There are places you visit.
And then there are places that you feel.
Castelvecchio Calvisio is one of those villages you fall in love with straight away, as soon as you breathe in its scent and absorb its colours. At a thousand metres altitude, embraced by the Tirino Valley and with its gaze turned towards the peaks of the Gran Sasso, this small village, with its 70 inhabitants, seems suspended between sky and stone, between memory and rebirth.
Strolling through the alleys of Castelvecchio Calvisio
You fall in love with its dress made of winding streets that chase each other, sudden arches, multi-level houses connected by the famous stone staircases, the barbicans, which climb like living veins along the ancient walls. But what makes Castelvecchio truly unique is its elliptical shape, an intersected decuman spine, an almost perfect geometric harmony that shields the heart of the village in a stone embrace.
Entering the ancient part, the magic becomes palpable. The alleyways open up with almost mathematical precision to the right and left of the main street. Silence hangs suspended in the fresh air descending from the Gran Sasso and accompanies your steps, as you venture with respect into the wrinkles of the village. Here, time doesn't rush; it's breathed in.
It's a country still in the process of rebuilding. The 2009 earthquake left deep scars, but each month Castelvecchio reveals a fragment of its most beautiful attire. The wounds are healing, and among the corners, only a few traces remain of a pain that today transforms into resilience.
Climbing the stone steps, the view suddenly opens up to the landscape. And in the distance, majestic and silent, Rocca Calascio appears, like a medieval mirage watching over these heights.
Strolling through the alleyways, besides the perfect architectural distribution, you encounter poetic details such as old bicycles and garments transformed into flowerpots, explosions of warm colours that rest on the shades of the stone. Above, the sky envelops the roofs like a light blanket.
The city walls still retain their original passages. The gates tell stories of travellers and merchants, of protection and welcome: the Porta di Torre Maggiore, the Porta del Ponte Levatoio to the north-west, the remains of the gate to the south, and the Porta di San Martino, which became internal after the expansion of the walls. To pass through them today is to travel through centuries of history.
Among the most significant architectures are the Palazzo del Capitano, the heart of community events, and the Church of San Giovanni Battista, built on a previous fortification, of which it retains traces in its asymmetrical two-nave plan and in the loopholes on the facade. Not far from the town centre is the Church of San Cipriano, built on an ancient Roman temple, a place of very ancient worship, a parish church until 1478, still full of silent spirituality today.
To truly know the soul of the country, however, you must listen to its voices. Ask for Mr Antonio, the caretaker of the church of San Giovanni, and, above all, of collective memory. Among the curiosities he likes to recount is that of a small valley, along the paths towards the ruins of San Martino, San Cipriano and San Lorenzo, where between April and May the flowering of *Adonis vernalis*, the yellow pheasant's eye, explodes, a flower thought to have disappeared from Italy at the end of the nineteenth century. Little miracles that choose to show themselves only to those who know how to observe.
Castelvecchio is also a land of authentic flavours. Here, the cicerchia bean reigns supreme: harvested in the summer months, it is celebrated with the historic “Sagra della Cicerchia” (Cicerchia Festival), which began in the late seventies and is held on the second Sunday of August in the village streets. It is a festival that brings the community together and draws visitors from all over the region, transforming silence into conviviality. In hearty soups, flavourful side dishes, and maltagliati and tagliatelle pasta made with cicerchia flour, one rediscovers the honest taste of the Abruzzo mountains.
Castelvecchio Calvisio appears silent, almost shy. But as you pass through it, it slowly opens up, like an old door creaking softly. And when you leave, you realise something has remained lit inside: a small fire in your eyes, a subtle longing, the desire to return.
Why some places aren't just visited.
They bring them with them.
Our story began in the 1940s, in the mountains of Abruzzo, when we started cultivating our land with love and respect, following the rhythms of the earth and the seasons. Every seed planted and every ear of corn harvested tells the story of our family's passion, always convinced that authenticity comes from...
View moreThe Belvedere di Collepietro is one of the village's most suggestive viewpoints, offering a wide and immersive view of the surrounding area. From here, the view opens onto the valleys, the Gran Sasso mountains and the landscapes that characterise the Abruzzo Apennines. It is an ideal place to stop,...
View moreSidera Tredecim Collis Petri is a contemporary art installation that enriches the village of Collepietro with a strong symbolic value. The name, in Latin, recalls the “thirteen stone hills”, an identifying element of the village and its territorial conformation. The work represents a dialogue between past and present, between tradition and new...
View morePorta Gran Sasso is one of the main entrances to the village, oriented towards the majestic massif that dominates the L'Aquila area. This gate represents not only a physical access to the village, but also a visual and symbolic link with the mountain, a central element of the local identity. In the past, it was crossed by travellers,...
View more
Italian 
English