At Celante di Castelnovo, a steep path leads to the Church of Collemonaco, dedicated to San Daniele. The first construction dates back to the fourteenth century. Destroyed by the 1976 earthquake, it was rebuilt and the new bell tower contains three bells, with an adventurous history, evidence of the attachment to the village and the church of the inhabitants of Celante. The first two bells were purchased at the end of the 19th century, on the initiative and thanks to the sacrifices of women in particular, who collected money by selling eggs at the market. Thus the sum needed to pay the De Poli foundry in Udine was reached and in 1894 the little church of Celante also had its bells.
During the occupation of the Austro-German troops in the Great War, thanks to a trick, the population managed to save them from confiscation by burying them and forging the papers. After the Second World War, however, the legendary bells were in danger of being taken away after the church and bell tower collapsed in the earthquake. Once again, it was the people of Celano who wanted to keep them in Collemonaco. A fundraiser was set up and many people contributed both financially and with their own work to the reconstruction of the earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete building. The new church was inaugurated in 1991. In addition to the two bells, a third bell from 1925 was added from the bell tower of San Carlo in Paludea.
The story is narrated in detail in the booklet Le campane di Collemonaco, edited by Giorgio Galante and Cristina Zannier, 2003.
Vito d’Asio
The Arzino between pools and waterfalls
The Arzino stream is one of the last Alpine watercourses to retain
