What is L'Aquila known for?

Founded around 1240 by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, with the legend of 99 castles each building its own piazza inside the walls. 1287 basilica where Pietro del Morrone was crowned Pope Celestine V on 29 August 1294; the Perdonanza is celebrated every August. Magnitude-6.3 quake on 6 April 2009 killed 308 people and damaged most of the centro storico; reconstruction continues into 2026.

When is the best time to visit L'Aquila?

May–Oct. May through October is the working window at 721 meters under the Gran Sasso. The Perdonanza Celestiniana opens at Collemaggio on 28-29 August. The university semesters from October frame the cultural calendar. June and September are the cleanest months for walking the centro, the Gran Sasso trailheads, and Campo Imperatore above the city. July and August stay cool by Italian standards. November through April is high-Apennine cold, with snow on the Gran Sasso, frequent fog, and many cantiere fences still up around half-finished palaces. Skiing at Campo Imperatore runs December through March.

L'Aquila is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo region of Italy, about 122 kilometers from Roma.

How do I get to L'Aquila?

From Roma, L'Aquila is roughly 122 km by road.

L'Aquila, L'Aquila

Known for

FREDERICK'S CITY
Founded around 1240 by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, with the legend of 99 castles each building its own piazza inside the walls.
COLLEMAGGIO
1287 basilica where Pietro del Morrone was crowned Pope Celestine V on 29 August 1294; the Perdonanza is celebrated every August.
2009 EARTHQUAKE
Magnitude-6.3 quake on 6 April 2009 killed 308 people and damaged most of the centro storico; reconstruction continues into 2026.
ZAFFERANO DELL'AQUILA
The commune lies inside the Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP production zone.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

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F
M
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M
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Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Why come

L'Aquila sits at 721 meters in a high plain between the Gran Sasso and the Velino-Sirente massifs, the regional capital of Abruzzo with 69,558 residents. The two ranges frame the city on opposite sides, so the plain reads as a corridor of settlement between mountains rather than a valley floor with one clear edge.

The founding myth ties the city's shape to its origins: people from 99 castles in the surrounding valley are said to have each built a piazza, a church and houses inside the new walls, so the old town is less a single design than a patchwork of neighborhoods stitched together at the point of founding. That patchwork still organizes the upper town, where the fortress on the highest ground, the civic squares, and the older parish churches sit at angles to each other rather than along one axis.

Reconstruction after the earthquake has proceeded unevenly across this patchwork: some quarters and monuments are finished and open, others still show scaffolding, and by early 2025 work stood at 88 percent of projects complete. The city today is best read as a medieval plan of independent parts, still being reassembled piece by piece rather than restored as a whole.

What to see

Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio
Romanesque-Gothic facade in stripes of pink and white stone, standing apart from the rest of the centro storico; the interior reopened to visitors in 2017.
Fontana delle 99 Cannelle
A civic fountain built into an angle of two walls, water running from 99 carved spouts of varying faces, tucked at the edge of the old town rather than in a central square.
Forte Spagnolo (Castello Cinquecentesco)
A squat, star-shaped fortress with a deep dry moat, occupying the highest ground of the upper town and visible above the rooftops from much of the city.
Basilica di San Bernardino
A tall flight of steps leads to a Renaissance facade by Cola dell'Amatrice; inside, a carved tomb sits beneath a coffered ceiling.
MAXXI L'Aquila (Palazzo Ardinghelli)
Art from Rome's museum installed inside a restored palace, its stuccoed rooms now hung with work far newer than the walls around them.
Piazza Duomo
A long open square flanked by the Duomo and Santa Maria del Suffragio, filled daily with market stalls and used as the gauge of how far the reopening has come.
Gran Sasso d'Italia
The range rises to 2,912 meters at Corno Grande and closes off the northern skyline, a wall of rock that appears at the end of nearly every street running that way.

We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Corso StrettoRistorante
Corso Stretto carries a Gambero Rosso listing.
Da LincostaTrattoria
Da Lincosta has two Gambero Rosso prawns to its name.
ElodiaRistorante
Elodia holds two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100).
Førma Contemporary RestaurantRistorante
Førma Contemporary Restaurant has two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100) to its name.
Le Fontanelle di Enoa'Trattoria
Le Fontanelle di Enoa' has two Gambero Rosso prawns to its name.
Lo Scalco dell'AquilaRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (77/100), at Lo Scalco dell'Aquila.
Osteria Alimentari da nonno AlbericoTrattoria
Osteria Alimentari da nonno Alberico carries one Gambero Rosso prawn.
RêverRistorante
A Gambero Rosso listing, at Rêver.
William Zonfa RistoranteRistorante
William Zonfa Ristorante has one Gambero Rosso fork (77/100) to its name.
YOICHIFusion
YOICHI carries two Gambero Rosso Mappamondi.

Living here

Population 69,558
A local hubi
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Rome, 2 h 10 min drive
Regional capital L'Aquila, 13 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 721 m
Population: 69,558
Surface area: 473.91 km²

On the map

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