadores in the Year of the Lord 1450": Every year, in the third week of August, for six days Pacentro returns to the period during the rule of the Princes of Caldora. The historical re-enactment of the Caldoreschi brings everything and everyone back to the year 1450 recalling historical events that took place in Pacentro, home of the Caldora Castle: fires, investiture of knights, fights, duels and witches' sabbath. The historical procession that winds through the streets of the center set up by fifteenth-century scenarios with dozens of figures in period costumes is particularly striking.

• The "Corse of the Gypsies": a term which indicates in the local dialect "who walks barefoot".
  The event takes place on the first Sunday of September on the occasion of the celebrations for the Madonna of Loreto. The Corsa would be nothing but a reproduction of the pilgrimage of the faithful to the sanctuary.