WHAT TO SEE - Regional Parks and Nature Reserves

Literary Park Gabriele D'Annunzio

Regional Parks and Nature Reserves

Literary Park Gabriele D'Annunzio

 

Address: Edificio comunale (piano terra) Via G. Manso n.5

Informazioni e prenotazioni: 086449115

Web: http://www.parchiletterari.com/parchi/dannunzio/index.php

Description


The Italian countryside has been celebrated in literature: miild climate, vast mountains, the peninsula shape in the middle of the Mediterranean sea have inspired many famous writers.

Anversa degli Abruzzi has been described as a fascinating village, similar to a garden, which subject to a lively interest at first and disregard then, faced ecomomic issues.

As a result, Literary Parks aim at pointing out the beauty of some beautiful landscapes which our ancestors truly appreciated in the past.

They have been and still represent a source of inspiration for many writers and poets.

 

The "Gabriele D'Annunzio" literary park, located at the Anversa Town Hall, is equipped with a library and a database.

The literary park wants to create a cultural economy through programs related to literature, local geography, etnography

The fundamental idea of the literary park is the result of a unique and unknown cultural route throughout the places considered historical memory of the territory and its people (Lowenthal, 1975).

We believe that it is necessary not to forget the past, because "our past makes us who we are and it has shaped us into what we have become".

 

Setting
Since some years ago environmental and cultural development related issues within this area are being taken into consideration by the regional European politics.
This concept leads to a new thought, new environmental laws and creates new opportunities in those geographical areas which boast natural beauty and historical richness.
Environmental and cultural richness is now considered to be a development factor. Public and private individuals are the main characters and resources of this programme.
The main goal is to achieve higher living standards.

Short description of the Park
The village staff administration and the "Ippolito Nievo" foundation and WWF Italy set up the Literary Park, dedicated to the writer Gabriele D'Annunzio. It represents a huge practical challenge, aimed at supporting the "Sagittario" valley preservation; this program has been the result of serious reflection.

It is open to the public at any time of the year and there is no admission charge. What's more, visitors can enjoy the inspiration which famous travellers found for their artistic and literary works inside this fascinating protected area.

Start of the project
The idea of creating a literary Park is connected to regional political decisions in regards to the environmental preservation, which consider the creation of parks and environmental defence as a valid instrument for supporting the territory. Through the literary park inhabitans and visitors will enjoy many activites which are going to be the most important incentive for the revaluation process.
The geographical area includes the municipalities of  Anversa degli Abruzzi, Cocullo, Villalago and Bugnara, which make up the Sagittario valley.
The territory is divided into two big areas; one refers to the Abruzzo region, the other to the whole country.

La fiaccola sotto il moggio - The drama

The “fiaccola sotto il moggio” (The Torch under the bushel) is a well-known tragedy in verse by the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio. He was born in Pescara in 1863 and his literary production displays a number of works dedicated to the Abruzzo region, as he fell in love with the beauty of Abruzzo mountains. The drama was set in Anversa degli Abruzzi, which has got an impressive Norman castle. It was written in 1905 and first performed in the same year. The tragedy describes the latter years of the reign of the noble family Di Sangro at the Anversa castle in the early 20thcentury before the outbreak of the First World War. Gigliola is the unlucky heroine, who is not able to take revenge for her mother's death. The main character's mother is murdered by the stepmother Angizia, helped by her father Tibaldo. The writer wanted to analyse the dark side of modern tragedy in opposition to ancient Greek tragedy. The castle was tending to ruin and the characters are affected by many deseases. The bushel light is dark and Gigliola can't save herself. It is the end of an era which represents the fate of mankind before the First World War. Today Anversa features the ruins of the Norman castle, destroyed by the 1706 earthquake and probably D'Annunzio was inspired by Anversa's castle ruins. He considered this drama to be his most representative. Following the incredible success of the first tragedy, Gabriele D'Annunzio decided to descibe new features of his homeland, which to him looked intact, as if time hadn't gone by; the work represented the Abruzzo region historically, dominated by the nobility for centuries. As always D'Annunzio, known also as "Vate", used his memories contained in his short notes, remembering an amazing horse ride though the "Sagittario" valley in 1881 together with the painter Francesco Paolo Michetti, the sculptor Costantino Barbella and the historian Antonio De Nino and a carriage ride with his lover Maria Gravina Cruyllas of Ramacca. The writer focuses his attention on Anversa guided by the art historian Emile Bertaux. Antonio De Nino was not there for health reasons, but D'Annunzio got inspiration from him in oder to write the first section of his literary work. The Abruzzo countryside itself look mysterious and wild, pointed out by the strong painting technique by Michetti and De Nino's wisdom: the Sagittario river is described as the strong river flowing freshwater and houses in Castrovalva still appear to dominate the surrounding countryside.