The experience
Vacanza in Abruzzo per conoscere il tuo albero genealogico italiano
Il viaggio delle Radici si apre a Fara San Martino. Comune anche storicamente sensibile al tema delle migrazioni storiche, è sede di una storica azienda, la De Cecco, nata a metà dell’Ottocento. Dopo una visita ai luoghi chiave della produzione della pasta, il legame tra l’azienda e generazioni di abruzzesi rimasti o emigrati, i nostri ospiti avranno il privilegio di prendere parte ad un laboratorio creativo di realizzazione della pasta, conoscendo il metodo De Cecco e terminando l’esperienza mangiando a tavola le migliori ricette legate alla pasta realizzata.
Ai turisti verrà infine donato un cesto di benvenuto dall’azienda. Il pranzo si conclude assaporando un amaro locale (es. la Genziana).
Nel pomeriggio ci tuffiamo nella natura del Parco Nazionale della Majella. Visiteremo le brillanti Sorgenti del Verde, per poi addentrarci nelle favolose Gole, con i suoi scorci e tesori nascosti, come l’Abbazia di San Martino in Valle, sito di origine benedettina e le cui prime fonti risalgono addirittura all’829. Dopo alcuni secoli in cui il sito passa di mano in mano, dal 1891 vengono avviati degli scavi di recupero che solo nel 2009 hanno reso il luogo completamente visitabile. Al suo interno favolosi dipinti e storie centenarie.
Il secondo giorno di visita del Viaggiatore inizia nel segno della natura e dello sport, con la mattinata al Parco Avventura di Guardiagrele, meta che poi sarà la nostra protagonista nel pomeriggio. Guardiagrele, la città di pietra, è uno splendido borgo della provincia di Chieti posto ai piedi della Majella madre, lungo il versante orientale. Sede di ristoranti stellati, storici ed autentici, con tante prelibatezze e riconoscimenti da Gambero Rosso e Niko Romito, due storiche pasticcerie dove assaporare dolci come le originali ed imperdibili “sise delle monache”; un paio di fornite enoteche ed uno straordinario paniere di specialità agroalimentari del territorio.
Termina il pomeriggio del secondo giorno di viaggio con l’esperienza al Museo dell’artigianato Abruzzese. Il sito si compone di opere artisticamente rilevanti che hanno ottenuto riconoscimenti nell’ambito di manifestazioni artigiane e artistiche o che evidenziano o ripercorrono un periodo storico particolare della cultura artigiana in Abruzzo.
Al terzo ed ultimo giorno visitiamo l’Abbazia di San Giovanni in Venere a Fossacesia. Il complesso monastico, che si trova a un’altitudine di 107 metri sul livello del mare, si compone di una basilica e di un monastero, entrambi risalenti al XIII secolo. La collina su cui sorge l’abbazia è ricca di piante di olivo, alcune delle quali molto antiche, ma su tutte spicca la pianta millenaria che si trova all’ingresso della badia, piantata in onore della sua fondazione e ad oggi ancora vivente. Gli interni dell’Abbazia (il chiostro, la cripta e le navate della chiesa) sono di assoluto impatto emotivo e raccontano la storia del nostro territorio e di grandi personaggi storici che qui sono stati. A seguire pranzo esclusivo sul Trabocco e pomeriggio di divertimento e relax, a passeggio tra la Costa dei Trabocchi, la nuova Via Verde, ed i tanti Borghi ricchi di storia, fascino, eventi e riconoscimenti.
Shortly
Tour
A visit to De Cecco: Abruzzese housewives and massaires for a day!
There is no better way to kick off this fantastic experience of the Roots journey than with a visit to the historic De Cecco pasta company, participating in a pasta-making workshop to become a massai in the Abruzzo method. De Cecco, founded in 1831 with miller Nicola Antonio De Cecco, has long been a globally recognized company.
Address: Industrial Zone, 66015 Fara San Martino CH
Cost and duration: €€. De Cecco visit and workshop about 3h.
Sources of Green - Maiella National Park
In the afternoon we dive into the protected and colorful nature of Majella National Park, one of Abruzzo’s 3 green lungs. We will visit the brilliant Verde Springs, a site that is home to a river park rich in vegetation and flora.
Address: Via Municipio 1 – Fara San Martino
Accessibility: From Fara’s Villa Comunale, we walk down to the pasta factories along Via Filippo De Cecco. At the end, turn left to go back up in the direction of the Verde Springs along a footpath bordered by a wooden fence. The springs are located about 1 km from the starting point.
Useful Contacts: Website:
https://www.italeaabruzzo.com/
Email: info@italeaabruzzo.com
Cost and duration: €. 1h approx.
Walk to the Gorges and visit to the Monastery of St. Martin
The bottleneck that characterizes the St. Martin’s Gorges is of great charm and fascination. It looks like a “gateway” to one of Majella’s most majestic valleys, bordered by high rocky spurs and protected flora and fauna. The remains of the Benedictine monastery of San Martino in Valle stand out.
