Atri

Geographical position

Atri is a little town situated near Pescara and has about 10.000 inhabitants. Its geographical position is definitely a plus, as the city is situated on 3 beautiful hills. Touristically speaking, the city of Atri belongs to a consortium called "The Consortium of the Land of Cerrano", that is of the land that faces a sandy coast, very beautiful from the naturalistic point of view. Such a costal area is nowadays a protected area, as it is the WWF Oasis of the famous "Calanchi of Altri".

Places to visit

Atri offers to its visitors different churches, interesting monuments like The Ducal Palace, The Roman Theatre, The Council Theatre, Luigi Illuminati Palace.

Of all these the Cathedral "Santa Maria Assunta" is one of the most important, dating from the Middle Ages (the end of the 1200 and the beginning of the 1300) being considered from 1899 a National Monument. Inside the cathedral there is a fresco paintings collection by Andrea del Litio, representing the life of Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, the evangelists, important church figures and moral virtues. An additional building near the cathedral is the church of "Santa Reparata". It is a church with a Greek cross whose wooden canopy – four – poster dates from the Baroque age. It's worth visiting the churches of San Francesco D'Assisi, Sant'Agostino, San Nicola, San Liberatore, Santo Spirito, San Rocco.

The surroundings and the landscape

As mentioned earlier, the city of Atri is situated within an outstanding naturalistic context, due to the presence of the "calanchi" (natural particular geological phenomena consisting in intensely dissected landscapes, presenting rill and gully landforms), of the Coast Garden and the nearby WWF oasis. It is recommended a guided visit to the "Calanchi" natural reserve with its spectacular landscape, the caves, Sorricchio Park, the Council Residence of Cappuccini brothers, admiring also the gorgeous view from Viale Vomano.