Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th October return, for the eleventh edition, the Fai Autumn Daysthe great square event that the Fai – Fund for the Italian Environment ETS dedicates every year, in autumn, to the cultural and landscape heritage of our country, with the participation of all the Delegations, the FAI Youth Groups, the FAI Groups and the FAI Groups as a bridge between widespread and active cultures throughout Italy.
The Delegates and Volunteers of the Fai Delegation of Vasto, together with the municipal administration, this year present the FAI Days to the general public, the village of Monteodorisio. There are five routes proposed and many doors that will open on the occasion of this important national event, which will allow you to tell the art, history, traditions and to reveal new and unknown aspects of the cultural heritage of the village. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in the itineraries: the fortified village of Monteodorisio: defensive structures and unpublished discoveries; the cult of the Madonna delle Grazie: history, art and spirituality; Monteodorisio in the 19th century: the ancient residences tell a story; the church of San Giovanni Battista; the fortified village of Monteodorisio: the Castle.
The routes, which all wind through the town, starting from Piazza Madonna delle Grazie, Largo Palazzo and Piazza Umberto I, will be accompanied by the special event, Widespread Exhibition of Contemporary Art “Inclusions”, curated by the artists Ettore Altieri, Antonio D’Annunzio, Antonio Di Campli, Carla Di Pardo, Paolo Dongu, Claudio Gaspari, Davide Scutece and Giorgia Tiberio, whose works, in an ideal combination of ancient and modern, will be exhibited and offered to the admiration of visitors along the path of the ancient residences and inside the castle. The FAI Autumn Days take place as part of the fundraising campaign “Let’s remember to save Italy” that the FAI organizes in October and are part of the occasional public fundraising initiatives. Participants will be suggested a non-compulsory contribution starting from 3 euros, which will support the Foundation’s mission of care and protection of the Italian cultural heritage. Those who wish can further support the FAI with higher contributions or with the annual registration, which can be subscribed online or in the square during the event. Reservations are not required to participate and FAI members or those who register during the Days, in the square or online, will have priority in each path. For more details: https://fondoambiente.it/il-fai/grandi-campagne/days-fai-autunno/i-luoghi-aperti/?search=Monteodorisio.
All the itineraries of the Fai days in Monteodorisio.
The fortified village of Monteodorisio: defensive structures and unpublished discoveries.
Departures every hour, starting at 10, from piazza Madonna delle Grazie; last departure at 6pm.
Between viewing panoramic views and listening to the captivating narration of the narrators, the walk will lead to the discovery of the medieval fortifications that once surrounded and protected the enchanted village, until reaching the center of the ancient village. The companions will focus the attention of those present on the surviving structures that had the function of defense and control, highlighting the structural differences related to the different eras of construction of the same. The path ends with exclusive access to a private property, exceptionally open to the public on the occasion of the FAI Days. In via Roma, at the headquarters of the Circolo Fermenti, the group will be welcomed by the owner, Davide Cruciata, and by the associates. Here you will have the opportunity to admire the unpublished discoveries that the place holds and to hear the story about the possible functions of these ancient underground artifacts, attributable to the first phase of construction of the castle: grain pits, used for the conservation of wheat, barley, broad beans and / or an ancient oil mill.
The cult of the Madonna delle Grazie: history, art and spirituality.
Visits every hour, starting at 10:30; last visit at 6.30pm.
Visitors’ attention will be focused on some artistic and spiritual aspects that give this religious building and the Marian cult uniqueness. First, the decoration of the interior in the Art Nouveau style. The patrons of the sanctuary, in fact, made a considerably audacious choice at that time, in accepting the proposal of the artist, Gaetano D’Agostino, to use a pictorial lexicon considered profane by the ecclesiastical authorities and even forbidden in churches.
It was a real ethical and yet legal transgression, since the church of the Madonna delle Grazie in those years was a municipal church and was not subject to ecclesiastical authority. Currently, the pictorial work left as a legacy to the community of Monteodorisio and to all those who can enjoy its beauty, represents a unique example of Art Nouveau art inside a church, as well as having a great artistic value, both for its breadth than for refinement. Another aspect that will be highlighted during the visit is the conspicuous presence of ex voto, which testifies to the great devotion to the Madonna delle Grazie, to which over the centuries many pilgrims have turned to ask for help and support and many have returned. to thank you, leaving a sign in memory of the grace received. The spread of the cult of the Madonna delle Grazie di Monteodorisio was particularly encouraged and spread by the presence of the “Lanciano-Cupello” trattural path, along which the sacred building represented a safe refuge for the many patrons, for relief from the physical fatigue of the journey and to obtain comfort and protection. In the rich patrimony of ex voto kept in the church, the votive tablets undoubtedly stand out, made at the turn of the 1800s and early 1900s, on a wooden or tin support, which represent a heritage of inestimable historical, cultural and demo-ethno-anthropological value.
