Abruzzo · L'Aquila
Castelvecchio Subequo
In the Subequana valley, the Roman Superaequum and Franciscan station where the saint himself was given land for a convent built between 1221 and 1261.
Picked by Peter Benei
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Why Castelvecchio Subequo is on our list
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 5 min from Pescara
- Population
- 810
- J10°
- F14°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A31°
- S26°
- O22°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The village sits on a rocky spur of Monte Putano, in the Subequana valley, on the footprint of Roman Superaequum, a municipal town of the Paeligni recorded by Pliny. Under the Lombards it was known as Onuffolo, and the Latin name returned under the Normans. The upper spur carries the ruined medieval castle that gave the place its present name, old castle, while the lower town grew up around the Franciscan convent after Francis of Assisi passed through the valley between 1216 and 1222 and was given a small church by the Counts of Celano.
Pope Celestine V stayed here in 1294, and the village has come to be called the little Assisi of Abruzzo. Between the Roman ruins below ground, the rock-cut catacombs among the oldest in the region, the castle above the roofs, and the convent that still draws the town's identity around it, the place reads as a settlement built in layers, each era leaving its marker rather than replacing what came before.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 2 h 1 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 2 h 40 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 1 h 5 min or Ancona 2 h 35 min.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Castelvecchio Subequo is about 1 h 7 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Convento di San Francesco
A national monument since 1902. The Giottesque frescoes cover the life of the saint across the interior, and the fabric of the building has stood since the Counts of Celano handed over the ground it sits on.
Museo d'Arte Sacra
Reliquaries, a 1403 altar cross, and the silver Pasquarella sculpture, also a gift of the Counts of Celano, kept in the convent's own museum rooms.
Catacombe paleocristiane
Cut directly into rock, this cemetery ranks among the earliest physical evidence of Christianity anywhere in Abruzzo.
Resti del castello medievale
The ruined fortification of Castelvetere stands on the upper rocky spur above the modern village, and gave the town its current name, meaning old castle.
Monte Sirente
A limestone massif rising directly behind the village, one of the highest points of the surrounding regional park.
Living here
Could you live here?
Castelvecchio Subequo is at the end of the road.
- A village of 810. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Pratola Peligna, is 32 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Chieti, a city of 48,403, is 55 min 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 · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 810, down 20% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Chieti, 55 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Popoli Terme, 10 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €360 to €510 per m² to buy, €1.20 to €1.60 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Fibre to the street cabinet; no full fibre mapped yet
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Pescara airport (PSR), 1 h 8 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 56 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. There are 527 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 62% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. L'Aquila province ranks 69th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Popoli Terme, 10 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 101 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in L'Aquila, 38 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 106 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Canadian College Italy, 56 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.86% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.2% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Abruzzo spends about €2,120 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €533 a year for water, on the Abruzzo average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 3% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
SAN FRANCESCO
Convent founded 1221-1261 on land Francis himself was given, with frescoes of his life and a relic of his stigmata blood.
SUPERAEQUUM
Roman municipal town of the Paeligni mentioned by Pliny, with 4th-century Christian catacombs cut into the rock.
SIRENTE
Sits at the foot of the 2,348-meter Monte Sirente, inside the boundaries of the Sirente-Velino regional park.
Common questions
- What is Castelvecchio Subequo known for?
- At 409 meters in the Subequana valley, the Roman Superaequum and Franciscan station where the saint himself was given land for a convent built between 1221 and 1261.
- Where is Castelvecchio Subequo?
- Castelvecchio Subequo is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo.
- What is the nearest airport to Castelvecchio Subequo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pescara (PSR), about 1 h 8 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Castelvecchio Subequo?
- About 1 h 5 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Castelvecchio Subequo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Castelvecchio Subequo?
- Ofena, Perito and Premilcuore.
- How many people live in Castelvecchio Subequo?
- 810 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Castelvecchio Subequo a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Castelvecchio Subequo is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Pratola Peligna, is 32 min away. The nearest city, Chieti, is 55 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Popoli Terme, 10 km as the crow flies. Fibre reaches the street cabinets; no full fibre is mapped yet.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 409 m
- Population: 810
- Surface area: 19.29 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.
The ranked lists
Lists Castelvecchio Subequo appears in
Similar
Towns like Castelvecchio Subequo
What all six share with Castelvecchio Subequo: inland, away from the coast · under 1,000 people
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