Overview
Welcome to Prata d'Ansidonia, ancient and reserved, with an ancestral history that unfolds with other villages over a long territory in the province of L'Aquila, framed at the north by the Gran Sasso and at the south by the Sirente-Velino mountain range.
The place where you are located, quiet and barely inhabited, was once an important trading point in the transhumance road network and the home of the Vestina (and later Roman) city of Peltuinum, founded between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D. on a plateau elevated above the Navelli Plateau, between the Aterno and Tirino valleys.
To learn more about this ancient history, go and look at the archaeological site where you can enter freely, about 2 km from Prata d'Ansidonia and shared with the municipality of San Pio delle Camere.
Here, despite successive thefts, vandalism and the construction of various infrastructures over time, the Superintendency and the University have tried through repeated excavation campaigns to save vestiges and identify others. You can admire the remains of the Theatre, to be attributed to the Augustan period, of which there remain parts of the substructure walls with opus reticulatum cladding, parts of the tiers of seats for spectators and the rainwater disposal system, while of the Amphitheatre you can see only the cavity in the ground on which the cavea rested.
The city was destroyed at an uncertain time (perhaps in the 4th century, due to an earthquake) resurrecting in other forms at the time of the Normans, probably under the name Civita Sedonia, by a certain Sedonius, a local feudal lord.
And so, the ancient stones of Peltuinum, with fragments of architectural decorations, capitals, columns, and large calcareous blocks, began to "travel" through the territory to be reused in the medieval churches and castles of the valley, particularly in the churches of St. Paul's in Peltuinum, now uninhabitable, Prata d'Ansidonia and Bominaco. In the historic centre, visit the church of San Nicola, restored and reopened to the faithful, which houses a fine wooden choir by Prato artist Sabatino Tarquini; outside the town, on the Prata plain, you can encounter Castel Camponeschi, a fortified village built around the 13th century and remodeled in the 15th century, which represented the original castrum of the town.
It is currently still undergoing restoration.
Don't miss a tour of the suburb of Tussio, situated on a hill called "Croco", which still shows intact its medieval layout with the tower of the ancient castle, alleys and houses close to each other.
The emotions that the past holds are strong and also make one hungry. So taste the good local cuisine, with an overture of maccheroni alla chitarra, "sagne e fagioli" and then arrosticini and roast lamb.
These too are dishes as old as the stones, but soft and extremely delicious. And don't forget to buy one or more one-gram jars of saffron, among the most fragrant in Italy. You are indeed in the area of excellence of production of the spice, which the rest of the world envies us.