"Sulmo mihi patria est" — Sulmona is my homeland. Publius Ovidius Naso wrote that in exile on the Black Sea, 2,000 years ago, homesick for this valley in the center of the Abruzzo mountains. Today Sulmona is three things: Ovid's city (statue in the piazza, festival in his name). The CONFETTI capital (Jordan almonds — the sugared almonds given at Italian weddings, baptisms, and communions, made here since the 15th century, the factories still running). And the site of the Madonna che Scappa — an Easter tradition where a statue of the Madonna RUNS across Piazza Garibaldi to embrace the risen Christ, her black mourning veil flying off to reveal green underneath. The piazza erupts. Doves are released. Fireworks explode. This has happened every Easter since at least the 17th century.
Piazza Garibaldi: One of Italy's most beautiful squares — the medieval aqueduct runs along one side (1256, still standing, 21 arches), the market fills the piazza Wednesday and Saturday, and on Easter Sunday the Madonna runs. The Corso Ovidio: Main street, named for the poet. Confetti shops every 20 meters — the confetti are shaped into FLOWERS, displayed in windows like botanical exhibits. Confetti Pelino (Via Introdacqua 55 — since 1783, museum+factory, free to visit, buy confetti shaped into roses, sunflowers, bouquets). Confetti Mario Pelino (same family, different branch — the rivalry between Pelino branches is a Sulmonese soap opera).
Complesso dell'Annunziata: Gothic-Renaissance palazzo + church — the facade is Sulmona's finest architecture. The Museo Civico inside. Ovid: Statue in Piazza XX Settembre. Not much else remains of Roman Sulmo, but the POET remains — the author of the Metamorphoses, the Ars Amatoria (the Art of Love — banned by Augustus, which got Ovid exiled), the Heroides. He wrote about love with more precision than any Roman before or since. Augustus exiled him for it. He never came home. Sulmona never forgot.
From Rome: Car via A25 (1.5h). Train Roma Tiburtina→Sulmona (2h, scenic Aniene valley route). Combine with: Scanno (30 min — heart-shaped lake + beautiful borgo). Campo Imperatore (45 min). Santo Stefano di Sessanio (40 min). Easter: The Madonna che Scappa happens at noon on Easter Sunday. Arrive early. The piazza fills by 11am. The most emotional public religious event in Abruzzo.