Tourism has grown on antiquity, tradition, hospitality. Scanno was always a destination for travellers and the road leading here is wonderful through the canyons finally leading to the beautiful lake. The historical center witnesses the wealth of a rich past. Women on the steps of doors still make their precious tombolo lace, as in times of lore on the long winter evening thinking of their spouses away in Apulia. Now the sheep raising economy has been replaced by tourism: woods, lake, climate, gastronomy attract the visitor. Wildlife is rich, and if you are lucky you will also see the royal eagle. And archeology and ancient goldsmithery art.

A very wide offer: camping sites, hotels, agritour centers, restaurants, with the typical "lu zuppettone" and "chezzellitt' nghe le fuoje", the rare Frattura beans and the tasty mostaccioli and the Pan dell'Orso. No fast or mass food anywhere.

Legends say the Scannese came in ancestral times from Illyria, taking along the symbols and techniques of goldsmithery, and their great taste for beauty. Gold is the basic metal, but since it was so expensive the artisans developed the filigree, which takes much less metal.

Swimming, fishing, windsurf, canoeing, horseriding and tennis, bocce, boat and byke. A paradise for sport-lovers. And in winter cross country, downhill, snowboarding in the heart of the Apennines.

Landscape, nature, the town and its inhabitants have always fascinated photographers: Cartier Bresson, Giacomelli, Monti, Roiter, Berengo Gardin, Bucci, Pacifico, and thousands of other visitors who captured the many amenities of the area. And after the colors by day, a search for flavors at night: cheese, cakes, mountain herbs, berries from the woods and pastures where sheep are still grazing in the thin mountain air.

Yesterday the bishop of Sulmona, monsignor Giuseppe Di Falco, blessed the "Fuoco Morronese" in the hermitage of Sant'Onofrio, and the torch-bearers started their run. Tomorrow at S. Pietro Celestino del Bagnatura they will meet the torch bearers from Lazio, Molise, and Aquila.

Villalago honors its many emigrants with a fine ceramics panel, created by prof. Italo Iafolla, and placed on 12 August on the outer wall of the church, in the presence of many emigrants who come back in this month to celebrate the ancient feast of San Domenico.

On 20 august prize awards to the winners of the Mostra dell'Artigianato di Guardiagrele: wrought-iron prize to Raffaele Di Prinzio, ceramics to Luana Lucchitti from Pescara, woodwork prize to Giuseppe Ruggieri from Guilmi.

After the concert of rock singer Ron and the fireworks on the Golfo d'oro yesterday the traditional Campanella di San Rocco was reenacted on the day following the Ferragosto: the bell was a warning of the arrival of people sick with contagious disease, but San Rocco did not care and to cure them fell ill himself. The small bells are made by local artisans, and have become popular collectibles.

Among the Padula mountains in the night between 19 and 20 august a historical re-enactment will be held: in the late 16th century, along the road to the Church State, there was a ferocious gang led my mythical Marco Sciarra. Bookings for medieval dinner at 0861 64103.

Association "Cristobal Colòn" organized two days of music and cuisine of the Latin American and Abruzzese tradition. Emigrants from the area left in the 1940's from Naples to Caracas, Maracaibo, Buenos Aires. 50 years later their children and grandchildren are returning because of the great economic crisis in latin America. Through the streets of Penne it is not uncommon now to listen to the Castellano speech.

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