This winter I was looking for some images to purchase for the walls of our new home. I bought these panoramic photos of the towns of Pescasseroli and Opi. After having 11×14 prints made I bought new frames and hung the photos in my bedroom. They look wonderful. The photo on the left is the birth town of my great grandparents Cesidia Elvira Tranquilla Ciolli (1867-1939) and Pietro Giovanni Del Prinicipe (1853-1922). The photo below is the town of Opi where my great great grandmother Filomena Ursitti was born in 1837. Filomena married Don Pietrantonio Amabile Ciolli and they raised their family in Pescasseroli.
While I was looking for photos I came across the website Life in Abruzzo. If you plan to visit Italy this site has some info about the community of Pescasseroli and things to do in the town. The writer mentions Salvatore, the owner of the B&B via Della Piazza, at the end of the article.
Do you know if Nicolangelo of Opi is still alive?
My wife, Nancy and I spent a week plus staying at Salvatore’s B&B. While he is a cousin of mine he was also the best host I could imagine. The whole trip was filled with meeting great new friends and more cousins. Pescasseroli was the birth place of my father as well. He was born in 1889, and the my grand father emigrated first in 1892, and my grandmother followed with my dad in 1893 to live in Chicago. The visit to Pescasseroli was the most wonderful vacation I had ever taken. the people there were almost overwhelming in their welcoming. We also drove over to Opi, where my great grandmother was born, and it had the most beautiful scenery and again extremely warm and welcoming people. One day, Salvatore took my wife and I to visit an old friend of the my aunts and uncles from the Ciolli family. They are living in the same home where my grandmother was raised. There she related stories about back when she shared many good times with the siblings of my grandmother through out translator, Salvatore Toscano. Another cousin, although we were never able to confirm exactly where we would share branches from our family tree, Giovanni took a whole day off to take us on a tour of the entire town of Pescasseroli. While he was not fluent in English, and we were not fluent in Italian, were found that we were able to understand each other for an enjoyable day.
Looks like a pretty town. Wonder what it looked like in the 1800’s.
I’m sure your new 11×14 framed pictures are beautiful.