Autumn 2003 - Year IV, No. 20

Saepins for the Samnites, then Saepinum for the Romans, Altilia for the Lombards, and Sepino today, is an extraordinary archeological site in central Italy at the foot of the Matese, the most ancient mountains of the Appenines.

Our young friend from Bugnara, 10-year-old Giuseppe Ciamei, wrote a new poem in dialect, taking inspiration from the emotions he saw in his relatives coming back from Canada and USA for the holidays - Contributed by his aunt Diana Frunzi Reimer.

Summaries in English of the most comprehensive history book of Abruzzo published so far. The first 3 chapters (prehistory, Italic Abruzzo, Roman Abruzzo) available in the reserved area and to purchasers of the book.

The torrone, prepared from honey and almonds with long hours of cooking on low fire, with many names and recipes was for thousands of years a cake for festifities and gifts, whose acknowledged capital was the city of Cremona since 1441. In the early 19th century a confectioner from Arischia, at the foot of the Gran Sasso, developed his own recipe for the tender, chocolate and hazelnuts torrone.

Nevole, ferratelle, but also ciarancelle, cancellette, catarrette... these are only some of the many names given to this wafer so typical of the region Abruzzo made with a hot iron placed on the fire. No home was without a pizzelle iron, and never a bride was without a tray of pizzelle for the wedding guests.

The cake with the green eyes and the red tongue is a greatly decorative preparation typical of Orsogna. Already in ancient Rome during the festivals celebrating the new year it was a tradition to offer something in the form of a snake as a gift and a good health wish.

In the years 1798 and 1799 the revolutionary armies of Napoleonic France invaded southern Italy. In their march southward, they met a strong resistance in the province of Chieti, and finally crushed the rebels after the destruction of Guardiagrele on the 25th of February, killing over 500 inhabitants.