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Hadria, between Atri and Castelli

HomeHadria, between Atri and Castelli

The ancient territory of Hadria included a large area that went from the slopes of Monte Gran Sasso to the shores of the Adriatic Sea. The ancient cities of Atri and Castelli arise in this territory and their history is deeply intertwined, thanks to the common historical vocation for art and craftsmanship and the annexation of the city of Castelli to the Duchy of Atri in the fifteenth century, as also demonstrates a fresco by Andrea De Litio in the parish church of San Rocco. Even today, in the capitular museum of Atri, we find splendid collections of ceramics from Castelli belonging to the Grue family, famous ceramists.

Atri is a picturesque historic town in the Abruzzo hills. In ancient times, the Ager Hatrianus extended north from the Tordino River, including the Vomano , and ended south to Saline river , where the Vestini territory began, while the western border coincided with the slopes of Gran Sasso .

It boasts incredible historical and artistic views ranging from the original mosaics of the Roman baths to a cycle of 15th-century frescoes by Andrea de Litio, inside the splendid Co-Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta dating back to 1300. The natural riches that Atri hosts are equally breathtaking: the splendid barren hills, the strategic position between the mountains and the sea and the uniqueness of the clayey landscape of the gullies – since 1995 protected by Calanchi di Atri nature reserve – are some of the reasons why it is also known as the queen of the hills.

Castelli is a town in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy, included in the area of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park.

The medieval hilltop village is located under the Monte Bandiera on the eastern side of the Gran Sasso massif. The fiefdom became famous in the 16th century thanks to its ceramic production. In this period the village, due to the earthquakes, was completely rebuilt with Baroque and Renaissance palaces.

Certainly, as evidenced by the archaeological findings, there was a system of scattered houses on the spot, which followed the events of the Pretuzi, and then the Romans. With the decline of Rome in the 5th century AD, the inhabitants of the valley gathered in fortified castra, called "Li Castelli", hence the current toponym, and were for centuries under the jurisdiction of the Benedictine abbey of San Salvatore, now disappeared , and which was located in the homonymous neighborhood. Thanks to the Benedictine presence in the Vomano valley, the inhabitants of the Castles would have begun to learn the techniques of working the local clay, which is found in quantity near the hollows of the hills above which the town rises. Soon the agro-pastoral society became entrepreneurial, knowing how to market clay products.

Even today, Castelli is renowned for its majolica, a form of decorative ceramics, which were collected by the European nobility for centuries and which were at their peak from the 16th to the 18th century and are still produced today by local artists. Castelli majolica was one of the favorite dishes of the Russian tsars. One of the most valuable collections of Castelli ceramics is now housed in the Winter Palace of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Today Castelli houses a prestigious art institute, a museum of ceramics and numerous ceramic workshops and workshops where the tradition of working with clay and castellana majolica is preserved and handed down.