Excursions in the Abruzzi and Northern Provinces of Naples

Chapter I

Set out for Caserta. — Royal Palace of Sto. Leucio. — The Voltorno. — Roman Remains. — Calatia. — Piedimonte. — Gaetano Family. — Villages of Castello and S. Gregorio. — Lake of the Matese. — Town of Alife. — Manufactures of Piedimonte. — Village of St. Angelo. — La Pietra. 1 1

Chapter II

Road from Capua. — Calvi. — Notices of the ancient Town. — Teano and its Antiquities. — Marino Marzano, Duke of Sessa. — San Germano. — Remains and Architecture of the old City. — Varro's Villa. — High Character of the Convent. — The Church. — Abode of St. Benedict. — Decline of the Establishment. . .... 26

Chapter III

Lago di Carea. — Road to Atina. — Early history of the Town. Beauty of its Women. — Road to Mola di Gaeta. — Village of Pignataro. — Fishing town of Sperlonga. — Birth place of Juvenal.— Ruins of Aquinum. — Ponte Corvo.— Town of Rocca Secca.— Town of Isola.— Castle of the Dukes ofSora. .-■ ... VI CONTENTS.

Chapter IV

Departure from Isola. — Scenery of the Liris. — Feudal tenure of Isola. — Cicero's Villa. —The River Fibrenus. — Town of Arpino.— Convent at Veroli. — Town of Sora. — Mountain Cascades. — Civita D'Antina — Its antiquity. Source of the Liris. — History of the Fucine Lake — Gladia torial Spectacle. — Scene of Corradino's defeat. — View from Mount Salviano ..... 96

Chapter V

Town and Vicinity of Avezzano. — Remains of Alba Fu censis. — Church of Alba. — Origin and Territory of the Marsi. — Snake Charmers. — Dimensions and Water of the Fucine Lake — Temperature of the Vicinity. — History of Celano. — Lake Boats. — Excursion on the Fucine Lake. — Village of Luco. — Reputed Site of Angitia. — Village of Trasacco. — The ancient Archippe. — Probable Site of Maruvium. — Cor radino and Charles of Anjou. — Conduct of Clement IV. — Alard de St. Valery. — Rout of Corradino's Army. — Church and Monastery to commemorate the Victory. — Town of Ta gliacozzo.—Course of the Imele. . . . 139

Chapter VI

Phlegmatic Character of the Inhabitants of Abruzzo. — Otra di Verecchie. — Village of Cappadocia. — Sources and Course of the Liris. — District of Cicolano. — Return to Avezzano. — Castle of Celano. — Church of Valle Verde. Rocca di Mezzo. — Monte Corno. — Ruins of Castle of Ocra. — City and Inhabitants of Aquila. . . CONTENTS. VII

Chapter VII

Village of Prettura. — Remains of ancient Baths on the Banks of the Velino. — Curious Narrative. — Birth-place of Vespasian. — District of Tornimparte. — Antiquities of Alzana. — Antiquities at Pace. — Amiable qualities of my Hosts. — Beverage and Produce of the Country. — Murder of the Count Cenci. — Cattle-paths to Aquila. — Melancholy March of the Abruzzese Shepherds. — Laws for depasturing Cattle. — De crease of the Flocks. — Town of Capistrano. . 224

Chapter VIII

Popoli. — The river Aterno. — Family of Cantelmo. — Tocco. — Monastery of San Clemente at Casauria. — Mountain ranges. — Pescara. — The ancient Aternum. — Victoria Colon na. — Death of Sforza. — Ortona. — The Gran Sasso. — The Salino. — Atri. — Teramo. — Antonio Campano. — D. Melchior Delfico and his nephew. — Ascent of the Gran Sasso. — Valle Siciliana. — Castelli. — The Republic of Senarica. . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Vol. I. St. Germano (p. 40.) .... frontispiece. Vol. II. Solmona (p. 14.) ..... frontispiece. Lago di Scanno . , . . . p. 41 Castle of Melfi EXCURSIONS IN THE ABRUZZI.

