Abruzzo · Pescara
Manoppello
A hill town above the Pescara river, where the Capuchins have kept the veil known as the Volto Santo since 1638.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Manoppello is on our list
It holds Città della Terra Cruda.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 32 min from Pescara
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 6,753
- J11°
- F14°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J31°
- A30°
- S26°
- O22°
- N16°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Manoppello sits on a hill on the right bank of the Pescara river, about twenty-five kilometers from the city of Pescara and at the foot of the Maiella massif. The old center holds the river's edge while the abbey stands apart from it, outside the town proper, on ground that carried a Roman temple before it carried a church. The relic venerated on the hill above the town reached the Capuchin church in 1638, given by Donato Antonio de Fabritiis, who had bought it from the Leonelli family.
The countryside around both church and abbey shares a building tradition, earth rammed into walls, common enough across the valley to have earned the commune its place in a network built to recognize it. The town's geography is therefore layered rather than single: a river-bank settlement, a devotional site on the hill above it, an abbey standing separate on former Roman ground, and a farming countryside that built in earth rather than stone. Each part answers to a different age, and together they show a place that grew by accretion rather than around one center.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 2 h 8 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 23 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 32 min or Ancona 2 h 3 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Manoppello is about 34 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Basilica del Volto Santo
Capuchin basilica on the hill above town, holding the veil reputed to be the Veil of Veronica, a translucent cloth bearing a faint image of a human face.
Abbazia di Santa Maria Arabona
Cistercian abbey founded in 1197, standing outside the town on ground once occupied by a temple to Bona Dea, its choir carrying frescoes by Antonio Martini di Atri.
Centro Storico
Medieval core on the right bank of the Pescara, built in the rammed-earth technique of the surrounding countryside.
Parco Nazionale della Majella
Part of the commune lies inside the Majella National Park, with trails leading up into the massif.
Living here
Could you live here?
Manoppello meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 6,753 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Chieti, a city of 48,403, is 23 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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 6,753, down 3.6% since 2015
- Nearest city Chieti, 23 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Chieti, 14 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €550 to €820 per m² to buy, €2.10 to €3.10 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 93% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Pescara airport (PSR), 45 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 1 h 30 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Romania and Ukraine, against 9% across Italy. 18 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom. There are 191 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 27% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Pescara province ranks 40th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Chieti, 14 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 120 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Pescara, 25 km away. The nearest IB school is Marymount International School Rome, 136 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Canadian College Italy, 27 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% 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 0.7% 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. In Pescara, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.55, a meal in a pizzeria €10.62 and a man's haircut €19.36.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 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
VOLTO SANTO
The veil of the Holy Face, 17 by 24 centimeters, kept by the Capuchins since 1638 and visited by Benedict XVI in 2006.
ARABONA
Cistercian abbey begun in 1197 on the remains of a Roman temple, with 1377 choir frescoes by Antonio Martini di Atri.
TERRA CRUDA
Member of the Città della Terra Cruda network, recognizing the rammed-earth construction tradition of the Pescara valley.
Common questions
- What is Manoppello known for?
- Manoppello is a hill town above the Pescara river, where the Capuchins have kept the veil known as the Volto Santo since 1638.
- Where is Manoppello?
- Manoppello is a comune in the province of Pescara, in Abruzzo, at 257 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Manoppello?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pescara (PSR), about 45 min by car.
- Can you get to Manoppello without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Manoppello?
- About 32 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Manoppello?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Manoppello?
- Balsorano, Sammichele di Bari and Caiazzo.
- How many people live in Manoppello?
- 6,753 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Manoppello a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Manoppello is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Chieti, is 23 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Chieti, 14 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 93% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
- Parco Nazionale
- Città della Terra Cruda
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 257 m
- Population: 6,753
- Surface area: 39.26 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 Manoppello appears in
Similar
Towns like Manoppello
What all six share with Manoppello: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Balsorano
Province: L'Aquila
both have a railway station in the comune
Sammichele di Bari
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Caiazzo
Province: Caserta
both have a railway station in the comune
Pianella
Province: Pescara
40 min apart by road
Campli
Province: Teramo
1 h 13 min apart by road
Civitella del Tronto
Province: Teramo
1 h 25 min apart by road
The letter
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