Comunanza in the Province of Ascoli Piceno
Comunanza, originally known as Comunantia Montis Passilli, is located in the center of a pleasant valley bordered by the Aso River and the banks of the artificial lake of Gerosa. The town is surrounded by wooded hills, and dotted by many smaller villages, all of which is perfectly placed in the landscape, and from whose corners one may take in fascinating panoramas of the mountains of Abruzzo and the Sibillines.
Besides its lively industrial activities, Comunanza, seat of the Sibillini Mountain Community (Comunità Montana dei Sibillini), is known as starting point for excursions around the Sibillini Mountain National Park territory, such as ascents to the Vettore and Sibilla peaks.
Dominated by the imposing dam of Lake of Gerosa and crossed by the Aso River, the antique inhabited centre follows the course of the river, with its houses propped up by heavy walls that plumb vertically downwards and themselves act as embankments. This is surely the most interesting and suggestive part of the town, with its beautiful bridge that connects the old nucleus to the modern one. The distinction between the old and the new part is evident, the first leaning against the lower margin of the hill, the second instead cut in its central part by the provincial road.
Among the artistic monuments of the town, the parish Church of St. Catherine (chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Caterina) stands out with its elegant Romanesque belfry surmounted by an octagonal steeple. The church houses decorative stuccos by Domenico Paci and two valuable canvas by Giuseppe and Pier Leone Ghezzi, artists of local origin.
Travelling from Pedaso, before entering the town, our attention is drawn to the Romanesque Church of St. Maria a Terme (chiesa di S. Maria a Terme), built during the XIth century. The church has a rectangular base with linear façade and apse and a richly decorated portal.
Comunanza celebrates its old traditions during the Ornithological Exhibition (Mostra Ornitologica), which takes place on the first Sunday of October, and its typical Living Manger (presepe vivente), which is performed every 26th December throughout the tiny streets of the historical centre, illuminated for the occasion by firelight and coloured torches.
The vivid atmosphere of the old town is revived with the representation of family scenes and activities within the old workshops, re-opened for the occasion, with blacksmiths, weavers, shoemakers and carpenters at work.
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