All the monuments in L'Aquila
The landmarks and masterpieces worth planning a day around.
NatureCampo ImperatoreLittle Tibet plateau, Corno Grande backdrop, Mussolini's 1943 prison hotel, observatory, high pasturesCampo Imperatore is the high plateau of the Gran Sasso, some 18 kilometers long and up to 8 wide, between about 1,500 and 2,100 meters, and locals call it Little Tibet after the mountaineer Fosco Maraini compared it to a Tibetan valley. It is a wide, treeless pasture that turns green in June, grazed by sheep and horses, under the rock wall of Corno Grande, the highest peak of the Apennines. At the top of the cable car stands the hotel where Mussolini was held prisoner in 1943 before his rescue by German paratroopers under Otto Skorzeny; beside it are an astronomical observatory and an alpine botanical garden. Spaghetti Westerns and Ladyhawke were shot here.Plan the visit
Basilica di Santa Maria di CollemaggioBasilica of CollemaggioPink and white façade, Celestine V's tomb, Holy Door and the PerdonanzaThe basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio was founded in 1288 by Pietro da Morrone, the hermit monk who was crowned pope here in 1294 as Celestine V and resigned a few months later. Its façade is the most recognizable in Abruzzo, a checkerboard of pink and white stone that glows in the evening light. Inside, three bare naves with octagonal pillars and pointed arches show what the church looked like once Baroque additions were removed. Celestine's tomb, carved by Girolamo da Vicenza in 1517, is in a side chapel. Each year on 28 and 29 August the Holy Door is opened for the Perdonanza, a pardon proclaimed by Celestine in 1294, six years before Rome's first Holy Year.
Cunicoli di ClaudioHidden GemTunnels of ClaudiusClaudius's six-kilometer emissary, Lake Fucino drainage, Monte Salviano shafts, guided underground walkThe Tunnels of Claudius are the emissary the emperor Claudius ordered to drain the Fucine Lake, a project run from about 41 to 52 AD by tens of thousands of workers. The main channel runs for more than six kilometers under Monte Salviano, linked to the surface by shafts and inclined service tunnels, and for centuries it was the longest tunnel in the world. Claudius's engineers were never fully successful, and the lake was finally drained in the nineteenth century under Alessandro Torlonia, who restored the Roman work. Today an archaeological park protects the site, and the visit is a guided walk into the Ferraro gallery and out along the drainage channel. Hard hats and non-slip shoes are required.
Fontana delle 99 CannelleFountain of the 99 SpoutsNinety-nine carved masks, unknown spring source, 1272 founding legend, checkerboard stone wallsNinety-nine carved stone masks have poured water into this trapezoidal courtyard since 1272, one spout for each of the villages local tradition credits with founding L'Aquila under Frederick II's federation of Abruzzese communities. No one has ever traced the underground source that feeds them, a mystery the fountain has kept for more than seven centuries. The three retaining walls, faced in a checkerboard of white and pink stone, step down below street level, so the fountain reveals itself only as visitors descend toward it. The 1703 earthquake that killed over three thousand people in L'Aquila left the fountain largely unscathed, and it survived the 2009 earthquake as well, remaining the city's most visited monument through every disaster.
More within reach
Monuments a day trip away, elsewhere in Abruzzo.
Santo Stefano di SessanioSanto Stefano di SessanioMedici mountain borgo, scattered-hotel revival, lentil terraces, stone lanes intact
AtriAtri CathedralAndrea De Litio fresco cycle, Abruzzo's Sistine choir, Roman cistern crypt, calanchi badlands setting
CalascioRocca CalascioApennine fortress at 1,460 meters, Gran Sasso views, film location (Ladyhawke), Santa Maria della Pietà chapel
ScannoLake ScannoHeart-shaped lake, Sentiero del Cuore viewpoint, Sagittario gorges, Scanno's costume and goldsmith tradition
SulmonaHidden GemAbbey of San Clemente a Casauria1191 bronze doors, Romanesque facade, Benedictine foundation of 871, Antiquarium museum
SulmonaHidden GemCastello CaldoraSquare and round towers, double walls, Torre del Re terrace, Majella views
FossacesiaHidden GemCastello di RoccascalegnaCliffside silhouette, 12th-16th century fortress, feudal legend, Sangro valley views
FossacesiaHidden GemSan Giovanni in Venere AbbeyAdriatic hilltop setting, Roman-column crypt, 13th-century apse frescoes, Passionist community since 1954