Medieval and Renaissance hill towns Abruzzo

the fortress of civitella visited monument in abruzzo



view of casoli



roccascalegna fortress



medieval village of scanno

abruzzo holds many of italy s best-preserved medieval , renaissance hill towns rival in umbria , tuscany. abruzzo boasts indeed twenty of beautiful villages in italy, 2nd umbria has 22. these awards not aesthetic beauty art , culture, historical importance , livability. abrupt decline of abruzzo s agricultural economy in mid-20th-century saved of region s beautiful hill towns onslaught of modern development. many lie entirely within regional , national parks. among preserved castel del monte , santo stefano di sessanio, lie in gran sasso national park on edge of high plain of campo imperatore , nestled beneath apennines highest peaks; both hill towns, ruled medicis on century-and-a-half, have relatively little tourism. between 2 towns sits rocca calascio, ruin of ancient fortress popular film makers. both monteferrante , roccascalegna 2 best-representing abruzzo villages in province of chieti. within gran sasso national park found castelli, ancient pottery center artisans produced ceramics of royal houses of europe. civitella del tronto played crucial role in history of unification of italy. fortress of civitella today visited monument in whole abruzzo region. other medieval hill towns located within abruzzo s park system pacentro in maiella national park , pescasseroli in abruzzo national park. pacentro, features 14th-century castle 2 intact towers, has been little touched modernization. shrine of gabriel of our lady of sorrows, in province of teramo, average of 2 million visitors per year 1 of 15 visited sanctuaries in world. capestrano, small characteristic town in province of l aquila, hometown of saint john of capistrano, franciscan friar , catholic priest, namesake of franciscan missions san juan capistrano in southern california, mission mission san juan capistrano (texas) , city of san juan capistrano in orange county.

the duomo of san flaviano, centre of ideal city design of giulia.

in last twenty years, studies showed giulia (the name of city founded in 1471 giulio antonio acquaviva) example of renaissance ideal city, following experiment of pienza (1462), , new theaching of leon battista alberti , francesco di giorgio martini. s thought project realized baccio pontelli in first time , same francesco di giorgio martini in second, because of bond between founder of giulia , important courts of time (urbino in specific). these names has been retracted , studies underway.

the proximity rome, protected natural reserves , landscapes award region greenest in europe, presence of of beautiful italian villages, rich , heterogeneous gastronomy along long history of deep-rooted local tradition , authentic italian culture make abruzzo rank fifth among italian regions tourist arrivals after calabria, marche, sardinia , trentino. in 2010, arrivals totalled 6,381,067 italian , 925,884 foreign.

in 2015, american organization live , invest overseas included abruzzo in list of world s top 21 overseas retirement havens. study based on such factors climate, infrastructure, health care, safety, taxes, cost of living , more.