Pescocostanzo

It’s hard to imagine a center of such small size (about 1,500 inhabitants) and in such a high position that collects in it many elements of historical importance, artistic and cultural heritage, an exceptional heritage of monuments, alongside the undoubted natural beauty of the places and the rich flora and fauna and woodland of the environment.

The center of the town is a collection of works of art: from Renaissance, Baroque and neoclassical monuments perfectly preserved, to those jewels of popular architecture, houses with ‘vignale’ (with the steps and the exterior landing, which allow the access to the home), the ineffective urban layout of the past, a social phenomena not distorted by the novelties, which make it an exceptional feature in this area and have been a subject of study by universities, art, urbanists. The most important monument is the Basilica of Santa Maria del Colle (sec. XIV-XV), one of the most interesting churches in Abruzzo for its magnificent works of art.

Do not miss the portal of the Renaissance, the coffered ceilings in carved wood, the monumental organ with a stage – also in carved wood, gilded and painted – the baptismal font from the 18th century in inlaid marble and carved. Riscendendo down toward the “Deep” not to be missed is the communal palace dating back to the sixteenth century in stone, with the railings of the balconies ‘panciute’ in wrought iron. Passing to the workshop of the ancient pharmacy and for the slaughterhouse sixteenth-century it then comes to the Fontana Maggiore, Renaissance also, with fine bas-reliefs. To visit because small and collection, the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine (1645), in the homonymous square, the Palazzetto Moscow that from the XVI century to 1860 hosted a school of philosophy, theology and canon law. These are only some of the monuments in the country that offers many other palaces (Sabatini San Venditto, Trozzi, De Capita – with defensive towers – , Mansi, Grillo, Colecchi, Colabrese, Ricciardelli, Pitasso, Moscow), churches and native houses of men of culture and artists of every epoch.

Center of ancient handicraft tradition, it offers to the visitor a variety of renowned artisan products (watermark, jewelry, wrought iron, carved wood, etc.) but also the abundance of zootechnical products and developed tourist equipment for summer and winter. The ski resort of Vallefura, offers the possibility of beautiful slopes.

The Sant’Antonio Wood, near Pescocostanzo, represents a starting point for excursions and horse riding and picnics in summer, while in winter is an ideal place for cross-country skiing and hiking, safeguarded in its form by the citizens and local institutions, and it is considered as “sacred” woods. Pescocostanzo has won the International Carlo Scarpa Award for the Garden in 2012, which has been awarded to this kind of landscape for the first time. The wood, is important for the continuity of fauna among the large protected areas (National Parks of Abruzzo and Majella). The wood is populated by a rare avifauna and small mammals but it is also a place of passage for the brown bear, deer, roe deer, the wolf.