Sito archeologico Ercole Curino
Sulmona
The temple dedicated to Curian Hercules rises on a sacred area frequented uninterruptedly by pagans (the earliest evidences are rock-paintings discovered in a few caves at the foot of Monte Morrone) and by Christians, who occupied the area above, where there is the Celestinian hermitage of Sant'Onofrio. Situated on the main cattle-track that connects L'Aquila to Foggia, since its foundation in the II-I century B.C the temple had given hospitality to shepherds and sheep looking for Hercules's protection. The structure develops on two levels: a lower terrace and an upper one. The latter includes the remains of an arcade, a little temple, whose mosaic floors are decorated with sea-scenes, and a stone fountain carved in the rock. The lower terrace consisted of fourteenth barrel-vaulted rooms, most likely intended for commercial activity. The temple was deserted in the II century A.D., when a landslide made it inaccessible; an excavation carried out in the Fifties of the XX century brought to light the sanctuary, which, since the Middle Ages had been mistaken for Ovid's suburban villa.
Address
Località Badia
67039 Sulmona
Information
www.archeoabruzzo.beniculturali.it
sba-abr@beniculturali.it
Ph: +39 087 132951
Full: free admission