Sulmona is a town full of fascinating sights, starting with the square crossed by the medieval aqueduct, surrounded by mountains.
From Caporciano you can get to Sulmona in about 40 minutes by car, along a convenient state highway, almost a superhighway that contours Capestrano and passes through Bussi sul Tirino or, if you like driving, going straight down from the Piana di Navelli (after Collepietro) to Popoli, driving the 14 km of mountain hairpin bends, the site of a famous automobile hill climb. Popoli an important center in the Middle Ages, whose charm it retains, is still worth a short visit.
Having arrived in Sulmona, the advice is a stroll along Corso Ovidio, dedicated to the Latin poet who is Sulmona’s most illustrious. The corso is lined with churches and palaces that give the image of a city with an illustrious past, since the Middle Ages. The most representative monument is the Annunziata Complex: the church, 18th-century, and the palace, Gothic-Renaissance, in which the Civic and Costume Museums are located.
Ancient is the tradition of goldsmithing, particularly filigree work, and confectionery, which is expressed in unique decorative compositions. Not to be missed is a visit to the Pelino factory, which has supplied the sugared almonds for all British royal weddings in recent decades, where there is an interesting historical sugared almond museum and the company’s factory outlet, with every quality of sugared almond and opportunity for tasting before purchase.
A few kilometers north of the town stands the Badia Morronese, a monastic complex founded in the 13th century by the future Pope Celestine V. For dinner, if it’s afternoon, you can choose between nearby Pacentro, with the well-known Taverna dei Caldora or, for a more refined dinner, go up to Fontecchio for the Costa di Maggio restaurant.
- Pelino Confetti (museum, store)
Via Stazione Introdacqua, 55, 67039 Sulmona AQ
Phone: 0864 210047 - Taverna de li Caldora
Piazza Umberto I°, 67030 Pacentro AQ
Phone: 0864 41139 - May Coast
Via del Rio, 67020 Fontecchio AQ
Phone: 345 305 0285
