Pacentro
Member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia
Three square towers of the Caldora castle still rise over Pacentro, a stone village on low hills above the Peligna valley and Sulmona, just below Monte Morrone. Its lanes hold baroque churches, an 18th-century fountain carved with human faces and the house of Madonna's grandparents, who emigrated in 1919. Each September the village's young people race barefoot down a rough hillside in the Corsa degli Zingari.
Highlights
- Castello Caldora, Norman in origin and strengthened by Jacopo Caldora and the Orsini
- The Corsa degli Zingari, a barefoot race on the first Sunday of September
- Santa Maria Maggiore, with a white stone baroque façade and slender medieval bell tower
- A medieval fresco of Pope Celestine V on the façade of San Marcello
- Walks in the Majella National Park, known here for its mountain springs
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Pacentro (IT), Pacentro (EN)), Wikivoyage (Pacentro). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 1,083
Things to see
Events through the year
- Feast of Saint Mark the EvangelistFeast of the town's original patron saint
- Feast of Our Lady of Mercy
- Corpus Domini processionProcession past altars set up around the village
- Matrimonio dei CaldoreschiMedieval week ending with Jacopo Caldora's wedding re-enacted at the castle
- Corsa degli ZingariYoung men race barefoot down a rocky hillside to the Madonna di Loreto church
- Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
- Feast of Saint Charles BorromeoProcession and a giant hot air balloon inflated in Piazza Jaringhi
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Adapted from Wikipedia (Pacentro (EN), Pacentro (IT)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Specialities of Abruzzo
Typical of the region rather than of this village.
- Confetti di SulmonaSweet
Ventricina vastesePublic domainVentricinaCured meat
Adapted from Wikipedia (Cucina abruzzese). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
3 places to stay within 3 km
- B&Bs and guest houses 2
- Campsites 1
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Thermal baths nearby
- Thermal spa: Terme Alte · ~45 min by car
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Pettorano sul Gizio · 8.7 km
- Introdacqua · 8.9 km
- Bugnara · 11 km
- Caramanico Terme · 11 km
- Palena · 14 km