Taranta Peligna

Several earthquakes struck the town, including one on 3 November 1706 which claimed 100 lives; one in 1915; another in 1933 when the church of San Biagio became unsafe and, finally, one in 1984. In addition, in 1929 there was a flood of the Aventine River, when the river destroyed many houses and redesigned the path of the river itself.

Veduta dalla strada statale del sacrario militare della Brigata Maiella

The small church, built in the nineteenth century, but extensively rebuilt in the twentieth century, stands on the granite rock of the Rocchetta. It has recently been restored by Dr. Giuseppe Recchione, whose family has always been very devoted to Our Lady of Carmine. The church is located on the eastern side of Via Duca degli Abruzzi. It is an exposed mountain stone temple, with a rectangular plan, a gabled ceiling and sloping roof, a simple façade with a small sloping narthex, and a bell-gable.

Disappeared due to the war, it was located in the district of San Biagio; it was little more than a rural chapel.

On a rocky outcrop stretched like a balcony over the village, stands the chapel dedicated to the 55 fallen of the Majella Brigade, a unique partisan formation that has been awarded a gold medal for military valor despite not being a military formation.

It was symbolically erected overhanging the rock of the Majella, along the road that leads from Lama dei Peligni to Palena, to signify the fortitude and tenacity of the Abruzzese partisans in guerrilla operations on the mountain heights. The shrine was built a few years after the end of the war in 1945, consisting of a hut-shaped chapel made of regular, very modest stone ashlars, with above the lintel of the portal a plaque with the inscription "Honor to the fallen" and the official coat of arms of the brigade. The interior preserves the tombstones with photographs of the main brigadiers who died during the liberation of the territory of Sangro-Aventino. The shrine is preceded by a walking path along the rock face, where the main stages are carved, from Casoli to Brisighello in Veneto, conquered by the patriots of Ettore Troilo. The path is called della Liberazione, and reaches the square of the shrine where there are commemorative tombstones that recall the visits of honourable people and presidents of the Republic, of which Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (2001–2003–2005) is commemorated, strongly linked to the territory of Abruzzo since he was housed as an exile in a palace in Scanno (AQ), as well as Luigi Einaudi, also displaced in Abruzzo, and on the special visit of April 25, 2018, President Sergio Mattarella, who also visited Casoli, and the Museum of Memory set up in the ducal castle.

The patriotic formation, which arose in Casoli in December 1943, worked for the Resistance in Abruzzo and throughout the advance of liberation, up to Bologna and Asiago. The dissolution took place in Brisighella on July 15, 1945.

The Tagliata, the ancient name of the Taranta Valley, is a grandiose fissure that cuts deeply into the eastern slope of the Majella for over seven kilometers. It originates at the Sella del Macellaro (2646 m), a small depression located between Mount Macellaro and the Canosa cave. The valley offers a natural environment that includes karst phenomena, botanical rarities and particular fauna. There are numerous cavities such as the Donkey Cave, the Bove cave and the Cavallone tourist cave, reachable by a cable car system. Very popular in summer is an ideal place for hiking, the Macchia di Taranta hut (1703 m) facilitates excursions to the Colle d'Acquaviva (2200 m), Mount Macellaro (2646 m), the Stincone Altar (2426 m) and the farthest Mount Amaro (2793 m), the second highest peak in the Apennines.

Ingresso della grotta del Cavallone

The Grotta del Cavallone opens onto the overhang of the rock face located on the left side of the Taranta Valley at an altitude of 1475 and extends over 1400 meters. Rich in concretionary formations, it offers visions of great suggestion. From the base the opening is similar to a large bird's nest; the grandeur and impressiveness of the entrance on the fantastic wall is striking. The cave consists of a series of conduits and concrectioned rooms, equipped for tourist visits for about 800 meters, whose topography is largely governed by characters of D'Annunzio's tragedy The daughter of Iorio and more or less happy similarities. It is also called Grotta della figlia di Iorio ('Cave of the Daughter of Iorio') because Francesco Paolo Michetti took inspiration from the entrance cave for the scenography of the second act of D'Annunzio's tragedy that was staged at the Teatro Lirico in Milan on March 4, 1904; and in the wake of the success of the vates' work, the cave attracted numerous visitors and scholars, many of whom described it in imaginative terms and rich in inspired metaphors.

The cavity is a shelter under rock at an altitude of 2604 meters, between the valley of Femmina Morta and the Cannella valley, clearly visible from afar and a point of convergence of some routes to Mount Amaro. The neighboring municipalities of Taranta Peligna, Lama dei Peligni and Pacentro chose it as the boundary of their respective territories.