San Salvo- Abruzzo Region
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SAN SALVO- ABRUZZO REGION - CHIETI PROVINCE – ITALY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyC92c9HrZA http://www.trignosinelloturismo.it/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mZcgmcmIkk The first and immediate impression one has when visiting San Salvo is without a doubt that of an active city, rich in industrial, agricultural, commercial and tourism activities. In the last 50 years it has been an important reference point for the job market and for economy of the area, so much that the city has been named in the list of the Top One Hundred Municipalities of the "Piccola Grande Italia" ("Small Big Italy"), boasting an impressive demographic growth. In the last few years the city turned into a modern tourism spot, albeit mindful of preserving the environment. However, in order to understand the history and the unique identity of the city, one must start from its historic downtown, which finds its core among the beautiful palaces of Piazza San Vitale, where several mosaic flooring, burial places and air vents belonging to a Roman aqueduct are still visible. Here, in front of Porta della Terra, one can find the heart of the city, illustrated by the Archaeological Park of Quadrilatero, an outdoor museum that allows a trip back in time by almost 3,000 years, following all the development phases of the city. Furthermore, just outside the historic downtown, recent digs discovered the ruins of the ancient Abbey dedicated to the Saints Vito and Salvo, currently under the care of American and European archeologists. The Church of San Giuseppe, at the centre of the medieval village, holds in its chapel the vestments of the patron saint, San Vitale, which represents another reference point for the community. The Patron Saint Celebration is held on April 27 and 28, and the Saturday before the celebration a parade of carts and tractors decorated with flowers and ribbons re-enacts the tradition of bringing wheat to the mill. In the plaza, women knead and cook in copper cauldrons the "sagnitelle" pasta, which are then eaten in company along with taralli, blessed during the church service. A little further from the city, there is the San Salvo Marina, where every year the Blue Flag of Europe, placed on the 2500 meters long beach, which boasts a light and fine sand, waves in the wind. This coastal stretch boasts a unique environmental habitat: the dunes are safeguarded in order to preserve the spontaneous coastal vegetation starting from the Botanical Mediterranean Garden to the first and largest botanical garden of the Abruzzo region, a great natural sea-side park, an ideal habitat for marine birds and marsh tortoises. On the southern side of the Marina, the brand new Tourist Port boats its 300 docking spaces, improving what the tourism facilities of the area. San Salvo is also famous for its vast peach orchards: hundreds of cultivated hectares with a variety of quality peaches which made San Salvo the leader of the "City of Peaches" national committee.