Monteodorisio in the 19th century: the ancient residences tell.
Departures every hour, starting at 9:30 am, from Largo Palazzo; last departure at 18:30.
This is the “Open Doors” path par excellence, to discover ancient residences that have never before been open to the public. It will allow you to learn about the events of the families who lived there in the 19th century, which in turn have outlined the more recent history of the village. The families that more than others mark the history of Monteodorisio also coincide with the wealthiest ones: those of the Suriani, Fanghella and De Cristofaro, surnames which also appear in the list of mayors of the municipality.
This path, which brings the visitor closer to the most intimate and domestic dimension of the nineteenth-century bourgeois family, is enriched by the presence of the works of the exhibition, “Inclusions”, which will be the leitmotif along the entire itinerary, embellishing the ancient buildings with lights and colors .
– the church of San Giovanni Battista.
Visits every hour, starting at 10:00; last visit at 5pm.
During the two days, at the end of the visits at 11:00, 15:00 and 16:00, the possibility will be offered to listen to pieces of sacred music, performed by Mr. Fernando Lizzi with the eighteenth-century pipe organ still present in the wooden choir loft. This ancient musical instrument, in fact, is in excellent condition and fully functional: a rather rare condition, which we do not find in other contemporary organs of the local churches. Furthermore, among the other works present, the limestone slab that today constitutes the front of the altar of the church will be highlighted, where it has been reused. It shows the representation of the pious women at the sepulcher, accompanied by an inscription from part of the text of the Quem quaeritis, an Easter song composed in the 10th century, considered the starting point of medieval sacred dramaturgy. The work is chronologically referable to a period between the middle of the 11th century and the beginning of the next which places it at the beginning of narrative sculpture in Abruzzo and the union of text and image, a communicative modality, this one, destined to a strong development in the following two centuries.
The fortified village of Monteodorisio: the Castle.
Departures every hour continuously, from Piazza Umberto I, starting at 10:00; last visit at 18:00.
The castle, symbol of the village of Monteodorisio, will be the subject of a walk during which the events will be retraced starting from its construction and up to its decline. This path is intertwined and completed, in a game of references and references, with the one dedicated to the ancient medieval towers and will offer visitors not a simple description of the site, but the narration of the life and everyday life of the inhabitants of medieval Monteodorisio, reconstructed thanks to important discoveries made during the archaeological excavations of 2005-2006. The visit will be enriched by the narration of legends linked to the places, still preserved and handed down by popular tradition, and by the re-enactment of the historical events that caused the inexorable decline of the fortified structure. Guests will have the opportunity to take a real dip in the Middle Ages, a historical era full of charm and mystery. Also in this path you will have access to private places, exceptionally open on the occasion of the FAI Autumn Days. At the end, you can take an interesting guided tour of the Archaeological Museum of Vastese, in which rooms are kept and exhibited archaeological finds found in the municipalities of the Vasto hinterland.
The organizers thank, for the local support: the mayor Catia Di Fabio and the municipal administration of Monteodorisio, Don Nicola Antonini, the head teacher Nicoletta Del Re ICS of Monteodorisio. For the exceptional opening of private assets: Davide Cruciata, Nadia Cupaiolo Ughi, Alfredo De Cristofaro, Pasquale De Cristofaro, Antonio Di Stefano, Marianna Fanghella, Carmine Manzi, Gianlorenzo Molino, Giovanni Raimondi, Cecilia Suriani, Gerald Schulz, Michaela Hansl. For the setting up of the contemporary art exhibition “Inclusions”, the artists: Ettore Altieri, Antonio D’Annunzio, Antonio Di Campli, Carla Di Pardo, Paolo Dongu, Claudio Gaspari, Davide Scutece, Giorgia Tiberio. For the precious collaboration: Apprentices Ciceroni Secondary School of Monteodorisio, Apprentices Ciceroni IIC “Pantini Pudente”, Apprentices Ciceroni ITSET “F. Palizzi “, Assunta Antenucci, Lorenzo Busico, Mario De Vizio, Katia Di Penta, Fernando Lizzi, Davide Pitetti, Vincenzo Silvestri, Giovanni Timpone, ASD Futura Monteodorisio, Cultural Circle” Fermenti “, Pro Loco” Monteodorisio County “, Parsifal Cooperative Society , Cooperative “TEA Orizzonti”, Catholic Action of Monteodorisio, Civil Protection “Valtrigno”, Civil Protection “Il Castello”, Festival Committee “Madonna delle Grazie”.
