Description

Known as the “Apple Town”, Ortona dei Marsi is a hamlet loved by the Marsican bear and sport enthusiasts. Located inside the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise, it is cut in half by the Giovenco River and is characterized by a series of small alleys.

In ancient times, Ortona were famous for the presence of the Milonia fortification, then destroyed during the third Samnite war. We have to wait until 1100 AD to find new traces of Ortona, when it was mentioned in some letters by Pope Pasquale II and later Pope Clemente III. Under the count Rainaldo di Celano, the town partaken to the Battle of Tagliacozzo. All the properties that once belonged to the d’Aragona were handed to the Cantelmo family, and later to the Fibbioni family, from L’Aquila.

The 1915 earthquake caused several damages to the town, but not to the monastery of San Giovanni Battista, the church of Sant’Onofrio e and the feudal tower near the remains of the castle.

If you like outdoor sports, you have to take a stroll inside the national park and then take part to the yearly celebration of apples and honey.