Atri

Atri

A city of art in Abruzzo

Abruzzo, land of abbeys and castles, towers and manors, princes and princesses, literary elements present in many local fables. Here are the key themes and elements of this project: Characters: we drew inspiration from historical figures of Atri or well-known local personalities, such as Emperor Hadrian. Monuments and iconic places: The Basilica Co-Cathedral of St Maria Assunta, Piazza of the Duomo where the Faugni take place and the famous Calanchi as the perfect setting. Festivals and traditions: The procession during the night of the Faugni and La Perdonanza and La Transumanza. the UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Abruzzo is full of magic legends, ancient rituals and folk tales. It is a different way of looking at the land, of perceiving mountains, forests, the sea and villages as places where reality and fantasy brush up against each other and contribute to shaping popular culture. Today, these stories, handed down for centuries, teach us that the real magic lies in looking at the world through the eyes of a child, cultivating the capacity for wonder to enrich our existence.

Mythology among the highest peaks of the Apennines

Fairy tales and legends, but also curious folk tales that once resounded in Abruzzo, are handed down from grandparents to grandchildren by the fireside. One of these legends explains the origin of the names of Abruzzo's great massifs: the Gran Sasso and the Maiella. These are 19th-century narratives, often neoclassical or romantic, which tell of peoples from ancient Greece: the Pelasgians, inhabitants of the Aegean islands between Greece and Turkey.

"On the golden shores of Abruzzo, Maia, daughter of Atlas and wife of Zeus, and her son Hermes, wounded in battle, were shipwrecked one day. Pursued by the enemy, the two went inland and found shelter in the mountains of the Gran Sasso. Here, tired and exhausted, they fell into a deep sleep. When Maja woke up, she found Hermes dead and from that moment on, she had no peace: she laid Hermes on a peak, with his face turned towards the constellation of the Pleiades, from then on the Gran Sasso had the profile of a sleeping giant. So great was her despair over her dead son that, distraught and in the grip of a desperate cry, she began to wander the mountains without finding any more peace. The grief and anguish was so great that it clutched the poor mother's heart until she died. Imposing processions arrived to honour the goddess, they brought gold and silver vases and precious stones together with garlands of flowers and herbs. From that day on, in her memory, the majestic mountain was called Majella. The mountain thus took the form of a woman petrified by grief, turned in on herself with her gaze fixed on the sea. On windy and stormy days, Abruzzi shepherds still hear Maia's lamentations, when the woods and valleys reproduce the wailing of a weeping Mother."

Mario Lolli, a poet from L'Aquila

Abruzzo in films: "Ladyhawke"

“The name of the rose"

"Tale of Tales”

Emperor Hadrian

Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus' ancestors (Italica, 76 - Baia, 138) lived in Hatria Picenum, that's why the city is called Atri. Other people say the city is named after the Adriatic sea.

HATRIA PICENUM

The name of the famous Emperor Hadrian often echoes in Atri, a historic ducal city. Atri's main street is named after him, which, cutting the historic centre in two, joins the town's two identity squares: Piazza Duchi d'Acquaviva and Piazza del Duomo.

Emperor Hadrian, the Graeculus

'The Graeculus', as Hadrian was called by his contemporaries because of the emperor's passion for poetry, the arts, literature and philosophy, remained very attached to the place of origin of his family's ancestors, so much so that here in Atri Hadrian held the position of 'Curator muneris publici', a sort of superintendent. For him, Hatria was his second homeland.

Literature: Emperor Hadrian in books

"MEMORIES OF HADRIAN" - I will never know if this warmth, if this sweetness emanated only from the depths of my being, the extreme trials of a man struggling against loneliness and the cold of the night. But the question, which arises even in the presence of our living loves, no longer interests me today: I care little whether the ghosts I conjure up come from the limbs of my memory or from those of another world. My soul, if I even possess one, is made of the same substance as the ghosts; this body with swollen hands, livid nails, this sad flesh already half dissolved, this wineskin of evils, ambitions and dreams, is not much more solid nor more substantial than a shadow. I do not distinguish myself from the dead except for the ability to suffocate a few more moments; in a certain sense, their existence seems more certain to me than my own. Marguerite Yourcenar, writer

Images of Emperor Hadrian

1. at the Picenum Theatre in Atri

2. at the Ducal Palace in Atri

3. on the oldest city coins in the world minted in Hatria Picenum between 7th and 6th BC, preserved at the British Museum (London) and at the National Archaeological Museum in Chieti, Abruzzo.

