Crognaleto

About 30 km from Prati di Tivo, you can visit the small ancient village of Crognaleto (1,105 m above sea level), also within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park. Located in the upper Vomano Valley, between Monte Corvo and Gorzano.

Crognaleto (whose name presumably comes from the dialect word crognale, meaning cornel, a plant rich in red berries that grows wild in these mountain areas) is a municipality with numerous hamlets, whose territory extends over a large area on both sides of the Vomano Valley, a valley crossed by the famous Via Cecilia. From historical finds in the area, the first settlements date back to pre-Roman and Roman times, but most of the currently inhabited towns were founded during the Middle Ages. The municipality has charming villages, including the stone buildings of Poggio Umbricchio and the sixteenth-century buildings of Senarica. Crognaleto, formerly belonging to the University of Roseto, became an independent municipality in 1813, during the Napoleonic occupation.

The village is nestled within a suggestive natural and landscape setting, woods and pastures dominate, with the Gran Sasso massif watching over it. In terms of gastronomy, the most famous is Crognaleto. Ventricina di Crognaleto, a mixture of pork meat and fat flavored with various spices and stuffed into the animal's stomach or bladder.