Sulmona

Piazza Garibaldi di Sulmona (visit of Pope - 4 July 2010 in Sulmona)

The origins of Sulmona loose themselves in the legend: Ovidio narrates that it was founded by Solimo, companion of Enea escaping from Troia. It was the poet who was born in Sulmona in 43 B.C., and after the literary glory, in imperial Rome was exiled by August at Tomi (presently the Romanian city of Costanza), where he died never forgetting his dear yet lost city: Sulmo mihi patria est.
Sulmona, the city of popes Celestino V and Innocenzo VII, has always been a city of art and culture, crucial junction between Rome, Naples and southern Italy.
Well-known for its confetti and red garlic, as well as for some celebrated religious manifestations (the Madonna that runs in the piazza), and for other cultural events (Medieval Jousting Tournament, SulmonaCinema), Sulmona is located in the Conca Peligna, at the centre of 3 national parks of Abruzzo (Abruzzo, Gran Sasso and Maiella), and is not far from the ocean (about 60km)
From Sulmona it is easy to reach the Roccaraso and Scanno ski slopes, as well as all the towns in the Valle Peligna, many are part of the club Borghi Più Belli d’Italia. (Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages)
Ovidio’s city is full of monuments, buildings, churches and museums and is very appreciated by the numerous tourists that visit it each year that are impressed by its ancient feel and from the more modern technology like the free wi-fi connection available in the historic centre.