The Giro continues its fast ride across the country. The cyclists have now clocked up kilometers and kilometers on the pedals, and soon they will be in Rome, where the curtain will fall on the 2024 edition on Sunday 26 May. And still so much beautiful Italy parades before our eyes. As befits an episodic TV series, first the summary of the previous episodes – all ideas for future trips – but also some spoilers. And then, above all, focus on an area rich in historical and landscape suggestions, which was crossed on the occasion of the ninth stage, Avezzano-Naples, on Sunday 12 May.
Bird’s eye view
Quick summary, then. The runners have now left the Ligurian Sea behind them, then the Tyrrhenian Sea and then enter the Tuscan hinterland and tackle three stretches of dirt road in memory of the Strade Bianche, the race that takes place in the Siena area in March. And always in the area the Eroica of Montalcino will take place on May 26th: an excellent opportunity to discover these dirt roads that wind through the countryside in an up and down hill, among cypresses and unforgettable views. Fatigue is guaranteed for those who pedal!
Our Tadpoles then entered Umbria and they climbed up to the heart of Perugia, the city that was Etruscan, then Roman, medieval and Papal, and today is more attractive than ever alive. From here, later a passage in upper Lazio the runners went up to the Gran Sasso; if the idea of this mountain inspires you, it is a good idea to go up by shuttle (unfortunately the cable car is closed) up to the 2000 m plateau of Emperor Camp, for a full immersion in the Apennine peaks. After the passage from Abruzzo to Campania – the stage we selected – the ascent of the peninsula began, skirting the Adriatic coast for a long stretch. The Giro touched Desenzano del Garda and its lake with its timeless charm. If you happen to be in those parts, until June 2nd you can visit the exhibition “Surrealism. The infinite madness of dreams”hosted in the castle of Desenzano.
Protagonists: the mountains
Missed the Stelvio pass due to bad weather, there is still ua beautiful gallop in the Dolomites until reaching the eastern ones, the steep slopes of Monte Grappa, with peaks of 14%, which will decide the fate of the tour. While waiting for entry to Romelet’s discover the itinerary between Abruzzo and Campania.
The basin of the lake that once was
Departure from Avezzano, in the Fucino basin, which is named after the ancient lake reclaimed in the 19th century. But even before that, the emperor Claudius tried to dry it up in 41 AD. Today all that remains of this imposing hydraulic work are Madonna, infrastructure at the entrance to the underground entrance to the emissary, and the so-called Claudio’s tunnels, at periods that can be visited by reservation. But you cannot leave Avezzano without having seen the Orsini-Colonna castle, originally from the 12th century and fortified in the 16th: with a quadrangular plan, with four mighty circular towers on the sides, it still shows its defensive structure today. For those who want nature there is the nearby Mount Salviano reserve on which it stands, at 1000 m above sea level, the sanctuary of the Madonna of Pietraquaria, of medieval origin.
Towards the sea
It’s time to head to the Tyrrhenian coasts to meet Mondragone (CE), overlooking the Domizio coast. As reported by a recent report froml TGR Campania, here about ten centenarians and over centenarians live: apparently the credit would be to the climate, located between the sea and the mountains, and of course the Mediterranean diet. It will therefore not be a coincidence that the Romans – and among them the Cicero of scholastic reminiscences – already came to Mondragone to enjoy the climate and languish in the spa. They remember those times ancient Sinuessa, dating back to 296 AD and located on the Appian Way, the Roman villa La Starza, the pagan sanctuary of Panetelle, or the Paladin Tower, a 1st century mausoleum. On the nearby Monte Petrino stand the remains of the Montis Dragonis fortress, built between the 8th and 9th centuries by the last survivors of Sinuessa.
It is also close to the sea Castel Volturno (CE), with 27 km of coastline. It owes its name to a castle and the river, obviously the Volturno. Right on a large bend of this watercourse, the last one before the mouth, a fortification was built in the 9th-10th century to defend against the Saracens. The peculiarity is that it was erected on the last arch of a bridge built on the Via Domiziana by the emperor Domitian in 95 AD. The castle is on the left bank of the river, where also stands the Borgo di San Castrese, the walled historic centre, which it contains the fifteenth-century Torre di Patria, in the shape of a truncated pyramid, and the Chapel of Maria SS delle Civite, built on the Roman settlement of Volturnum.
From the Phlegraean Fields to Naples
We now enter an area of great charm but which also inspires fear: that of supervolcano of the Campi Flegrei (i.e. burning), with an enormous boiling caldera, which has hit the headlines for a couple of years due to continuous seismic swarms. But volcano or not, the beauty of the Campi is magnetic. The Romans knew this well, who founded Bauli (today Bacoli) and the nearby Baiae (Baia) for their holidays. What remains of that glorious past are the submerged archaeological park of Baia (which can be visited by boat) and the archaeological ruins in Bacoli, which also boasts the Piscina Mirabilis, the largest drinking water cistern ever built, 15 m high and capable of containing 12,000 m3 of water . But here history did not stop after the Romans, as shown for example the Aragonese Castle of Baia, defensive structure from the 1400s and 1500s now used as a Archaeological Museum of the Phlegraean Fields. Also in the supervolcano area is Pozzuoli, known among other things for the sulfataras and the Temple of Serapis (2nd century AD) and Lake Avernus. Located in the crater of an extinct volcano, for the ancients it was the door to the afterlife, as demonstrated by the Cave of Sibilla Cumana or the Temple of Apollo, in the nearby archaeological area of Cuma. We are now separated by a short journey from Naples. A stop here is a must, but leaving won’t be so easy, around there are also Pompeii and Herculaneum, and much more…
