Casa Rossetti is the birthplace of the poet Gabriele Rossetti, born in Vasto on 18 February 1783, who died an exile in London. It stands on the Loggia Amblingh, the panoramic walk of the Santa Maria Maggiore district, level with Porta Catena. It is a tall building, rising five floors above a ground floor that was once a hayloft; because of its high position it is thought to have been built next to a military structure. Nicola Rossetti and Maria Francesca Pietrocola lived here, and here their sons were born: Andrea, a canon and orator, Antonio, a poet, Domenico, a philosopher, physician and lawyer, and lastly Gabriele, who lived here at least until he was twenty and recalled the house fondly in his memoirs.
What to see
The house was restored in the early twentieth century and held the town library; in 1924 it was declared a national monument and in 1929 it was given to the town council. A thorough restoration in 1952 adapted it to the library, taking away part of its original appearance. Today it is the seat of the Centro studi rossettiani: the library's main room was created by Pompeo Giannantonio, one of the first scholars of Rossetti.
The house keeps the main archive on the Rossetti family: manuscripts by Gabriele and by his brothers Domenico and Andrea, and some works by Dante Gabriel and William Michael Rossetti, the poet's sons. The Rossetti collection numbers about twenty-two thousand volumes.
Visiting
The room on the Loggia Amblingh was redone in 2011 for an exhibition devoted to the poet. Opening times and access to the study centre should be checked with Vasto town council.
Our editors' tip
In 1893 William Michael Rossetti came to visit his father's house and on that occasion gave the Vasto library the manuscript of his father's commentary on Dante's Purgatorio, written during the years of exile in London and published only in 1966.
