Collarmele,
Province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italia
HISTORY
AND INTRODUCTION TO COLLARMELE
Collarmele,
a town in L'Aquila, Italy, is the ancestral home of our Cipriani
family. A town has existed on the site since ancient times.
The earliest settlement on the site was known as Cerfennia.
The larger area was known as Marsica, or the land of the Marso
people, and was located around Lake Fucino. Marsica had well
defined borders which are known even today. Lake Fucino was
drained in the late 1800s, and is now the valley that sits below
Collarmele. The outline of the former lake is clearly distinguishable
on a modern map of the area.
It is unclear
what relationship the early Marsos had with the ancient Romans.
It is known that the Marsos rebelled against the Romans in 308
B.C., when the Romans tried to establish a town named "Carseolis"
in Marsica. The Marsos lost to the Romans and ceded land for
the creation of what is today Carsoli, a town near Collarmele.
It seems probable that Cerfennia existed by this point in time.
From 308
BC to 91 AD, the Marsos were allies of the Romans, even during
the Roman war campaigns. Cerfennia emerged as one of the four
most important fortified towns in Marsica. Two of the others
were the principal city of Marruvio (today's San Benedetto)
and Alba Fucense (where ruins exist today).
It is unclear
if the Marsos or the Romans built the wall around Cerfennia,
but it is known that the town was located directly along the
Roman Consular road Via Valeria, just as modern Collarmele is
located along this road. As all Roman Consular roads, Via Valeria
began in Rome at the so-called "umbilical cord", which
is still distinguishable in the Roman Forum. Different segments
of the Via Valeria were constructed in different eras and by
different emperors. However, Cerfennia was the endpoint of an
important segment and had an important station on the road.
From Cerfennia, Emperor Claudius extended this road out to Chieti
in the first half of the First Century, A.D.
The exact
relationship between Roman Cerfennia and Collis Armelis, which
succeeded it, is also unclear. However, the two towns refer
to the same inhabited center in the same essential location,
even though it is presumed that at some point Cerfennia came
to a distinct end. The new Collis Armelis is believed to have
emerged at the same spot, but no significant ruins have ever
been found of Cerfennia. Modern construction digs in Collarmele
have turned up some evidence of a necropolis. It is possible
though that some of the ruins were re-used in the construction
of Collarmele, and the remainder could easily have washed away
due to Collarmele's hillside-basin location. Another possibility
is that Cerfennia was destroyed in an earthquake.
Local habitation
again appears in historical records, when two Benedictine monasteries
were built in the general vicinity of Collarmelem in the 700s/800s
A.D. A refuge house or hospital was also built in the area,
and all three establishments are mentioned in papal records
from the 1100s. These three facilities were eventually destroyed
by warfare or fire, over the centuries.
One theory
has been advanced concerning the emergence of the town of Collis
Armelis on the site of ancient Cerfennia. In the 800s/900s A.D.,
about ten small neighborhoods or segments were unified into
one inhabited center. The ten neighborhoods are historically
known and recognized places within the town. After the unification,
Collis Armelis was a minor feudal territory under the Celano
division of the Marsica province. Through the centuries, as
various wars occurred, Collis Armelis received mention in several
historical and religious records. For example, diocesan histories
note the existence of the Collarmele church by the beginning
of the eleventh century: "Ecclesia Sanctae Felicitatis
in Cerfennia".
In the
1300s, the Spanish King Alfonso I ordered the construction of
migration paths for shepherds. The phenomenon of the historical,
seasonal migration of shepherds is well-known and is termed
"la transumanza". One such path began in Celano, near
Collarmele, stopped and continued through Collarmele, and ended
in Foggia (Puglia). These paths had distinct, interconnecting
routes, sanctuaries and stopping points along the way, exact
dates for the migratory schedule, and even administrative control
from Foggia.
In the
1500s, Collarmele's tower was constructed by a Count from Celano,
who presumed to be a descendant of the Norman invaders and rulers
from the 1000s to 1200s A.D. Collarmele continued to be a minor
feudal territory under Celano through the 1700s A.D.
In more
modern times, a carriage road was built from Avezzano to Sulmona
in 1873, often following the Via Valeria and passing through
"new" Collarmele on what is today the main street,
Via Nazionale. In 1881, roads were extended from Avezzano to
Tivoli, towards Rome. In 1888, the Roma-Sulmona train line opened,
with a stop in Collarmele. In 1902, the train line connected
to Avezzano and Sora and on to Naples.
Unfortunately,
Collarmele is prone to earthquakes. One possible explanation
for the destruction of ancient Cerfennia is that an earthquake
occurred, though unrecorded in historical records. Major earthquakes
are known to have struck the area in 1348, 1450, 1458 and 1706.
And, of course, a serious and tragic earthquake struck Collarmele
on January 13, 1915. Among the many victims was our ancestor,
Maria Grazia Milo Cipriani.
Collarmele
lies at 883 meters above sea level, at a cut in the mountains
that is known for being windy. The earthquake hit very early
in the morning, and it was an extremely cold day. The quake
only lasted 5-6 seconds, but destroyed the old church, the old
town hall, the old Carabinieri station and basically the entire
remainder of the town. While the old tower remains, much of
old Collarmele was left in ruins. The circular main road of
old Collarmele is still intact and passable today.
Census
records from 1893 and 1914 reflect that the population of Collarmele
oscillated between roughly 2,200 and 2,300 inhabitants. On the
day of the earthquake in 1915, 555 people died in Collarmele.
In the entire region, 28,257 people died in this earthquake.