Chapter I

Set out for Caserta — Royal Palace of Sto. Leucio. — The Voltorno Roman Remains. — Calatia. — Piedimonte. Gaetano Family. — Villages of Castello and S. Gregorio. — Lake of the Matise. — Town of Alife. — Manufactures of Piedimonte — Village of St. Angelo La Pietra. There is perhaps no occupation which, in the maturer, not to call them declining, days of human existence, so entirely carries back the mind to the sensations and enjoyments of an earlier period, as the act of exploring for the first time a beautiful and interesting tract of country. Whether the succession of pictu resque and varied landscapes which arrests a traveller's attention assumes the vague but bril liant tints that colour the yet untrodden paths VOL. I. B SET OUT FROM CASERTA. of life, or whether the investigation of new regions is pursued with the same eager security which marks the more adventurous pursuits of youth, it is not here attempted to determine ; but, in the hope that the majority of his readers may in a greater or less degree have experi enced the same feeling, the Author trusts they Avill not consider as exaggerated the pleasurable excitement produced by the opening of his journey, in a ride from Caserta to Cajazzo, during the fresh hours of a spring morning in one of the finest of European climates.

The course I followed was that of the valley extending between the Tifatian mountains cir cumscribing the plain of Naples behind Capua, and the more distant range which, rising be yond the Voltorno, is known (under the name of Matese) as one of the highest among the southern Apennines. On quitting Caserta, a spot too well known to require description, and Avhere I had passed the preceding night, I skirted the park-wall surrounding the whole of the royal domain: and, after passing under the arch or gallery through which the carriage-road is conducted beneath ROYAL PALACE OF STO. LEUCIO. 3 the entire breadth of the pleasure-grounds and the stream flowing from the cascade, I soon reached the little palace of Belvedere, better known by the name of St0 Leucio, where the luxuries of a royal residence are, singularly enough, blended with the labours of a silk manufactory.

The situation, however, as well as the temperature it enjoys, is infinitely preferable to that of Caserta, and it may rank as the most de sirable among the many country-seats possess ed by the sovereign of these realms. The finely-shaped hill rising behind it is en tirely covered with a forest of evergreens, and walled round in its whole circumference to preserve from exterior depredation the game of all kinds which it contains. The road is carried along a steep acclivity, between the park-wall and a deep ravine, through a pass sufficiently tortuous to conceal its course from the plain. This defile, as wild as it is beautiful, divides the mountains Tifati and Callicola : the former presents a bare and not extensive range, which rises below the valley of Cajazzo, and severs its b THE VOLTORNO.

Avestern extremity from the plains of Capua and Calvi ; the latter consists of an equally limited ridge of hills stretching behind Caserta as far as Madaloni. The abrupt descent, known by the name of Gradillo, which follows, brings the traveller somewhat unexpectedly to the edge of a plain, or rather vale, of considerable extent ; and, shortly after, turning to the right, he reaches the brink of the river Voltorno, which is seen me andering from the foot of the hill on which the town of Cajazzo stands, at the distance of about six miles, through the whole of this flat. By turning to the left on quitting the defile of S'° Leucio, and keeping along the bank of the river, one may go to Sta Maria di Capua by a good carriage-road, which, skirting the base of the Tifatian mountain to the spot where it sinks into the plain, and winding round its roots, leads to that town, the unworthy successor of the far-famed capital of Campania.

The site of the ancient city preserves never theless many respectable vestiges of its former splendour, among which the noted Campanian amphitheatre holds a justly distinguished rank. ROMAN REMAINS. — TR1FLISCO. 5 Another line of communication Avith the Roman road, and one little known even to the natives, may be found by crossing the Voltorno at a ferry called di Formicola (from a cluster of small villages so named), and joining the track which leads from Cajazzo to the modern Capua along the right bank of the river : this enters the main road about half-a-mile beyond the last-mentioned city, thereby avoiding the ne cessity of a passage through it. Some remains of ancient buildings are visible in this district, more particularly two brick arches of a Roman bridge, on the left shore of the stream opposite a ferry ; and here, also, are a few houses, scarcely deserving the name of a village, which it nevertheless bears, as Triflisco.

