The Italian Trans-Siberian at the Palena station (Chieti), January 2017.
(Andrea Falcon)
Walking through the narrow alleys, in the shade of the statue of the poet Ovid, one feature makes Sulmona unique: the infinity of sugared almond shops. The town itself looks like a wedding favour: the facades of the houses are pastel-coloured and signs from the past hang on the shop windows.
Immersed in the heart of Abruzzo, in the province of L’Aquila and close to the Majella national park, Sulmona has a historic center surrounded by a medieval aqueduct. It was built in 1256 and overlooks Piazza Garibaldi, where since 1995 the jousting tournament has been held on the last weekend of July, a historical re-enactment of a Renaissance event. But what indelibly influenced the history of this place was the arrival of the Arabs in Europe in the 1400s and, together with them, that of sugar. Sulmona in those days was a rich village and the most important product of the region was sheep’s milk. Soon, however, it was replaced by sugared almonds.
“The local historian Panfilo Serafini writes that the recipe is that of the past in one of his treatises dated 1830. Only two ingredients: sugar and almonds. Everything has remained unchanged since then”, says Mario Pelino, head of the family confectionery of the same name which has made the history of Sulmona confetti in Italy and abroad since 1783.
The oldest evidence of sugar craftsmanship in Sulmona dates back to the Poor Clare nuns who created decorative compositions in the fifteenth century. Among all, the rosary of sugared almonds that until the seventies the daughters-in-law gave to their future mothers-in-law for Easter. Years later, it was the Pelino family who gave birth to the candy industry, contributing to the fame of the city.
The secret lies in the purity of the sugar which is not “corrupted” with thickeners such as flour or starch. The litmus test? Just dissolve a sugared almond in a glass of water: if there are no floury residues on the bottom, it means that everything is done in a workmanlike manner. Today the factory has modernized the processing, but the perfectly coated and smooth sugared almond is obtained only from the pansies of the nineteenth century, produced in Germany: large copper containers, similar to modern cement mixers which, by continuously turning, ensure that the sugar syrup is distributed evenly.
In an area next to the factory is the museum of sugared almond art and technology, which can be accessed for free. “The museum is like my home and that of my family, I would never charge to enter. Visitors are my guests and the museum is the most beautiful thing I have in my life”, says Mario Pelino, at the end of the guided tour, among memorabilia and machinery from the old confectionery.
But Sulmona, whose symbol is the sugared almond, has also attracted another type of tourism for eleven years: that linked to the Trans-Siberian railway in Italy. This is the Sulmona-Isernia railway line, which runs for about 130 kilometers between Abruzzo and Molise with four intermediate stations. Since 2011, the line no longer has ordinary traffic and is used only for tourist purposes.
Dominating the Peligna valley from above, it almost seems to be on an airplane. Thus begins the journey along the Trans-Siberian in Italy, aboard a historic locomotive. The line was inaugurated 125 years ago, on 18 September 1897, and since that day Sulmona has become a starting point towards new destinations. A large part of the Sulmona people were employed in the railway, all benefiting from the progress that brought work and trade.
The name Trans-Siberian d’Italia dates back to 1980: the journalist Luciano Zeppegno thus entitled his article for Gente Viaggi because he was struck by the whitewashed landscapes typical of the place, so much so that he compared them to those of the Russian steppes. If from the outside the train looks like the Hogwarts Express, the train from the Harry Potter saga, inside the upholstery, seats and lighting take you back to 1920. There are hundred-door carriages suitable for short journeys, the Corbellini for longer journeys and, lastly, first class with comfortable red velvet seats.
Leaving Sulmona behind, the convoy enters the Majella park and between the hills you can see Monte Morrone, where Pope Celestine V took refuge in a hermitage. We proceed at a slow pace, to allow visitors to enjoy the view of a landscape that changes with every curve and tunnel. Continuing along the route, you reach the pine forests of Campo di Giove, planted to stabilize the slopes along the tracks.
Then it happens to see here and there the railway toll booths or the former lodgings of the personnel responsible for the maintenance and control of the line. “Entering those houses we would still find the crockery in the kitchen, as if the family had run away from home the night before,” says engineer Alessandro Margiotta, one of the volunteer guides of the Le Rails association present on the Trans-Siberian.
The itinerary continues and from the pine woods you pass to the beech woods of Quarto Santa Chiara; the area is a paradise for outdoor sports and a destination for hikers who want to walk the Majella paths.
The last section of the “snow train”, which is the name of this particular seasonal section of the Trans-Siberian, leads to Roccaraso, the winter sports capital of central-southern Italy. This locality has over 130 kilometers of ski slopes, fifty just for alpine skiing, and among the other activities that can be carried out in the winter season there are snowshoes, sledding and snowtubing, the descents on snow slopes on large inflatable donuts. Unfortunately the historic center of Roccaraso was destroyed by German troops in their retreat at the end of the Second World War.
During the train journey, visitors can get off at the four intermediate stops where the train stops. You can decide to taste the many local products and, depending on the season, participate in activities in nature and guided tours of the villages. And finally, in the late afternoon, the return to Sulmona becomes an opportunity to rest after a long day, cradled by the train.
The Trans-Siberian of Italy has not traveled continuously since that distant September 1897. In the eighties this line was included in the Italian railway routes to be decommissioned, but what seemed to be its end, December 10, 2011, the day of the last ordinary journey, it was the beginning of a process which, with the reopening of the historic route in 2014, gave it a second youth.
Today it is the first Italian tourist railway by number of passengers transported: in 2019 29 thousand people traveled on it and in 2020, in just a month and a half of opening due to the pandemic, seven thousand presences were still recorded. The will of Alessandro Margiotta and the passion of many people who, like him, decided to mobilize against the closure that December eleven years ago, have saved the fate of a railway line that has now become a tourist heritage.
B&b L’annunziata
A three-story building houses six warm and welcoming mini-apartments with independent entrances and furnished like the houses of yesteryear.
The home of the falconer
Comfortable and elegant rooms in a Bourbon building. The name is a tribute to Frederick II of Swabia and his son Manfredi, lovers of falconry and Sulmona.
Six stars
The structure is crossed by the arches of the medieval aqueduct and the rooms recall the coats of arms of the villages and districts of the chivalrous tournament of Sulmona.