Discover Manoppello: Volto Santo, Cultural Heritage and Trails

Manoppello combines spiritual heritage, historic buildings and landscape experiences. The town lies within Majella National Park and therefore offers different starting points for planning your trip: you can explore pilgrimage history and church art, walk through the historic centre or discover trails and agro-pastoral buildings. Typical products of Manoppello include extra virgin olive oil and wine. The olive oil is produced by small and medium-sized businesses in the municipality at local olive mills.

Volto Santo and Living Pilgrimage Tradition

The Santuario del Volto Santo was founded in 1620 together with the Capuchin monastery and was initially dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel. The Volto Santo holds a special position. The image is considered to be a very thin, almost transparent piece of fabric measuring 17 × 24 cm, bearing the imprint of a male face. The image is visible from both sides. The solemn Processione del Volto Santo takes place on the third Sunday in May; during it, the sacred image kept in the basilica is carried through the town’s streets.

The remains of the San Pietro monastery also form part of Manoppello’s religious history. They continue to be a destination for pilgrimages by believers from Carovilli. The remains can be reached via a footpath that starts from the Piana del Legname. Anyone interested in pilgrimage, sacred sites and trails through a historic landscape can give particular consideration to this aspect when planning their trip.

Churches, Palaces and Traces of Past Eras

Santa Maria Arabona Abbey, in the district of Santa Maria Arabona, dates from the late 12th century and is the first Cistercian church built in Abruzzo. Three paintings signed by Antonio Martini di Atri and dated 1377 are located on its choir wall. The Chiesa di San Pancrazio is a single-nave church in the Romanesque style and complements the town’s ecclesiastical history.

The historic centre is home to numerous small aristocratic palaces dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. They were built from local stone known as “pietra di Manoppello”. A restored Roman patrician villa with mosaics that are still intact has been reopened to the public. Santa Maria Arabona is also home to the Casa di Terra Cruda di Santa Maria Arabona, a unique example of an earthen structure in the characteristic Massone construction style.

Manoppello stands on the ruins of ancient Samnite and Roman Pollitium, which was destroyed in the 6th century and rebuilt by the Lombards in the 8th century. Traditional crafts passed down through the generations include forging iron and copper, as well as making household items such as pots, conche and pizzelle moulds. Today, two craft workshops produce ceramics and objects made from Majella stone.

Trails, Nature and Different Day Plans

For active days, the Sentieri delle Capanne in Pietra trail network offers a particular focus. It also includes Manoppello and allows visitors to see numerous significant dry-stone agro-pastoral complexes on the northern slope of the Maiella. The 90-kilometre Cammino di Celestino also passes through Manoppello. It is fully signposted and georeferenced. This allows you to tailor your trip according to your interests, focusing more on longer stretches of trail or on individual cultural and historical sites.

There is an equipped picnic area in the Piana del Legname. From there, you can combine time outdoors with the footpath to the remains of San Pietro. The Giancarlo Cipressi Arboretum comprises 90 trees and shrubs, each belonging to a different species. These varied destinations give your trip planning several possible directions, without requiring every day to have the same character.

When looking for a holiday apartment or holiday home in Manoppello, you can therefore first consider which pace you prefer: will churches, pilgrimage history and historic buildings be the main focus, or would you like to allow more time for trails, nature and the stone testimonies on the Maiella slope? Culinary and craft discoveries can also be added as a separate focus. The Asta dei Majtelli takes place on the fourth Sunday in September during the San Rocco e Sant’Emidio festival. Conical wooden structures decorated with gastronomic gifts are auctioned during the event.

More Destinations for Your Trip Planning

If you would like to consider other places in addition to Manoppello, you can also include Cappelle Sul Tavo, Caramanico Terme, Cerratina, Sant'eufemia A Maiella, Turrivalignani, Villa Celiera, Pietranico and Bussi Sul Tirino in your selection.

To the higher-level travel overview: Pescara.