This was one of the three bridges mentioned as existing over the Voltorno in Roman times, of which one only, that at the modern Capua, anciently Casilinum, is now extant. Triflisco consists of several mills, erected along the short course of some sulphureous streams rising at the foot of a rock a few hun dred yards from the river itself, which has here forced its way through a very narrow cleft in FERRY DI CAJAZZO. the hills, leaving space only for a road on either side. The clearness and rapidity of these rills, the fine trees that shade them, and the peculiar style of the buildings, combine in giving much picturesque effect to this spot. A town called Sicopolis, built by the Lom bards in honour of one of their princes, but shortly afterwards destroyed by fire, is said to have existed on the site of Triflisco.

But, to return to my own line of progress : The Voltorno is crossed at another ferry, called di Cajazzo, where many excellent springs gushing from the rocks mingle with the water of the river, which, as in the days of Virgil and Horace, rolls a turbid stream in a deep and sandy bed. Beyond it is a substantial building, now a tavern, but originally erected for the purpose of a royal relay or station, when this road was first planned and made for the sole purpose of open ing a convenient communication between Ca serta and the numerous chaces or preserves which then existed in the vicinity, both on this and the other side of Cajazzo. VALE OF THE VOLTORNO. 7 These are no longer in being ; but the road has been kept up, and even extended far be yond its original limits, for the use and advantage of several contiguous towns.

The vale of the Voltorno offers more interest to the agriculturist than to the painter ; its sur face being almost entirely cultivated with wheat and maize, and intersected by deep ditches for the purpose of draining and irrigation. Of trees, or any other vegetation than the above, it is entirely devoid : the northern range of hills that bound the plain is, however, clothed with olives ; while the windings of the river, and the very striking position of Cajazzo, give it a par ticular character and originality of feature. The ascent to this last place, which is long and somewhat tedious, was shaded by trees of northern growth (among which the thorn and oak predominate), furnished at this season with additional attractions by a multitude of night ingales in full song. Two towns bearing the appellation of Calatia stand within no very great distance of each other, and they have so frequently been men tioned by ancient authors that they might easily CALATIA.— ANCIENT CISTERN. 8 have been confounded, had not the epithet transvulturnensis marked their respective positions with indisputable precision : the site of the other, which stood in Campania, has been recognised by antiquaries at a place called Le Galazze, near Madaloni ; while this city, which ranked higher in size and importance, belonged to one of the divisions of the Samnite domains.

Some interesting remains of its former gran deur still exist in the line of polygonal walls easily to be traced in unequal degrees of pre servation round the whole circuit of the mo dern town, which, with its adjacent Casali, boasts of about five thousand inhabitants. The interior offers little that is remarkable in its more recent constructions ; but several in scriptions are collected in the market-place, and it moreover contains an antique structure worth notice, in the form of a large subterranean cistern, divided in two portions, which to this day furnishes the natives with the only supply of water they possess. When at the close of every autumnal season this reservoir is cleaned out, the names of the duumviri who repaired it, and furnished its VIEWS FROM THE CASTLE. 9 apertures with the marble parapets that still surround them, become visible on the tablet on which they are inscribed beloAv the ordinary level of the water.

From each front of the baronial castle, which, as was customary in feudal times, occupies the highest position in the town, and belongs to the Florentine family of Corsi, an extensive and beautiful view of the surrounding country is enjoyed. Two of these, in a diametrically opposite di rection to each other, display the devious wind ings of the same river ; for the Voltorno, always remarkable for the sinuosity of course which, according to some authors, gave it the name it bears, after running in a south-east line from the plain of Venafro to the hills of Cajazzo, takes a sudden sweep all round their base, and then flows nearly due west towards Capua, the cupolas and bastions of which show themselves through the narrow gap that admits the stream from one plain to another. Looking to the east, the prospect is not less interesting, with the addition of the Calore is suing from the valley of Benevento, where it ATTRACTIVE LANDSCAPE. 10 has received the Sabato.

Its Avaters are then united to those of the Voltorno, under the finely-shaped and darkly-wooded mountain Taburnus, near the little town of Solipaca; which place, in the distance, together with Limatola, and Sant' Agata de' Goti, form strik ing features in the picture. To the north, however, a still more at tractive landscape is unfolded, in which the Voltorno continues to hold the foremost sta tion : it runs through a valley of longer extent than that of Cajazzo, embellished by all that gives animation and variety to a rural prospect : bold crags croAvned with thick woods, 01 sink ing into softly undulated knolls, — large portions of forest scenery through which villages and ruined towers show themselves in the happiest positions, — green meads, and the richest vege tation gracing the immediate banks of the river, — and, lastly, the snow-capped peaks of Matese rising majestically above the town of Piedimonte, — form a succession of objects over which, when illumined by the peculiar tints of a southern atmosphere, the traveller's eye can long wander with renewed pleasure.

