Chieti and the Costa dei Trabocchi, the Adriatic Coast in Abruzzo

The Grotta del Saraceno Holiday Village is in the province of Chieti. The town of Chieti itself is approx 70 km from the Grotta del Saraceno holiday village. Chieti is situated on a hill, in the east of Abruzzo, 330m above sea level. Its position is ideal due to its vicinity to the Adriatic Riviera and to the mountainous regions of the Maiella and the Gran Sasso. The surrounding scenery is spectacular.

Chieti is one of the oldest towns in Italy. Its origins are intertwined with mythology. It is said that the town was founded in 1181 B.C by the hero Achilles, and he called the town Teate to honour his mother. The hero is figured in the town’s coat of arms riding a rearing horse whilst holding a lance and a shield depicting a white cross on a red field with four keys representing the four gates to Medieval Chieti (Porta S. Anna, Porta S. Maria, Porta Napoli e Porta Pescara).

Some legends concerning Chieti say that it was founded by the Pelasgians in honour of the nymph Teti and others that Hector founded it 494 years before the birth of Rome. There are lots of museums, monuments and churches to visit in the town.

The town of Crecchio, in the Province of Chieti, is home to the De Riseis-D’Aragona Castle ( known as the Castle of Crecchio) itself home to the Museum of the Byzantine and Early middle Ages of Abruzzo.

The Adriatic coastal area, known as the Costa dei Trabocchi, is famous throughout Italy for its naturalistic beauty and its heterogeneity. Its name derives from the “trabocco”, a fishing mechanism set up on a pontoon. The coast is in places shallow and sandy ( Francavilla, Ortona and Vasto), pebbled (Fossacesia and Torino di Sangro), and high and rocky (a San Vito Chietino e Rocca San Giovanni).