Attractions and Places To See around Celenza Sul Trigno - Top 8

The Torre della Fara is located in Torre della Fara in the municipality of Celenza sul Trigno in the province of Chieti. The tower is located near the Trigno river and the Ateleta-Biferno sheep track and was in visual connection with neighboring towns and with the monastery of Santa Maria del Canneto of Roccavivara (Molise). (Source Wikipedia.)

The church that has survived today dates back to the 11th-12th centuries, has a Latin cross plan, with three apses. The facade has no relevant decorative elements, except for a bas-relief on the lunette of the portal. In the external walls of the church are inserted tombstones and various inscriptions from the Roman and medieval times, while, on the right, stands a mighty bell tower, completed in 1329 by the Abbot Nicola, consisting of a crenellated Gothic tower with three-light windows on the arches . The interior of the church is austere and has three naves, each ending in a semicircular apse. Along the central nave there is a valuable ambo, finely decorated, built in 1223, partly with older reused materials. The ambo is supported by three unequal arches and, under the parapet, there are seven small aedicules: the central one must have supported an eagle which, with its outstretched wings, served as a lectern. The others are occupied by six monks in high relief, intent on the activities that represent the monastic rule of the ora et labora. Behind the high altar is the statue of the Madonna di Canneto, dating back to the 14th century, in Gothic style, and also known as the Virgin of the Smile. In the area adjacent to the church, there are archaeological excavations which have brought to light the remains of a Roman villa from the 1st century AD.

The Torre della Fara is located in Torre della Fara in the municipality of Celenza sul Trigno in the province of Chieti. The tower is located near the Trigno river and the Ateleta-Biferno tratturo and was in visual connection with neighboring towns and with the monastery of Santa Maria del Canneto in Roccavivara (Molise). The tower dates back to the 12th century.[1] Even if the toponym recalls the Longobard fara, it is, however, difficult to identify the period of construction of the site.[ The tower has a cylindrical structure and is made of stone[1], but stone fragments are also used to frame the openings and loopholes[2]. The tower is 15 meters high and 6 meters in diameter. The tower has no scarp walls and, at a third of the height there is an opening which, probably, is a raised entrance. Furthermore, inside there are the holes where the beams used to support the various levels. The roof inside is vaulted with a lowered cap. The use of mortar in the Torre della Fara decreases with height[1] just as the thickness of the walls decreases with increasing height

According to oral tradition, it seems that San Michele, who left from the East to defeat paganism, stopped in a wood near Liscia before arriving on the Gargano; this wood is located around Monte Sorbo, an area that in ancient times had a high anthropic density, as can be seen from the remarkable archaeological material found here and coming from Italic tombs. Still on the subject of legend, it is said that a man from Palmoli, a village in the upper Vasto bordering Liscia, intent on grazing cows near the Treste river, noticed that a young bull got lost every day and then returned in the evening. One day, however, the farmer, intrigued by this mysterious behavior, decided to follow his animal and saw that the vegetation opened up, as if by magic, as it passed, as if to indicate a direction to follow; this strange path led him to a cave where he saw the bull kneeling in front of a wooden image of St. Michael the Archangel, which miraculously made water gush out so that man could quench his thirst and recover from the discovery to witness this event supernatural. In memory of these events that occurred in Liscia, the Marquesses of Avalos, in the eighteenth century incorporated the cave inside a small church, perhaps, to regulate the large influx of pilgrims who are here recalled by popular devotion to the Archangel Michael, a cult that is lost in the mists of time.

There are two hypotheses on the origins of its name, the first has it that it derives from Rocca Bonnarii, referring to its founder, a certain Bonnario; the second that it comes from Rocca di Vivara, referring to the district of Vivara still existing and bordering the municipality of Roccavivara. The lower part of the Roccavivara countryside offers ample evidence of the presence of inhabited centers at the time of republican and imperial Rome. Historical information tells us that in 1268 Gualtiero di Vollers was feudal lord of Roccavivara; he was followed by Bertrando Cantelmo, whose descendants held the dominion until 1442. Subsequently the power passed to the Sangro, the Carafa and the Coppola until the abolition of feudalism. A very interesting site was found in San Fabiano: a Roman villa certainly built on a ground floor supported by a megalithic construction.

Arte e storia del territorio molisano caratterizzano anche il paese di Trivento, in provincia di Campobasso, cosi chiamato perché ancora oggi è esposto ai venti dell’est, del sud e del nord. Vi si accede tramite una salita che porta in cima al colle e proietta il visitatore in un’altra dimensione, dove a trionfare è la pietra. Ovunque tutto intorno è fatto di pietra, ad incominciare dalla fontana monumentale fino alla magnifica scalinata a tre corsie, formata da quella centrale molto ampia e da due laterali più piccole. E’ la scalinata di San Nicola, dove sfilano uno dopo l’altro ben 365 gradini, che si dice siano uno per ogni giorno dell’anno. Conduce alla parte alta del borgo collegando la piazza al centro storico: ai suoi lati si ergono gli edifici più importanti del paese e da sempre è il simbolo di accoglienza di Trivento, rappresentando una delle più belle gradinate di tutto il Molise. Scalino dopo scalino si arriva davanti alla Chiesa di San Nicola, davanti alla quale si può ammirare una bella statua marmorea del Cuore Immacolato di Maria. A quota 150 scalini ci si può fermare su Largo di Porta Maggiore dove la visuale spazia sulla Trivento moderna e si perde sulla montagna circostante. A quota 175 una poderosa costruzione la costringe a diramarsi e dare luogo a Via Roma, una strada fatta di scale. Al 234esimo scalino si apre invece la grande piazza che ospita la Cattedrale, il Campanile, la chiesa della SS Trinità e la Curia. La Cattedrale è l’altro simbolo cittadino, eretta su una preesistente basilica dedicata a San Casto. Ha subito nei secoli vari restauri ma custodisce tutt’ora preziosi tesori artistici tra cui la Cripta, situata a qualche metro di profondità sotto il transetto e il presbiterio, che segna il passaggio dal Tempio pagano, dedicato a Diana, al primo Cristianesimo. Della sua fase più antica la Cattedrale conserva oltre ad un' iscrizione del 1076 con la dedica ai Santi Nazario e Casto, una serie di archetti pensili che a tratti la coronano esternamente. Sull'altare c'è una lunetta in pietra, risalente al XIII secolo, con bassorilievo raffigurante la Trinità fiancheggiata da due angeli e due delfini. Tra le tre sculture lignee spicca una Madonna in trono del Duecento. A sinistra della Cattedrale un portale con arco a ogiva introduce nel Giardino dell’Episcopio da cui si può osservare la fiancata romanica della chiesa e, nelle aiuole, frammenti di cippi funerari romane. Quando poi si arriva in cima la vista ripaga della salita, con la panoramica a 360° che spazia dai profili frastagliati dei monti ai paesini dirimpettai come Schiavi d’Abruzzo, Vastogirardi e Pietrabbondante.