Located very near Frondarola is Santa Maria di Ponte a Porto, an ancient church associated with the parish of S. Salvatore.   S. Maria contains some fresco paintings that date back to the 1400’s.  A mass is said at this church from time to time by a priest from Frondarola.  Locals call the church Santa Maria ad Pontem in the local dialect. Inside one can see a 15th century fresco depicting The Madonna along with Saints Rocco and Sebastian.

The church sits on a site where one had to pay a small customs duty in order to cross the nearby river, the Tordino.   The name “a port’ (lit: “at the port”) may well derive from the fact that both a (sea)port and this location are places where one would encounter a good number of diverse people.  Others believe the name derives from the fact that the Tordino was once an abundant waterway making it possible for barges to carry wood S. Maria di Ponte a Porto to Teramo and beyond.   During WWII German soldiers used the church as a storage location for ammunition.

Up until 1920 this was the location of an animal auction featuring the exchange of a great number of  sheep, cows, and other animals.   It was held annually in the month of August.    Sheep purchased at this auction were often herded to the region of Puglia in a great migration called the “transumanza”.   The giant herds would before until spring of the following year.   About 1920 the animal auction was moved closer to Frondala before finally dying out in the 1960’s and 70’s.

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