Overview
The discovery of Caporciano, in the province of L'Aquila, begins from the plain on which the town, from the ridge where it stands, sets its affectionate gaze. You are near the Navelli plateau, between the spurs of the Gran Sasso, the Aterno and Sirente valleys. Are you ready for the journey?
On the vast and varied plateau, you find a wonderful parish church: it is the 16th century tratturale church of Santa Maria di Centurelli.
In times of transhumance, it performed the function of a real service station, placed at the branch point between the Centurelle-Montesecco Tratturo and the more important one, the Tratturo Magno, which connected L'Aquila to Foggia with its 244 km and on which the flocks coming from the Gran Sasso massifs, conveyed to the pastures of the Tavoliere delle Puglie.
Go and unearth, behind the monument, a stone memorial on which is engraved the inscription RT101, Regio Tratturo 101, an exciting testimony that fills your visit and discovery of the area with meaning.
Now go up to the village, which retains all the characteristics of the medieval settlement, composed of two nuclei. The original one is linked to a polygonal "walled tower" fortification, later transformed into a bell tower, while the other, with later expansion, slopes down to the plain below. Visit the church of San Pietro, founded in 1200, which houses a splendid Gothic ciborium, three aediculas with the same features and numerous frescoes from the 1300s and 1500s. The parish of San Benedetto Abate instead, was erected on the ruins of the castle and looks extremely simple on the outside, with an elegant interior because of a harmonious fusion of neoclassical and Renaissance tastes.
Don't miss the adjoining oratory of the Confraternity of the Madonna Addolorata, entirely frescoed with 18th century works.
Move on to the nearby hamlet of Bominaco, don’t miss a visit to the Oratory of San Pellegrino (renamed the Sistine Chapel of Abruzzo) with its interior entirely covered in frescoes: a symphony of shapes and colours that, together with those of the nearby church of Santa Maria ad Cryptas in Fossa, represent an important testimony to Abruzzo medieval painting.
The oratory, part of a monastic complex that also includes the nearby church of Santa Maria Assunta, was probably built in 1263 by Abbot Teodino, as an inscription on the back wall testifies.
Charlemagne endowed the church with land holdings and later gave it to the Abbey of Farfa, from which some monks came to establish a monastic community.
You are surely stunned by the unexpected beauty of the monument lost in nature and need to put something under your teeth. Here you are satisfied.
You’ll find many culinary preparations on the Caporciano table, a triumph of naturalness and authenticity. The first courses, strictly prepared with homemade pasta, are gnocchi, fettuccine, maccheroni alla chitarra, seasoned with sauces with mushrooms, truffles or saffron, of which the territory is rich with cultivations of excellence.
Don't overlook the wide variety of typical cheeses, the tasty lamb, mutton, the well-known arrosticini and the traditional production of cold cuts of all kinds. A final taste is the sweet "pizzelle", often filled in these parts with a mixture of honey and ground almonds.
What else to see:
- The Church of the Madonna Addolorata
- The church of Santa Maria Assunta, Bominaco
- The defense fence, Bominaco