Villa Vomano is a small village in the province of Teramo

Province of Teramo

The Province of Teramo is located in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Teramo. The province has an area of 1,948 km², a population of 296,063 , and is subdivided into 47 comunes , see Comunes of the Province of Teramo...

, in the Abruzzo

Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

 region of central Italy. It is a frazione

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

of the town of Teramo

Teramo

Teramo is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo.The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines and the Adriatic coast...

.

Geography

The village lies about 10 miles from Teramo, the provincial capital. It sits on the left bank of the Vomano River along State Road 81. Villa Vomano is midway between the Adriatic Sea

Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 and Monti della Laga

Monti della Laga

Monti della Laga is a mountain range in the central Apennines, Italy. Their ruggedness and inaccessibility makes them one of the lesser known areas of the Italian peninsula.-Geography:...

 hills which eventually lead to the Gran Sasso

Gran Sasso

Gran Sasso d'Italia is a mountain located in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The Gran Sasso forms the centerpiece of the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park which was established in 1993 and holds the highest mountains in continental Italy south of the Alps and is part of the...

.

History

A stone bridge connects Villa Vomano to the adjacent village of Val Vomano sitting on the opposite bank of the Vomano river. This bridge was the scene of an event deemed by many to be miraculous in nature. A bus filled with tourists making a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows had a tragic accident and slid nearly completely off the bridge. For some time it remained precariously balanced 35 feet above the Vomano River below and a rescue mission ended in success. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured and in appreciation a statue dedicated to the saint was erected along one of the banks of the river.

Given its close proximity to the highway running from Teramo

Teramo

Teramo is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo.The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines and the Adriatic coast...

 to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Villa Vomano in recent years has increased greatly in population and witnessed a good deal of building construction.