Address: Via Municipio 1 – Fara San Martino
Accessibility: once you reach the city center, move in the direction of Sorgenti del Verde. Access to the Gorges is located near the previous site.
Cost and duration: €. 1½ hours circa.
"Fun is natural!" at Maiella Nature Park
Majella Adventure Park is the largest Adventure Park in Italy and is located in Guardiagrele, in Piana delle Mele. The Adventure Park’s activity consists of tackling the more than 250 games suspended in the trees, walking through catwalks, Tibetan bridges, tunnels and breathtaking Tyrolean bridges, all in the utmost safety and with the assistance of qualified staff.
Address: Loc.tà Piana delle Mele, Guardiagrele (CH), 66016.
Cost and accessibility: reservation required. Rates vary according to the type of experience chosen. From Guardiagrele, for Piana delle Mele locality, follow the signs for Bocca di Valle – Piana delle Mele and Majella Adventure Park.
Useful Contacts: Website:
https://www.italeaabruzzo.com/
Email: info@italeaabruzzo.com
Cost: €€-€€€. 3h approx.
The city of Guardiagrele
Guardiagrele, the town of stone, a city endowed with a remarkable historical, architectural and artistic heritage, as well as a thousand-year-old tradition of craftsmanship and included in the club of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages, boasts a restaurant awarded a Michelin star since 2011; two others permanently reviewed by Slow Food’s Osterie d’Italia guide; local products of controlled and award-winning origin, such as honey, sweets and more. As with each day of travel, we will deliver gastronomic and artistic postcards of our beloved Abruzzo to our Roots tourists.
Address: Guardiagrele
Cost and Accessibility: €-€€. About 3h plus lunch stop.
Abruzzo Pearls at the Museum of Artistic Craftsmanship
Dulcis in fundo of the second day of the itinerary was a visit to the Museum of Artistic Craftsmanship. Eight rooms and the competition hall set up with the best of Abruzzo’s handicrafts and art, a heritage acquired over more than four decades of varied collections and purchases. During the visit, you can admire works of fabric art, ceramics, goldsmithing, lace-making, glass, copper and wooden tools.
Address: Permanent Museum of Abruzzo Artistic Crafts Via Roma, 28, 66016 Guardiagrele CH
Cost and Accessibility: €. 1½ hours.
Fossacesia: City of Oil and the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere
We move to the coastal side of the province of Chieti, where we will begin the third and final day of our journey with a breakfast overlooking the forecourt of the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere.
Church with wonderful spaces inside (crypt, cloister, apse etc). enjoys a breathtaking view of the coast below (located only two kilometers away), offering a view that sweeps for miles over the sea in that area known as the “Gulf of Venus,” near the mouth of the Sangro River.
Address: Viale San Giovanni in Venere, 56, 66022 Fossacesia CH
Cost and Accessibility: €. 2h approx.
Lunch on the Trabocco
Ancient fishing tools that tell the story of a people, the trabocchi characterize the Chieti coast, the southernmost in Abruzzo, and are part of the region’s traditional heritage. Built along beaches and anchored to rocks or reefs, trabocchi (or trabucchi) are ingenious wooden constructions even dating back to the Phoenician era used for fishing, now becoming destinations for relaxation, dreamy evening skylines, companions during dives into the sea, restaurants where you get to enjoy seafood delicacies of absolute freshness surrounded by the blue Adriatic.
Address: Trabocchi Coast (Ortona to Vasto).
Cost: €€€-€€€€, Reductions for minors and the disabled. 1½ hours approx.
Walk on the Trabocchi Coast and the Green Way
The Trabocchi Coast covers the entire southern coast of the region (from Ortona to Vasto). The Via Verde is a bicycle and pedestrian path that moves between the coast and authentic villages, officially inaugurated in 2023, a site that has obviously enjoyed much success and national and international tourist interest. She starred in the last edition of the Giro D’Italia. Upon request, it will be possible to participate in family or couple games for all ages and recreational and sports activities to be played in groups. The Trabocchi Coast and its Via Verde will leave you breathless.
Address: Trabocchi Coast (Ortona to Vasto).
Cost: €-€€ (+bike rental and/or participation in calendar events).
Aperitif and tasting from the Wine Tower
We will be hosted by a well-known winery for a food and wine aperitif in an exceptional scenic location to discover premium Abruzzo doc wines and food pairings.
Address: Rocca San Giovanni
Cost: €€. Reductions for minors and the disabled.
Dinner among the "Authentic Villages" of Frentania
We end the evening strolling through one of the authentic villages of the Costa dei Trabocchi area.
The Costa di Trabocchi area and especially the towns of Fossacesia, Rocca San Giovanni, San Vito marina and Ortona are lively towns by day for sportsmen and families, with sites of natural, historical-architectural and/or scenic prestige, while at night they are festively lit up especially during the Christmas and summer period with many attractions at the cultural level, major events and concerts all year round, and folk and traditional events.
The evening will end with the presentation of the Roots Passport to our Roots Travelers.
Address: Trabocchi Coast.
Cost: €-€€, reductions for minors and the disabled.
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