Italy Sextantio della Civita | Urbane Nomads

Overview

Santo Stefano di Sessanio is a fortified medieval burgh rising on a pre-existent Italic-Roman site. It located at an altitude of 1250 metres deep in the heart of the Apennine mountains near L'Aquila inside the Gran Sasso & Monti della Laga National Park, in Abruzzo. The burgh's current urban structure was established in the Middle Ages during the then nascent castle-building phenomenon and features a landscape dotted by fortified highland habitats, still very much one of the historical and topographical elements characterising Central Italy today. During this era Santo Stefano belonged to the political and territorial dominion of the Carapelle Barony, as well as two illustrious Tuscan families: the Piccolomini and, later, the Medici. The bond with Florence and the rest of Europe was due the mercantile importance of its wool production, a raw material produced locally from the Middle Ages to more recent times.

Figures well as part of a luxury travel itinerary through Italy.

Accommodation

Palazzo Delle Logge
Casa dierto La Chiesa
Casa di via Boragno
Casa sulla Pineta
Casa sulle BottegheRecreation

Restaurant

Another aspect of the autochtonous culture which, in Italy, is more immediately marketable is the local gastronomic tradition, often poorer in the mountains due to an obviously more limited eco-diversity, more articulated in the immediate hillside. As part of the project, the neighbouring grounds were purchased for the direct in-house production of food to be prepared and served in an extremely evocative building in the historical centre. This locanda, restored and endowed with the most authentic furniture and decor, offers traditional abruzzese cuisine with particular attention to local products and specialties. Literature regarding regional cuisine is ample and meticulous studies have been carried out with the assistance of a cultural anthropologist of Abruzzese folklore and the recollection of the town’s elders. In the works, a study of typical dishes and the deeper affective meanings food has always had for populations of the mountains, often on the limits of material subsistence. The basic idea is to propose what is a cultural and historical patrimony with due philological rigor; with a chef from Abruzzo, one intimately conscious of the territory's gastronomic culture, the idea is to propose a cuisine that is intimately related to the material and economic life of the local populace - a pinch of truly delectable research.

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