SCENE OF BRITISH CHARACTER. 11 While my horses baited at Cajazzo, I break fasted on an excellent costata arrostita, Anglice a beef-steak, and a pint of asprinia, a very light white wine resembling weak Rhenish ; and then resumed my way through a series of scenery stamped with a character as British as that of the dish of which I had eaten. Inclosures of quick hedges, with elms and oaks springing from their verdant lines, — numerous brooks trickling along the road-side, from which narrow green lanes frequently emerged, leading to adjacent villages, — created an illusion which was only destroyed by the appearance of vines trailing over mulberry-trees. The road is al most one continued, but not very steep, descent of about eight miles to the edge of the Voltorno, running under a bank clothed with thickets in which much charcoal is made.

The stream is here as much reduced in breadth as it is improved in colour and trans parency ; so much so, indeed, as to render the existence of the ferry-boat established at this spot only indispensable in the winter months. The distance of about four miles more, through a comparatively bare, but not unfertile, tract PIEDIMONTE. of land, brings one to Piedimonte, a mile be fore which a road to the left leads to Alife, the ancient Alifœ, situated in a swampy and con sequently unhealthy holloAv, while the former toAvn, placed on a much higher level on the lower declivities of the Matese, enjoys a more salubrious air. I had heard so much of the beauty of Piedi monte, that at first, as it usually happens, I was someAvhat disappointed ; for its aspect, though in some degree striking, was deficient in the general picturesque effect I had anticipated ; but a closer investigation of its interior loca lities convinced me that the sketches they had furnished to artists were not exaggerated.

Piedimonte is a town of no antiquity, and has risen but of late years into importance and population, in consequence of the numerous manufactures of various kinds which an abun dant supply of water has afforded the means of establishing. It is composed of two divisions, one of which, from the comparative low ness of its situation, is denominated La Vallata ; the joint amount of the inhabitants is estimated at ten thousand, Avhose industrious appearance, ITS INHABITANTS. — HOUSES. 13 clean and substantial attire, and extremely courteous manner, create on a first impression a strong prepossession in their favour. The streets are wide, though neither regular nor well paved, but they contain many good houses; among which must be ranked as a palace that of the Duke of Laurenzana, formerly the feudal possessor of Piedimonte, and to this day proprietor of its title, together with a large portion of territory within and round the town.

This mansion, in a centrical and elevated, but not very accessible position, is built and laid out very much after the fashion of the Roman villas of the seventeenth century, (the probable date of its construction,) when the prevailing taste was displayed more in the interior ornaments and distribution than in the form of external architecture which is observable in the buildings of an earlier period. Here, large vaulted apartments with appropriate paintings in fresco, opening to a pensile garden com manding a fine view of the plain, and laid out in terraces beautified by orange and lemon trees in espaliers, appear to render it peculiarly DUKE OF LAURENZANA'S PALACE. adapted for a summer residence, while nume rous fountains in the formal, though puerile, style of the age, corroborate that character; but few Neapolitans that can afford it choose that season for a villegiatura, preferring, and not unfrequently with reason, the spring and autumn.

There is likewise a theatre attached to this palace, and a hall or gallery of more than ordinary dimensions, which is now used as a ves tibule of entrance, and which is filled with a chronological series of all the feudal lords of the Gaetano family ever since the year 800, — the period to which the foundation of their lineage from a Duke of Gaeta is referred. A less remote, but at the same time better authenticated, genealogy may justly be granted to them, as descendants of the family of Pope Boniface VIII, in the very beginning of the fourteenth century, when they undoubtedly were rich and powerful in the vicinity of the city of Anagni : that pontiff's violent and haughty disposition, his altercations with Phi lip the Fair of France, and, above all, his ex traordinary downfall and death, render his cha- THE GAETANO FAMILY. 15 racter one of the most remarkable of that æra ; since which, the family, divided into several branches, have held distinguished rank both in the Roman and Neapolitan domains.

