Abbazia di Sano Spirito al Morrone and Village of Prezza

This morning is the first full day of our Abruzzi adventure and woke up early to watch the sunrise on the mountains from our hotel room!

Our day began with a lecture at the hotel with a story of Pietro del Morrone, a hermit monk who became Pope Celestino V. Interestingly, he abdicated after only 5 months being the first pope to do so and only one until 2013 when Pope Benedict XVI abdicated as well. https://popehistory.com/popes/pope-st-celestine-v/ The lecture was well presented and the Vatican politics reigned! Pope Celestino was elected Pope after the papacy had been vacant for 2 years due to two feuding families who each wanted one of their sons to be named pope. They thought Celestino would be easy to manage and would likely die off since he was already 79 when elected. But, he turned out to be a bit of a maverick being crowned Pope in L'Aquila, Abruzzo instead of the Vatican. It isn't officially clear whether he abdicated on his own free will OR that he was forced out. But, it does all seem quite suspicious that shortly after his abdication he was arrested and put in prison by one of the two families and their son became Celestion's successor! Oh, the Vatican intrigue!

We then took the bus to the 13th century Abbazia di Santo Spirito al Morrone.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_the_Holy_Spirit_at_Monte_Morrone,_Sulmona. This was the abbey that Pope Celestino had built when living as a hermit in the mountains of Abruzzo. He is also credited for establishing the Celestine order which no longer exists. Here are a few photos from the Abbazia that served as a monastery until Napoleon closed all monasteries and transformed it into a prison until 1993. It was heavily damaged in the 2009 earthquake and continues to be renovated.

After a tour of the Abbey we drove on to visit Prezza, a small village of less than 1,000 inhabitants where we will had lunch and looked for the WWI war memorial with Rob's grandfather Giovannucci name engraved and the street named after him! Our Prezza guide was able to point out Roberto's grandfather's house. The waitstaff at the restaurant got word out of their visit and were able to locate and introduce a 1st cousin! Here are some photos of the central square in Prezza with Giovannuci Via prominently displayed as well as the WWI memorial with his surname clearly listed as well as a few of the countryside and valley below.

Valley below Prezza

We returned to Sulmona and embarked on a walking tour of the city followed by dinner. A photograph of an old Roman Aquaduct with a view of the Apennines from the city. Also several photos of Sulmona Confetti and no, they are not fresh flowers! Sulmona is well know for these confections of sugar coated almonds that they sell by the bag or in one of the many flowers that they create from them. I originally thought confetti would be a great small gift to bring home for friends until I was offered a free sample of one when that changed my mind! Just a stale almond covered by 1/4 inch of hardened sugar! No thank you!

Dinner was quite good and much lighter which most of us appreciated. A starter of vegetables (escarole, green beans, and cabbage) followed by fish and roasted potatoes. A short walk back to our hotel and bedtime before another day in Abruzzo.

https://it.tripadvisor.ch/Restaurant_Review-g194928-d26057775-Reviews-or15-La_Corte_Del_Bonton-Sulmona_Province_of_L_Aquila_Abruzzo.html