Collarmele suffered the second largest number of deaths, after
the much larger nearby city of Avezzano. Soldiers were brought
in to help the injured. In the immediate aftermath of the quake,
one local priest drove from town to town in the mountains, collecting
orphans who were at great risk due to weather exposure. The
orphans were eventually taken to an orphanage in Rome.
An interview
in 2002 with one of the town elders provides a description of
the scene in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Some
residents just left the ruins of their old homes behind, while
others stayed and took up residence in the best of the vacant
ruins, regardless of ownership.
The local
church records suffered serious losses as well in the 1915 earthquake.
Only a few of the church record books were pulled from the ruins
of the old church. Similarly, the existing civil records were
pulled from the ruins of the old town hall, and no civil records
survive which are older than the early 1800s. No duplicates
of the Collarmele church records have been found in the Diocese
records. The diocesan records were housed in Pescina until the
1915 earthquake, but were then transferred to the Diocese seat
in Avezzano. These records do have some historical significance
as ecclesiastical records of the former Papal States. According
to contemporary witnesses, some of the civil records which were
rescued from the earthquake were then burned by German occupying
troops in the Second World War.
Parenthetically,
microfilm of the remaining Collarmele records is available through
the LDS Family History Library. Our family has built a collection
of photocopies of every available Collarmele record concerning
a Cipriani, and has categorized each known Collarmele Cipriani
in our family tree. The results have been disseminated, and
represent the source of some of the Cipriani family trees now
found elsewhere.
The building
of the "new" town of Collarmele began after the earthquake.
The new town was built slightly up the hill from where old Collarmele
ended, and sits rather squarely on the site of ancient Cerfennia
and where Via Valeria and the "transumanza" path passed
the old town. The first two decades after the earthquake were
very hard times in Collarmele. The initial dwellings for the
survivors were rudimentary. During this time, farmers were forced
to haul their grain to Pescina for the nearest grinding mill.
The only available method for cooking heat in Collarmele at
this time was burning wood. The wood was brought to Collarmele
by vendors from a nearby town with forested land. Construction
of permanent homes began in earnest in the 1930s, but public
electricity for the entire town was not inaugurated until Christmas
Day, 1971.
Today, Collarmele
has about 1,070 residents, as emigration, war and earthquakes
have taken their toll. Collarmele's livelihood today is apparently
based on husbandry, particularly almonds, grains, sugarbeets,
sheep, goat, cows and chickens. Sheep were once very numerous,
but sheep farming is in decline. Collarmele remains in demand,
however.
Much of
the local culture and folklore endures in Collarmele, notwithstanding
the natural disaster in 1915. First of all, nicknames are widely
used to refer to people in Collarmele. For example, our ancestor
Beniamino Cipriani was known by his nickname of "u pain",
according to Signora Assuntina, the 97 year old matriarch of
Collarmele in 2002. This nickname apparently had some meaning
in local dialect at one time, but no longer has any meaning.
The Italian
spoken in Collarmele is a local dialect which varies a great
deal from mainstream Italian. However, the dialect has incorporated
some English words, apparently as a result of the coming-and-going
with the USA.
A few other
points of tradition can be summarized. The residents of the
old town, and even the residents of the new town in the early
decades of the twentieth century played a game called "ruzzola"
along the old "transumanza" paths. "Ruzzola"
is the name given to a large wheel of cheese tied up in string
for the game. The same string extended to and was tied around
the right wrists of two contenders in the game. They would run
along the path, tossing the cheese ahead with the string and
vying against each other to seize the cheese, if you please.
The two sides of the path would be lined with spectators who
might place bets on the game. Children would run behind the
competitors, vying for the cheese crumbs that would break off.
Another
interesting local practice was the work of the "bando".
Town officials would hire a person to be the "banditore",
who would walk around town, stop at key spots, sound off with
a small trumpet, pause and then shout out important announcements.
The banditore would shout out the types of notices found today
in newspapers, on the radio or posted on a bill.
Collarmele
families also had the habit of hanging wreaths, braids and weaves
of fruits and vegetables from their balconies to dry in the
sun. This was done in part for decoration, as the weaves included
ornate combinations of colors.
Finally,
Collarmele has a bit of an unusual tradition as a place of evil
and evil doers. A local author in 1735 described the existence
of evil spirits. Other authors refer to stories of ambushes,
cruel deaths and banditry in Collarmele. In 1987, an article
was published in "Rivista Abruzzese", a regional cultural
review magazine, about Collarmele. The magazine article, entitled
"The Generation of the Deicides: A Collarmele Legend",
cites two authors who wrote in 1915 and 1924 about popular proverbs,
myths, legends and superstitions of Abruzzo. According to the
article, the inhabitants of Collarmele traditionally referred
to themselves as the persecutors of Jesus Christ. They called
themselves disparagingly "Nchiavacriste de Collarmele",
which roughly translates as Nail Drivers into Christ of Collarmele.
The 1987 magazine article hypothesizes that early Collarmele
inhabitants blamed themselves for some natural misfortune, such
as drought, earthquake, flood, poverty, etc., and took this
name upon themselves as an internalization of this blame.
The Catholic
Church in Collarmele does not deny the use of such disparaging
names, but claims they were invented by nearby towns. The local
priest explains that some regional traditions hold that Pontius
Pilate was from ancient Sannio in the region of Molise bordering
Abruzzo. As a result, the local church argues that the practice
of attributing the blame for the murder of Jesus became indiscriminate
among the towns in the general region.
The foregoing
history is based in part on a book entitled "Collarmele:Ieri…e…Oggi"
(Collarmele: Yesterday and Today) by Father Francesco Prosia,
1994, as translated and summarized by Don Cipriani. Additional
information about Collarmele and its environs was also compiled
by Don Cipriani. Edited by Gary Gaertner
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