Guardiagrele (; Abruzzese: ; la, Guardia Graelis) 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 Chieti The province of Chieti ( it, provincia di Chieti; Abruzzese: ') is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Chieti, which has a population of 50,770 inhabitants. The province has a total population of 387,649 ...

, part of 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 in the foothills of the

Maiella The Maiella (or Majella) is a massif in the Central Apennines, in Abruzzo, central Italy. Geography The mountain is located at the boundary between the provinces of Chieti, Pescara and L'Aquila. The highest peak is Monte Amaro at 2,793&nb ...

mountain at an elevation of around . Its population numbers about 10,000. Commenting on the views of the mountains and valleys of the Maiella visible from some points in the town, the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio nicknamed Guardiagrele ''la terrazza d'Abruzzo'' ("Abruzzo's terrace"). Guardiagrele is the seat of the Maiella National Park, and was part of the club

I Borghi più belli d'Italia I Borghi più belli d'Italia is an association of small Italian towns of historical interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the , with the aim of preserving and maintaining villages of quality herit ...

(The most beautiful village of Italy).

Main sights

Guardiagrele Santa Maria Maggiore Occidentale

The biggest church in Guardiagrele is Santa Maria Maggiore of which it has been written:I Borghi più belli d'Italia
/ref> In addition to Santa Maria Maggiore, there are several other churches and palazzi or mansions of various ages which are of architectural interest, including S. Nicola di Bari (founded in the 4th century), the convent of the Chapuchins (1599), Palazzo De Lucia (16th century), Palazzo Elisii (15th-18th century), the cloister of the Palazzo Comunale Piazza San Francesco (17th century) and Palazzo Marini (1391). Museums include: * Museo Civico (Civic Museum) * Museo del Costume e della Tradizione della Nostra Gente (Costume and Folk Museum) * Museo del Duomo ("Cathedral Museum"), in Santa Maria Maggiore * Museo Archeologico ("Archaeological Museum").

Culture

Known throughout

for its wrought-iron craft, copper craft and gold-work, Guardiagrele was the home of the great goldsmith and sculptor

Nicola da Guardiagrele Nicola da Guardiagrele (born Nicola Gallucci or Nicola di Andrea di Pasquale; c. 1385/1390Page aAbruzzo region official website – c. 1462) was an Italian late medieval goldsmith, painter and etcher. Biography Born at Guardiagrele, in what is n ...

, who was born there in the late 14th century. The patron saints of Guardiagrele are

Saint Donatus of Arezzo Saint Donatus of Arezzo ( it, San Donato di Arezzo) is the patron saint of Arezzo, and considered a bishop of the city. A ''Passio'' of Donatus' life was written by a bishop of Arezzo, Severinus; it is of questionable historicity. He calls Don ...

and

Saint Emidius Saint Emygdius (Latin: ''Emidius, Æmedius, Emigdius, Hemigidius''; it, Sant'Emidio; c. 279 – c. 309 AD) was a Christian bishop who is venerated as a martyr. Tradition states that he was killed during the persecution of Diocletian. Legend His ...

. Annually between the 6th and 8 August there is a festival celebrating these saints in which the effigy of Donatus is paraded around the streets of Guardiagrele. It is traditional to eat ''porchetta (oven or spit roasted suckling pig flavoured with pepper, rosemary, garlic and other seasonings)'' at this time. In the 11th century

Archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

Saint Nicholas the Greek led a group of monks fleeing the Saracens who had occupied

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. In 1338 his body was moved to Guardiagrele and interred in la Chiesa di San Francesco (14th century). His saint's day is celebrated on the third Sunday of May. The church preserved in its choirbooks the important Guardiagrele Codex, of polyphonic works by

Landini Landini may refer to * Landini (surname) **Francesco Landini *Landini (tractor) produced by the Italian company Landini SpA *Landini cadence, a technique in music composition named after composer Francesco Landini Francesco Landini ( or 1335 � ...

and anonymous composers.

People

* Morgan De Sanctis, footballer

References

External links

I Borghi più belli d'Italia - Entry on Guardiagrele

{{authority control Hilltowns in Abruzzo