The election of the anti-Pope Clement VII, from which originated, in the year 1378, the deplorable schism which afflicted the Roman church for so long a space of time, may be con sidered as entirely due to the intrigues and influence of a nobleman of this race ; Onorato Gaetano received the disaffected cardinals in the town of Fondi, of which he was feudal possessor, and so successfully protected them from all external interference, that they were enabled to proceed to the nomination of the pontiff they meant to oppose to Urban VI, whose violent and overbearing conduct had disgusted the greater portion of the sacred college. The Dukes of Sermoneta, of the same name, are still extensive landed proprietors in the papal states ; and it was from this branch that Charles III. purchased the feudal rights and territory of Caserta, which conferred upon it the title of prince.

The present flourishing condition of Piedi- SOURCE OF THE TORANO. monte is attributable to the abundance and poAver of the river Torano, which, rising im mediately behind it on a much higher level, is susceptible of being easily subdivided, and conducted through all parts of the town, so as to act on the machinery of a variety of manufactories, and keep them in constant activity. The source of this stream presents by far the most curious spectacle of which the place can boast. It springs about half a mile from the last habitations of the town, which, placed on either side of a narrow opening in the rocks, gradually become less frequent as the ravine contracts, till at last it only leaves space for the course of the river, and a path which leads to its origin, at the foot of the precipitous mass of rocks which form the substruction of the Matese.

Here the Torano gushes from under a very low natural arch ; and after forming a pool of the most limpid purity, surrounding a little island shaded by fine poplars, it dashes away between the lateral rocks overhung with rich vegetation and wild flowers, with all the im petuosity of a true northern stream. FERTILITY OF PIEDIMONTE. 17 Another and less copious brook, thence called Torano Piccolo, rises about a mile distant, in the lower region, denominated Vallata, and, after likewise giving motion to several wheels, directs a portion of its supplies towards the town of Alife, while the remainder is united with the larger stream, which, thus enriched, is again reduced, divided, and conducted into the subjacent plain for the purposes of irrigation, after which it finally discharges itself into the Voltorno.

The advantages derived from a favourable exposition and climate, thus assisted by the most efficient means of fertilization, render the territory of Piedimonte abundantly productive of every esculent vegetable, mostly excellent in its kind : among these, however, the fruit and wine claim pre-eminence ; the latter, par ticularly, is held in high estimation, being strong-bodied and well-flavoured, but perhaps a little too sweet to please a northern palate. On one of the hills that overhang the ravine of the Torano, a convent, called S. Pasquale, is placed in a very romantic and sequestered position, a tedious and fatiguing journey to vol. i. c VILLAGES OF CASTELLO which is amply compensated by the magnificent prospect which it enjoys. On the other side, at a less degree of eleva tion, stands a village, reckoned one of the di visions of the town itself, and distinguished by the name of Castello : through this is conduct ed the road, or rather path, leading over the Matese into the adjoining province of Molise, which is practicable for mules, and much frequented in the summer season, as affording the shortest line of communication with that dis trict, and its capital Campobasso.

I followed this track rather beyond half the distance to the highest peak, which is called Monte Miletto, for the purpose of visiting a lake from which tradition says that the Torano's stream is supplied through subterraneous chan nels. Besides the above-mentioned village of Cas tello, the way lies through another, named S. Gregorio, the aspect and position of Avhich threw a chill over even the temperature of May, notAvithstanding some good vineyards that grow beneath it; and the only remarkable object within its precincts is a handsome mansion of AND S. GREGORIO. 19 good architecture, recently built by the richest proprietor of the place, who has a large family of daughters grown up, not one of whom had ever gone a quarter of a mile from their birth place. Beyond this all cultivation ceases, and no symptoms of vegetation are apparent, except a feAv stunted sloe-bushes, and the puny weeds that grow in the crevices of the rocks ; but on reaching a steep ridge, and looking over into the dell which opens beneath, a different scene discloses itself in the prospect of the lake, sur rounded by thick forests of beech clothing all the encircling hills.

