04 – Villalago (eng)

• 15,5 km – 24 minuti
• Cocullo – Villalago con Google Maps
• Source: Wikipedia

Villalago (La Vìlla in the local dialect) is a town in the province of L’Aquila with a population of 589. It is a member of the Comunità Montana Peligna, a local association of mountain municipalities, and the club Borghi più Belli d’Italia, which identifies and produces a guide on the country’s most scenic towns.

 

Monuments and attractions:

• The eremo di San Domenico (a church named after the cave in which San Domenico lived in solitude for years)
• The church of the Madonna di Loreto
• The church of the Madonna Addolorata
• The church of San Michele Arcangelo
• The church of the Madonna delle Grazie
• The Vecchio Municipio (the old municipal building)
• The Rocca di Villalago (a medieval fortress overlooking the Gole del Sagittario)
• The museum of folk art and traditions
• Lake Pio
• Lake San Domenico
• The war memorial
• The monument to the Alpini
• Mount Argatone
• The arboretum

 

Celebrations and festivals:

• January 21-22: Le Fanoglie (a festival during which bonfires are lit in various parts of town)
• Easter Monday: Procession to the eremo di San Domenico
• August 15: Re-enactment, in period costume, of a traditional Villalago marriage ceremony
• August 21: Pilgrimage (a group of pilgrims walks 80 km from Fornelli, in the province of Isernia, to Villalago in honour of San Domenico)
• August 21 and 22: Feast of San Domenico, who is the patron saint of Villalago as well as Cocullo
• Second week in September: Feast of the Madonna Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows), which ends with an evening walk by torchlight followed by refreshments of wine and ciambelle, sweet round-shaped breads.
• December 26: Underwater nativity scene in Lake San Domenico