The Duomo

The first documentation concerning 'Sancta Maria de Atria' - an architectural masterpiece realised in several stages, dates back to 1140. The Istrian stone façade, with a spire that collapsed during the 1563 earthquake, was completed between 1264 and the beginning of the 14th century with portal decorations by Rainaldo d'Atri and Raimondo di Poggio, who also designed the side portals. The main portal, one of the symbols of Abruzzo Gothic art, houses a fresco depicting the Assumption of Mary in the lunette. The valuable rose window formed by twelve rays is surmounted by a 13th-century Madonna Enthroned with Child.

The frescos of Andrea de Litio

In 1460 in Atri, the magister Andreas de Litio (Lecce nei Marsi, 1420c. – Atri, 1495c.) painted two frescoes for the cathedral, the Madonna di Loreto (on a column) and the Madonna d'Alto Mare (on a wall) and in the same year he was finally commissioned by the Bishop of Atri, Antonio Probi, to paint the cycle of frescoes in the Coro dei Canonici at the Basilica of St Mary of the Assumption, , one of the most important Renaissance fresco cycles in central and southern Italy. The cycle of frescoes consists of sacred scenes depicting episodes from the lives of Mary and Jesus.

Mosaic backdrops of Hadrian

From the Delitian frescos to the Roman seabed. all we have to do is turn and look a little further down, where fish and dolphins appear, magically taking us back to the beginning of this journey dedicated to the ducal city of Abruzzo. At the foot of the 15th-century frescoes, particularly under the floor of the high altar, the remains of Roman-era mosaics depicting a seabed are visible through large walk-through windows. The mosaic floor dates back to the same time as Emperor Hadrian. Before the construction of the Basilica of St Mary of the Assumption, a temple dedicated to Hercules stood on the same area, later the Romans built a domus and baths.

"Duomo ", or Basilica of St Mary of the Assumption

Abruzzo is a region where nature has been respected better than in others. The people of this land have been able to live with it almost as if in a bond of equal dignity between man and the other inhabitants of the pastures, forests and rivers. Now this land, as it is and as it was meant to be in the distant past, to our gaze as citizens of the 'advanced society' seems to be emerging from the past to surprise and admonish us.

Ermanno Olmi, director

LA PERDONANZA a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of humanity

The Perdonanza - The Celestinian Forgiveness - in Atri is a religious rite that takes place annually in August in the Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, during which the Porta Santa (Holy Door) is opened to allow the faithful to obtain an indulgence. The event, which lasts about a week, culminates with the closing of the Holy Door and is inspired by Celestine V's bull of pardon, similar to the main ceremony held in L'Aquila.

When autumn illuminates Abruzzo's forests with amber tones, the ancient sheep-tracks tell their stories again, made of steps and memory. In the collective imagination, Abruzzo is a land of mountains, with the highest peaks of the Apennines and the ancestral figure of the shepherd. In the poem The Shepherds, the famous italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio describes the ancient rite of transhumance, the autumn migration of shepherds and flocks that from immemorial time moved at the end of summer from the pastures of the Abruzzi Apennines towards the Adriatic coast. The path of the 'Tratturo Magno', also called 'the King' or 'Regio Tratturo'. the best known and longest, started from the basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L'Aquila, climbed towards the Navelli plain passing through ancient Peltuinum, then crossed the strategic junction at the Torre di Forca di Penne, between Ofena and Capestrano, then descended in the direction of the Val Pescara to reach the sea, between Casalbordino and Torino di Sangro, then southwards again, towards Molise and Puglia.

La Transumanza

Transhumance, from the Latin 'trans' and 'humus', meaning 'to cross the ground, the earth', began in September and ended in May. They constituted a complex and organised network structured into main sheep-tracks, also called 'Tratturi Regi'; 'tratturelli' and 'bracci', consisting of short internal journeys connected to the main sheep-tracks; 'riposi', rest areas for flocks and men (shepherds, massari, cheese-makers); and 'tratturi', rest areas for the herds of sheep and men (shepherds, farmers, cheese-makers, etc.) during their migration. Tratturo Magno, which connected L'Aquila to Foggia, was the longest of all with its 244 km; the Pescasseroli - Candela (Fg) 211 km; the Celano - Foggia tratturo covered a distance of 207 km; the Castel di Sangro - Lucera, 127 km; and the last 120 km were the kilometres covered by the Centurelle - Montesecco tratturo.

