Tagliacozzo (Aquila, Abruzzo)

Palazzo Ducale

This post is all about my favorite Italian town....TAGLIACOZZO! Tagliacozzo is a town in the province of Aquila more specifically in the Abruzzo region of Italy.  This town is dear to my heart as my mother was born and raised here and I've returned many, many times falling in love with this little town more and more with each trip.  It is an artisan town, full of history and beauty.  For example, there is the Palazzo Ducale, which was built in the 14th century by Count Roberto Orisini and later owned by the Colonna family.  These were great Renaissance families with ties to the great Medici's of Florence.  Most of the beautiful churches and buildings in Tagliacozzo were built around 13th century (and before!) so as you can tell there is history all around you and you make your way up the stairs leading from the Piazza Obelisco to the areas of "La Costa" and " Sulla Terra".   


La Croce (Seen from all over Tagliacozzo)

Road off the piazza



Libri: Recommended Books

There are so many great novels out there full of interesting facts about Italy, especially the Italian Renaissance. I am completely obsessed with the Renaissance period and find it soooo interesting learning about the Medici legacy; how their rivals were the Pazzi family; the conspiracies between Church and State to overthrow the Medici's, etc, etc. When I traveled to Tuscany a few years ago and I came face to face with the Pitti Palace; the Palazzo Vecchio; the Ponte Vecchio; and the Pazzi home (where the conspiracy to overthrow the Medici's was born) I was in awe with all around me. Here I was reading novel after novel and I was finally in the presence of "Italian Royalty", or at least the buildings and arwork they left behind.  
       Here are a few of my fav novels dealing with the Renaissance:
      1. Juliet by Anne Fortier ( So far this is my absolute favorite, esp. for those like me who love Siena)
      2. I Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis
      3. The Ruby Ring by Dianne Haeger
      4. The Daughter of Siena by Marina Fiorato
      5. The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato
      6. The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato

Then there are the other novels I hold dear because they deal with the Italian-American way of life.  I can relate to these books because they remind me of my big, crazy, Italian family.  You know the type that wants to tear eachother's hair out one minute and then the next minute they are laughing and kidding around, no this isn't being bipolar, it's just being Italian ;o)
    1. Basically all the novels by Adriana Trigiani (she's a genious): Very Valentine; Brava Valentine; the Big Stone Gap series; The Shoemaker's Wife.  Keep a box of tissues near you while you read these books because you will either be so touched that you'll shed a few tears OR at some point you'll be literally lol'ing so  hard that it'll bring tears to your eyes. Her characters are a riot and I think we can all identify to someone in the books.                             
    2. The author Santa Montefiore also has written some lovely novels: The Mermaid Garden; Last Voyage of the Valentina

Tagliacozzo committe for La Madonna dell'Oriente

Madonna Dell'Oriente (Yonkers, NY)

Madonna Dell'Oriente (Tagliacozzo, AQ)

Every September the Yonkers residents who immigrated from Tagliacozzo (a small town in the Abruzzo region of Italy) come together to celebrate the feast of the patron saint of their town.  This happens to be La Madonna dell'Oriente; a title given to the Virgin Mary.  This tradition dates back to the 14th century and the story goes a little like this....The painting of this Mandonna originated in Constantinople during a time when all religious icons were to be destroyed.  A soldier by the name of Giacomo heard a voice coming from the paiting telling him to take her away as she was not to be destroyed.  Throughout its travels the painting finally found a home in the mountain side of Tagliacozzo and there it remains housed in a beautiful church, which overlooks the entire town of Tagliacozzo.  Its a feast that all Tagliacozzani hold dear to their hearts and ties us with our home away from home.