Though the upper half of the mountain was still covered with the winter snow, which ren dered it impassable, the lake had nearly attained its highest level ; and in that state I should reckon it to be about two miles in length, and about one and a half in its widest part, with a woody islet in the centre. It has a broad margin of marshy soil on the north side, which is sown with oats, and a narrower border of pasturage extends all round the shore, literally enamelled, at the period of my visit, with heartsease and anemones. c LAKE OF THE MATESE. The extremities of the basin containing the lake join other dells and Alpine valleys, which afford fresh and abundant pasture to the cattle after the month of June ; the huts of the shepherds, and the extensive sheds for the animals, were therefore as yet unoccupied ; but these Avild recesses were occasionally enlivened by the passage of numerous groups of peasants of both sexes, clad in their best attire, returning from the celebration of the jubilee at Monte Casino.

The lake of the Matese, like most similar reservoirs in mountainous districts, is supposed to be fathomless in its centre, where native traditions have moreover placed an abyss or whirlpool, through which its waters are said to find their way to the Torano ; the fact ad mits of much discussion, but its probability rests in some measure on the circumstance of the entrance of several streams into the pool, without any visible outlet. Its only produce consists of tench, the right of fishery being shared between the toAvnship of Piedimonte and the Duke of Laurenzana, and farmed an nually for the very moderate sum of eighty ducats. TOWN OF ALIFE. 21 The toAvn of Alife is situated about three miles from Piedimonte, nearer the centre of the valley, and the Voltorno, which runs through it. The vicinity of this river, and other streams that surround it in all directions, render the at mosphere so unhealthy during a great portion of the year, as to have reduced it to the lowest state of depopulation and misery : from the rank of a very considerable toAvn, which it held under the Roman empire, and even to a later period of the middle ages, it has fallen to the most abject condition of any among those that still bear the name, and claim the privileges, of a city.

It still covers a considerable extent of ground, being surrounded by its ancient walls, well pre served in many parts : it exhibits, besides these, numerous vestiges of antiquity, such as an am phitheatre, baths, and several portions of large edifices ; while votive altars, fragments of sculpture, and a great number of inscriptions, have been discovered at different times, and are still scattered along its untenanted streets. It is moreover the seat of episcopal dignity, though its occupant, together with most of the MANUFACTURES OF PIEDIMONTE. accompanying clergy, resides at Piedimonte, from whence it is easy for them to attend to the discharge of their functions in the cathe dral, seminary, and other ecclesiastical esta blishments, which continue to exist within its circuit. The first time I visited Piedimonte (in 1824), I was most hospitably received by the proprietor of the largest of all the manufactories in the town : this gentleman, a Swiss by birth, has long resided there, and by his industry and perseverance brought his establishment to a scale of perfection which does him great credit ; and in consequence of that, and the advantages it confers upon the population at large, he is much respected.

It is to be la mented that the difficulty of effecting general and continued sales of the finer articles in cotton and linen, which his ingenuity and capa city fully enable him to produce, limits the result of his labours to objects of a more homely, though as useful, quality. I have frequently since that period visited this spot, and always with interest and satis faction ; but have merely made it a resting place between Caserta and the residence of VILLAGE OF ST. ANGELO. some friends at a village called St. Angelo, five miles farther to the westward on the pro longation of the roots of the Matese : the road to this place is carried from Alife along the side of those slopes, gradually ascending through an open forest of fine oaks grow ing above portions of corn-land. This hilly district is less populous than that extending on the left of Piedimonte along the curves of the mountain Avhich accompany those of the Voltorno, and is perhaps less beautiful in its details ; but the village of St. An gelo, from its elevated situation at nearly the extremity of the valley, not only commands a much greater expanse of prospect, but reaches into the rich and varied country round the town of Teano, and only terminates with the sea itself, which with the rock of Mondra gone, the ancient Mount Massicus, completes the view in the happiest manner.

This village, which the kindness of the above-mentioned friends has induced me to visit several times, contains not more than one thousand inhabitants, and is remarkable for the number of those whose easy circum- LA PIETRA. stances enable them to reside there in a state nearly amounting to affluence. Except this particularity, and its cheerful and healthy position, St. Angelo boasts of no thing worth notice ; it is distinguished from the multitude of other places (always in mountainous positions) bearing the same name, by the adjunct of Raviscanina, which is that of another village, about a mile farther up the hill to the north-west. A bad road leads doAvn to a ferry on the Voltorno ; and, after crossing it, to the large village of Pietra Vairana, placed on an iso lated eminence that appears detached from the mass of the Matese by the river which flows between them.