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00 Capestrano
Stemma di Capestrano

Abruzzo · L'Aquila

Capestrano

A hilltop village above the Tirino valley, where in 1934 a farmer turned up the 6th-century BC limestone Warrior of Capestrano.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
50 min from Pescara
Population
833

Known for

  • WARRIOR

    The 6th-century BC limestone Vestini warrior unearthed in a field at Cinturelli in 1934, now in the Chieti archaeological museum.

  • PICCOLOMINI

    13th-century hilltop castle owned in turn by the Medici and the Piccolomini, controlling the Tirino valley.

  • TIRINO

    Spring-fed river running clear below the town, navigable by canoe through olive and almond country.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J10°
  • F13°
  • M13°
  • A16°
  • M22°
  • J27°
  • J31°
  • A30°
  • S25°
  • O21°
  • N15°
  • D12°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Giovanni da Capestrano, 23 October

Why come

Capestrano sits on a hill above the Tirino river valley, eight hundred residents inside the borders of the Gran Sasso National Park. In September 1934 a farmer working a field at nearby Cinturelli unearthed a 2. 1-meter limestone statue of a helmeted warrior, now identified as a 6th-century BC depiction of an early Italic king of the Vestini tribe, sculpted by Aninis.

The Warrior of Capestrano was moved to the National Archaeological Museum of the Abruzzi in Chieti, and the discovery triggered excavations that produced thirty-three tombs and a companion piece known as the Lady of Capestrano. The town itself is dominated by the Castello Piccolomini, built in the 13th century by the Medici and later passed to the Piccolomini family. Below the town, the springs of the Tirino feed one of the cleanest short rivers in Italy. The Abbey of San Pietro ad Oratorium stands four kilometers away, a 9th-century foundation rebuilt by the Lombards.

The Sunday letter

Capestrano is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Capestrano comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.

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Read on

Capestrano in our articles

How to get there

From Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 2h 25m by car.

Rome (FCO) is about 2h 39m away.

By car from the centre of Pescara 50 minutes or Ancona 2h 20m.

Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Capestrano is about 51 minutes away by road.

Capestrano, photo 1
Capestrano, photo 2

What to see

  • Castello Piccolomini

    13th-century castle on the hill next to the Tirino river, later owned by the Medici and the Piccolomini families.

  • Abbazia di San Pietro ad Oratorium

    Lombard-era abbey four kilometers from town, founded in the 8th century and rebuilt with characteristic stone masonry.

  • Sito di Cinturelli

    Field where the Warrior of Capestrano was unearthed in 1934, alongside thirty-three Italic tombs and the Lady of Capestrano statue.

  • Sorgenti del Tirino

    Spring system in the valley below town, source of one of the cleanest short rivers in Italy, navigable by canoe.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Capestrano fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

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Living here

  • Population 833, down 8.4% since 2015
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Nearest public hospital Popoli Terme, 12 km as the crow flies
  • Full fibre reaches 90% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
  • Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 2 h 25 min drive
  • Regional capital L'Aquila, 56 min drive

Could you live here?

Capestrano is at the end of the road.

  • A village of 833. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Pratola Peligna, is 35 minutes away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
  • Chieti, a city of 48,455, is 40 minutes by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.

The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City. The rest of the series, and the best towns to move to, arrive in the Sunday letter.

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Common questions

What is Capestrano known for?
Capestrano is a hilltop village at 465 meters above the Tirino valley, where in 1934 a farmer turned up the 6th-century BC limestone Warrior of Capestrano.
Where is Capestrano?
Capestrano is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo.
What is the nearest airport to Capestrano?
Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 2h 25m by car.
How long is the drive from Pescara to Capestrano?
About 50 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Capestrano?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Capestrano?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Giovanni da Capestrano, 23 October.
Which other towns are like Capestrano?
Roccamorice, Roccacasale and Corfinio.
How many people live in Capestrano?
833 at the 2023 count.
Is Capestrano a good place to live?
By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Capestrano is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Pratola Peligna, is 35 minutes away. The nearest city, Chieti, is 40 minutes away by car. The nearest public hospital is in Popoli Terme, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 90% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

  • Elevation: 465 m
  • Population: 833
  • Surface area: 43.66 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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