Montorio al Vomano
Montorio al Vomano (Mundurje) is an Italian municipality of 8,240 inhabitants in the province of Teramo in Abruzzo. Its location is strategic from the point of view of tourism, being at the center of a route that is just 30 minutes away from the sea and the mountains. The beautiful town frames an area made up of small valleys, where rivers still roar, rising up to the peaks of the Gran Sasso d'Italia in a succession of fields, meadows, woods, and alpine flowers. A habitat for species to be saved and protected, it is the custodian of such a high level of biodiversity that it has allowed the establishment of the Gran Sasso Monti della Laga National Park. Thus, Montorio, located at the entrance to the protected area, is It has become “The Showcase of the Park”, and the starting point of the Strada Maestra del Parco.
The origins of this town date back to pre-Roman times, as attested by the ruins of a temple dedicated to Hercules, and some believe that this could be the site of ancient Beretra, mentioned by geographers of the classical age. The first attestations of the current town date back to the Middle Ages, when the toponym “Mons Aureus”, or Golden Mountain, appears; a gold that refers to the lush wheat fields that covered the hills around the town. Today the town stands on the banks of the Vomano river, and from the left bank of the river one climbs up the hill above to the highest part of the town. Anciently called "the hill," it has a characteristic amphitheater-like appearance with several rows of houses arranged in echelons. Here, among the crowded sixteenth-century houses, the remains of the medieval fortification near the Rocca still survive, as do the imposing remains of the Forte San Carlo; a building commissioned in 1686 by the Spanish viceroy of Naples, the Marquis del Carpio, to house troops engaged in the fight against banditry, but left unfinished.
Among the most interesting sites are: the Collegiate Church of San Rocco in Piazza Orsini, home to the oldest organ in Abruzzo, dating back to 1636; the Church and Convent of the Zoccolanti, whose evocative cloister houses a fresco of the Madonna and Child. There is a permanent exhibition of peasant arts, and the Capuchin convent located just outside the historic center.
The town's characteristic traditions are diverse, the most curious of which is certainly the Stù, an ancient card game rooted in customs since time immemorial; the Banda di Montorio al Vomano, which boasts a centuries-old history, founded in 1785; and the Carnevale Morto, an event that since the 1920s has highlighted the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent with a satirical and light-hearted funeral procession.
The king of confectionery production in Montorio al Vomano is the Carnevale Morto. The Bocconotto Montoriese, which is highly appreciated by anyone who tastes its intense flavor, which expresses its best in the grape jam (called "scrucchiata") that forms the heart of this typical dessert. Montoriese cuisine is very rich: from the famous Mazzarelle, through the Timballo to the Pizza dolce antica, a must-have at weddings.
