Campli ( Abruzzese: ') is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Teramo The Province of Teramo ( it, provincia di Teramo; Abruzzese: ') is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Teramo. The province has an area of , a population of 313,029 (2012), and is subdivided into 47 comunes ( i ...

, in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

region of central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is located in the natural park known as the

Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park The Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park is a natural park located mostly in Abruzzo, Italy. It was established in 1991, it has an area of , and it is mainly spread out across the province of Teramo, L'Aquila, Pescara, with small areas in ...

Geography

The towns of Bellante,

Civitella del Tronto Civitella del Tronto () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, within the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. History The origins of Civitella are unknown, though in the area have ...

, Sant'Omero,

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines (Gran Sasso d'Italia) ...

, Torricella Sicura, Valle Castellana are nearby.

History

During the 14th century, the composer Nicolaus Ricii de Nucella Campli was born presumably in or near the town. The town was captured by the French under François de Guise in 1557 during his failed campaign against the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

Festivals and events

Every year since 1964 in the month of August, there is a celebration that goes by the name of ''Sagra della porchetta italica'' (Feast of Italian Pork). It is considered to be the first such event established in the Region of

and one of the earliest organized in all of Italy. One highlight of this festival is a pork sandwich cookoff. The festival was founded by Fernando Aurini who was seeking to attract tourists and to disseminate information about the town which once made up a portion of the holdings of the powerful Farnese family. In celebration of this event a practical tourist guide entitled "Campli" was published each year. The ''Sagra della porchetta italica'' was an immediate success with crowds of up to 10,000 people attending in the mid 1960s.

Main sights

* Museo Nazionale Archeologico (National Archeological Museum) - housed in the ancient 14th century Farnese palace * San Pietro (Church of Saint Peter): its walls contain

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

and

High Medieval The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 1500 ...

stone fragments *La Scala Santa (The Sacred Step), formed by 28 wooden steps which, if climbed on ones knees, bring absolution of sins by decree of

Pope Clement IV Pope Clement IV ( la, Clemens IV; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois ( la, Guido Falcodius; french: Guy de Foulques or ') and also known as Guy le Gros ( French for "Guy the Fat"; it, Guido il Grosso), was bishop of Le P ...

- Located behind Palazzo Farnese, next to the fourteenth-century Church of San Paolo, the Sanctuary of the Holy Staircase attracts thousands of devotees every year. The Sanctuary houses a Holy Staircase which in 1772 Pope Clement XIV granted the same indulgences of the famous Holy Staircase of Rome. Pope John Paul II extended the benefits granted in the 18th century to all Fridays of Lent. From a beautiful sixteenth-century portal worked with diamond points and coming from the convent of Sant'Onofrio, you enter the interior, where a staircase of twenty-eight steps of polished wood and smooth begins the ascent of the penitent, religiously kneeling. The staircase is completely surrounded by frescoes with motifs related to the Passion of Christ: while the ceiling is populated by images of angels carrying the symbols of the Passion, it is possible to admire on the right "Christ in the Garden of Olives", "The Flagellation" and "Christ Carrying the Cross" and on the left "The Capture", "Ecce homo", and the "Crucifixion". Some of them and the whole decoration of the ceiling are attributed to the painter from Teramo Vincenzo Baldati (1759 - 1825).

References

External links

Official websiteSecret World Travel Guides
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