ViviTortoreto

Starting from Tortoreto, we head towards the Municipality of Isola del Gran Sasso (415 meters above sea level), first along the Teramo-mare highway and then the A24 motorway towards L’Aquila. 
Isola del Gran Sasso is located on the slopes of the Gran Sasso, on the banks of the Ruzzo river and in the heart of the Sicilian Valley. It is one of the most famous pilgrimage sites in central Italy since the Sanctuary of San Gabriele dell’Addolorata stands in this municipality. Also worth visiting is the Romanesque church of San Giovanni ad Insulam where an ancient Benedictine monastery stands.

Just 15 minutes by car from Isola del Gran Sasso, we find a particular mountain village at the foot of Monte Bandiera, the village of  Castelli, famous for its ancient ceramic manufacturing. This traditional art is visible in the church of S. Donato, where the ceiling is adorned with majolica tiles depicting religious drawings and scenes and phrases of popular wisdom and in the church of S. Maria di Costantinopoli where the Castelli Ceramics Museum is currently housed. . Its historic center is characterized by ancient medieval buildings, small streets that lead under large architraves and portals that recall a distant era, homes of famous ceramists, such as that of Orazio Pompei dating back to 1500 and finally by the fantastic mountain scenery of the Gran chain Stone that opens before our eyes overlooking the Leomagna valley.