Valle Castellana ( Ascolano: ') is a village 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 a member of the Italian community of surrounding mountain villages,

Monti della Laga Monti della Laga is a mountain range in the central Apennines of Italy. Their ruggedness and inaccessibility makes them one of the lesser known areas of the Italian peninsula. Geography The mountains run for a length of about between the Italia ...

. 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 ''comune'' takes its name from the Castellana River, which travels north towards

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city has more than 93,000. Geo ...

in the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

region. From here it joins the

Tronto River The Tronto ( la, Truentus) is a long Italian river that arises at Monti della Laga and ends in the Adriatic Sea at Porto d'Ascoli, San Benedetto del Tronto. It traverses the Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo regions of Italy. The source of the Tronto i ...

before eventually leading out to the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. The ''comune'' is bordered by

Accumoli Accumoli is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Lazio, located about northeast of Rome and about northeast of Rieti. It is located in the natural park known as the "Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Par ...

Acquasanta Terme Acquasanta Terme ( la, Ad Aquas) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about south of Ancona and about southwest of Ascoli Piceno. It is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga ...

Amatrice Amatrice (; Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rieti, in northern Lazio (central Italy), and the center of the food-agricultural area of Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. The town was devastated by a powerful earth ...

Arquata del Tronto Arquata del Tronto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region of Italy, located about from Ancona. It is the only European municipality located partly within two natural parks: Gran Sasso national park and ...

, Ascoli Piceno,

Campli Campli ( Abruzzese: ') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is located in the natural park known as the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. Geography The towns of Bellante, Civit ...

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 ...

Rocca Santa Maria Rocca Santa Maria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo, eastern Italy. It is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. The municipal seat is in the ''frazione'' of Imposte. See also * Martese *Serra (Rocca ...

, Torricella Sicura.

History

Some literary scholars have put forth the hypothesis that the Castellano River is the same "fiume Verde" (Verde River) where

Manfred of Sicily Manfred ( scn, Manfredi di Sicilia; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over th ...

is claimed to have been buried in the

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

. The Castellana River basin, along with the

Montagna dei Fiori {{Infobox mountain , name = Montagna dei Fiori , photo = , photo_caption = View of Monte Girella, the top of the Montagna dei Fiori group , elevation_m = 1,814 , elevation_ref = , prominence = , map = Italy , map_caption = Location in ...

formed the northernmost portion of 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 ...

Notes and references

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