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tagliacozzo |
| Twenty minutes beyond Avezzano by train is TAGLIACOZZO , a
picturesque town nestling beneath a pine-wooded cliff with an unspoilt
Renaissance core that's well worth a wander. There are few focuses as
such; the pleasure is more in discovering hidden corners, craft and
gourmet food shops. The warren of small squares are enclosed by
fourteenth- and fifteenth-century houses, a tangle of narrow streets and
alleys, and the church of San Francesco , with its paper doily rose
window and column capitals carved with twisting flowers and leaves.
Above the church is the impenetrable Palazzo Ducale and the small Teatro
Thalia - named, like Tagliacozzo itself, after the Greek muse of theatre.
The story goes that the town was founded by Greeks from Mount Parnassus:
next to San Francesco is a church dedicated to two Greek saints, Cosmo
and Damiano, and there are supposedly still traces of Greek in
Tagliacozzo's dialect. There's a tourist office at Via Vittorio Veneto 6 that has leaflets and a map of the town (daily 9am-1pm & 4-7pm; tel 0863.610.318). Unfortunately many of Tagliacozzo's hotels have seen better days so it's not such a great stop-off; if you want to stay overnight, the cheapest hotels are La Lucciola on Via della Giorgina (tel 0863.6501; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48) behind the station, and the rather run-down Gatto d'Oro on Viale Aldo Moro (tel 0863.610.369; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48) with a restaurant with home cooking. For somewhere with marginally more facilities try the Miramonti also near the station on Via Vittorio Veneto (tel 0863.6581; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47). You'll have no problem finding somewhere to eat as there are several scenic places around Piazza dell'Obelisco near the entrance to the old town. For home cooking in completely no-frills surroundings, Petit Restaurant chez Nunzia , Via XXIV Maggio 6 (closed Mon in summer and Mon & Sun evening in winter), parallel with Viale Aldo Moro, is friendly and family-run. |