Transhumance is a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of humanity

The VETUSTE FAGGETE, the ancient and primeval Beech Forests in Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park with trees up to 560 years of age and a “UNESCO World Heritage” status

The Calanchi Reserve of Atri

The Calanchi Park in Atri

The Calanchi Park in Atri is one of those places in Abruzzo where the landscape transforms simple observation into pleasant contemplation. They form enchanting patterns and arabesques, made even more evocative when caressed by the warm light of sunset. These gullies of Atri are the result of ancient marine sediments consisting of blue clays and sands. The numerous marine fossils found here, together with the geological history, make this place, which appears as a petrified sea, even more fascinating. The Calanchi of Atri Regional Nature Reserve is an oasis of peace and nature,listed as a WWF Oasis and Site of Community Importance, has the porcupine as its symbol.

The Saffron from Navelli

The sheep-track roads were not only used to move flocks and allow herding operations to take place, but also constituted important communication routes that were crucial for the trade in textiles, primarily wool, of course, but also silk; the trade in spices, especially saffron, through to handicrafts and manufactured goods, such as jewellery and everyday objects..

The liquorice root, which is widespread in the hills of Atri, has been known and processed since Roman times, and has been documented by the Egyptians, Chinese and Greeks. In the Middle Ages, the monks gathered liquorice root in the grounds of the Atri hills, then processed it in an ancient monastery in Atri, on the site where there is now a hotel. The processed and finished product was then stored by the monks in containers, then placed in the apothecary shop, the forerunner of the modern pharmacy. In 1809, a small liquorice factory was established in Giulianova. With the development of industrialisation, the activity was continued by the De Rosa family (later Menozzi-De Rosa), who from 1836, after taking over the activity of the Dominican friars, intensified the processing of liquorice root.

The Licorice from Atri

Tabú Licorice

The historic industrial building where the root plant was processed by Cav. De Rosa in the former Dominican monastery was called 'Liquorice Sauce Factory'. In 1950, the 'Menozzi De Rosa 1836 srl' was born.

Li Faegne

Atri 7-8 December

The Faugni

In Atri, the beautiful city of art and once a historical ducal city well positioned amidst the scenic hills of Teramo, a curious night festival has been celebrated every year. It is a tradition deeply felt by the people of Atri, especially the young, and it combines ancient pagan rites with Christian celebrations linked to the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The origins of the centuries-old Atrian festival are lost in the mists of time. The word comes from the Latin 'fauni-ignis', meaning 'fire of the faun'. Before Christianity, people in the countryside used to celebrate the arrival of the cold season, as well as the end of winter and the arrival of spring, by lighting fires in honour of Satyr and the god Faun, both mythological deities linked both to fertility and the force of nature, the Satyr, and to the protection of shepherds and agriculture, the Faun.

Tales from Atri

Mandorlinfiore is Mànnela fiurite, a tradional popular tale from Atri reported by Gennaro Finamore (Novelle, Finamore, vol I, 1872) and recreated by Italo Calvino in the collection of tales Fiabe italiane (1956)

Mandorlinfiore or Mànnela fiurite Gennaro Finamore (Novelle, vol.I, 1872)

Mandorli in fiore by Italo Calvino

Atri stands as a solemn Teramo sentinel—elevated, noble, majestic. From a visit many years ago, I retained a memory that was austere, rigorous, sharply defined; and the name of the city has always ensnared me, like a potent enchantment. Perhaps it’s “from mossy atriums,” perhaps it’s that Leopardian “atro”—suggesting darkness, night, or rather the color of clotted blood; in short, Atri is a splendid name, and it plays its part in making this illustrious and formidable place so captivating. A city of mountain-bound contemplation, gazing toward both the Maiella and the Gran Sasso, Atri is decidedly more than ancient—it is archaic. Though not far from the sea, it is truly difficult to imagine a place more immune to maritime allure; it is a land of deep-rooted mountain spirit. After the Piceni settlements came the Romans, ever sturdy builders; and the men of the Empire constructed that mighty, likely secular cistern that later became the crypt of one of Abruzzo’s most extraordinary cathedrals. From Atri—Hatria, as it was called—came, it is said, the family of Emperor Hadrian; and in Atri were minted coarse coins, now housed in the coin collection of the Chieti Museum, large as the palm of a hand—coins perhaps used to buy flocks, or perhaps flaunted like medals.

The Pythagorean fable by Giorgio Manganelli, writer

Atri Cathedral, 15th-century frescoes by Andrea de Litio, scene of the Nativity detail of young people dancing during the Holy Night