A Special Birthday In Sulmona (AQ), Abruzzo

We set off early for Sulmona. At around 08:30 I think. That’s probably a bit early to go anywhere you don’t have to be when you’re on holidays, but we had a good reason.

It was a Saturday. Saturday 20th March to be exact. We knew it was market day and we made the assumption that finding parking was going to be difficult.

We’ve visited a few Abruzzo towns on their market day before and finding parking has proved painful. Penne and Atri on two occasions have caused us headaches. To be fair once you get used to a town’s parking system and you find the car parks that often exist outside the walls, any parking difficulties usually fade away.

But we didn’t want to take any chances with Sulmona. We’d heard that its market was pretty big and was bound to attract large crowds. And large crowds mean a lot of cars.

So off we went, not quite awake yet, on a lovely sunny morning. It took us about an hour and a half to reach the outskirts of the town and following the signs we found a car park on Via Iapasseri. Asking a fellow parker we confirmed that the parking was free and the town centre was a short walk away.

He was right. From the car park, via a series of steps it was a 10 minute walk to the market on Piazza Garibaldi. We just walked across Via Filippo Turati, along Via Alessandro Volta, across the park to Viale Roosevelt and then we followed Corso Ovidio.

But there was a surprise in store when we arrived. Plenty of people had gathered near Piazzale Tresca, with tractors and balloons. We saw the traffic police was keeping an eye on things and it took us a few minutes to realise what was going on. We saw banners with Si alla Green Economy; No alle Industrie Insalubri and No al metanodotto e alla centrale SNAM. The protest appeared to be against the laying of a gas pipeline and environmentally destructive policies. After a few minute they made their way down Corso Ovidio. This was a peaceful protest. How could it be anything else with all those balloons?

Moving on to Piazza XX Settembre we saw the Birthday Boy! Standing on the top of his pedestal was Publius Ovidius Naso and 20 March is his birthday. Known as Ovid in the English-speaking world Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BCE – 17 or 18 CE) was a Roman poet from Sulmona whose works focused on ancient myths and every poet’s favourite subject, love.

I’ve not read anything by Ovid. I think I had to study a few paragraphs of his writings in school before I dropped Latin but I could be wrong. His works have influenced many writers including Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, William Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

In 8 AD Ovid was exiled by Emperor Augustus to Tomis on the Black Sea (now Constanţa, Romania), where he died. I read an excellent fictional account of Ovid’s exile. In An Imaginary Life by David Malouf, Ovid grapples with coming to terms with his new non-Roman existence. The rituals, language and culture that is now part of his everyday life are completely alien to the great man of Roman letters. I really enjoyed the book and have gone on to read other books by Malouf.

After wishing Ovid “tanti auguri” on his birthday we moved on to Piazza Garibaldi and the market. But yet again we stopped to take in the ancient aqueduct opposite Chiesa di San Francesco della Scarpa. The aqueduct is about 100m long with impressive arches through which we could see the market stalls filling Piazza Garibaldi. It was built by Manfedi of Svevia in 1256 to bring water to the city for irrigation, domestic and industrial use.

Finally, after taking at least an hour for a ten minute walk we entered piazza Garibaldi and attempted to take in the array of stalls selling practically everything anyone might need. The market in Sulmona is big, very big. We walked up and down the aisles and soaked in the atmosphere. It was really impressive. Although it was big (did I mention that before?) and full of people there was plenty of space to wander around. No feeling of claustrophobia here. The cafés and bars along the side of the piazza are the perfect place to sit, observe and enjoy market day in Sulmona.

We didn’t buy anything except for the coffee. P almost bought a shirt and a dress but it didn’t work out.

Exploring more of Sulmona we tried to get into every church we found. But many were closed. (This is becoming a habit as it happened to us in Spoltore also.) We did visit Chiesa di San Francesco della Scarpa and Santa Maria della Tomba before admiring Porta Napoli.

So we wandered around, enjoying a gorgeous morning, stopping for coffee and nibbles until it was time to head back. We came across the football stadium and I thought that it must be very special to play football on a pitch surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

We left with a few bags of confetti (sugar coated almonds) and some confetti flowers. You just have to buy confetti if you visit Sulmona. There was plenty to choose from, all very colourful and bright. They make lovely gifts.

I really enjoyed seeing Sulmona and I have no doubt I’ll visit again. The next time I think I’ll make sure it isn’t market day as I’d really like to see Piazza Garibaldi and its surrounding mountains without the presence of all the stalls. I don’t know if much traffic is allowed in the piazza on normal days but I hope not. Perhaps someone reading this post knows and can let me know.

Related posts:

1. Via Crucis, Loreto Aprutino (PE) and La Madonna che Scappa, Sulmona (AQ), Abruzzo A friend of mine kindly sent me some photos of...
2. Market Day (giorno di mercato) I love market day in Abruzzo. There’s always a buzz...
3. Something Special A friend of mine who lives in Loreto Aprutino kindly...