Medio Vastese. Amore a prima visita. English

The Medio Vastese area includes 16 towns and it extends over a territory that from the coast gently climbs up and enters the mountainous area. Sixteen communities, small jewels located only a few kilometers from Vasto and San Salvo, enveloped in a natural environment of extreme importance.
Three rivers, the Trigno, Treste and Sinello, cut through the territory up to the coast in symmetrical and orthogonal paths that accompany the slopes down from the sub-mountainous area. The entire area reminds of the typical Mediterranean landscape: pine groves, coppice and tall forest trees, green oasis of olive groves, almond and cherry trees.
The characteristic of the majority of these villages is their medieval structure. It can be said, in fact, that there is no village, dominant summit, mountain pass or promontory without its own tower, castle, fortified barrier, and homes built into the fortified walls of the city or under the arcades. Another unique characteristic of the area is the fact that most villages preserved their surroundings still untouched, within their original context.
This journey to the discovery of medieval history in the Medio Vastese area can begin from Carpineto Sinello which, in addition to the ruins of the Ducal Castle, hosts in the highest area of town also the peculiar and unique Museum of Pig; or the visit can begin from the 13th century Castle of Palmoli, which was declared a national monument in 1928.
Gissi holds spectacular scenery, where the most ancient homes were built overhanging and partly dug into the rock or drawn from the natural caves of a territory renowned for its crystallized gypsum quarries.
The historical centre of Monteodorisio, with its walls, majestic castle, the Church of San Giovanni Battista, the watch towers and the access doors to the city, evokes its medieval past at every corner.
Whoever arrives in town is greeted also by the Madonna delle Grazie shrine, a pilgrimage destination for the entire region.
Throughout the Dark Ages, hermitage was a strong expression of religious culture in Abruzzo: Medio Vastese offers also a fascinating itinerary to the discovery of its shrines.
In Liscia it is possible to find the San Michele Arcangelo shrine, immersed in the green surroundings of an enormous forest, adjacent to an extremely old cave with a source of spring water and stalactites.
The Furci village is renowned especially for being the birthplace of Beato Angelo, an Augustian friar, a great performer of miracles. Every year thousands of pilgrims travel to Furci to visit the shrine dedicated to Beato Angelo.
At the entrance of Scerni there is the Madonna della Strada shrine, while in San Buono it is possible to find the magnificent Convent of Sant'Antonio, immersed in nature, a convent that today also hosts the Art and Achaeology Museum of the Vastese Area.
The distinctive traits that characterize the territory of the Medio Vastese are found in those values that allowed the local populations to manage the environmental heritage over time while renovating the available resources, from forestry to sheep farming to the production of unique cheeses and cold cuts.
In the hilly area and in the area at the foot of the hills, which extends from the hills of Scerni and Guilmi up to Roccaspinalveti, the pig, symbol of abundance in regional tradition, still holds an important place in today's farming economy and it allowed the production of high quality pork-butchering; it is sufficient to think about the great fame of the "ventricina", the most traditional local cold-cut still produced in an old-fashioned manner.
Another typical product representative of the territory is the artichoke of Cupello, recognized by the European Quality mark. An excellent artichoke both for fresh consumption and for processing, called "mazzaferrata" ("iron mace") for its rounded shape, which reminds that of the ancient medieval weapon.