Anywhere Italy
Stemma di Morino

Abruzzo · L'Aquila

Morino

A village on the Lazio border, beneath the central Apennines' second-highest waterfall at over 80 meters.

Known for

  • ZOMPO LO SCHIOPPO

    80-meter waterfall, the central Apennines' second-highest natural fall, the village's name in the regional nature reserve.

  • ROSCETTE CHESTNUTS

    Local sweet chestnut variety, peeled and boiled with wild fennel, recognized in the Città del Castagno network.

  • VAL ROVETO

    Mountain corridor along the Liri river toward Lazio, with the hamlet of Rendinara at 914 meters above the main village.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J10°
  • F12°
  • M13°
  • A16°
  • M21°
  • J26°
  • J31°
  • A30°
  • S24°
  • O20°
  • N15°
  • D12°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

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

The festa: natività della Beata Vergine Maria, 8 September

Why come

The Liri river cuts a long corridor south from Avezzano along the Lazio border, and Morino sits partway down it, the main village with its hamlets strung along the slopes above. Rendinara, the highest of these, sits on the flank of Monte Pizzo Deta, closer to the mountain pastures than to the valley floor where the parish church and the rest of the settlement lie. The commune is a member of the Città del Castagno network, and the roscette chestnuts, peeled and boiled with wild fennel, come from the same slopes that carry the reserve's beech and chestnut cover upward toward the peak. The valley's low villages, its high hamlet, and its chestnut woods all answer to the same terrain: a river corridor walled in by mountains that push settlement upward in places and leave the water, higher still, to do the rest.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Morino’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

How to get there

From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 2h 24m by car.

Rome (FCO) is about 2h 42m away.

By car from the centre of Pescara 2 hours or Naples 2h 28m.

Morino — photo 1
Morino — photo 2

What to see

  • Riserva Naturale Zompo lo Schioppo

    Protected reserve established 1987 around the waterfall, with beech forests, chestnut groves, and trails climbing toward Monte Pizzo Deta.

  • Cascata di Zompo lo Schioppo

    The Romito stream drops off a limestone cliff above the village. The name is dialect: zompo means leap, schioppo the gunshot crack of the water striking rock below.

  • Rendinara

    Mountain hamlet on the slopes of Monte Pizzo Deta, the highest inhabited frazione of the commune, reached by the Val Roveto road above the main village.

  • Monte Pizzo Deta

    At 2,041 meters, the dominant peak of the Ernici-Simbruini range above Morino, accessed from Rendinara.

  • Chiesa di San Martino

    Parish church in the main village, restored after the 1915 Marsica earthquake that damaged much of the valley.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Morino 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.

Living here

  • Population 1,303
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy: none mapped
  • Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
  • Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 2 h 24 min drive
  • Regional capital L'Aquila, 1 h 26 min drive

Common questions

What is Morino known for?
Morino is a village at 440 meters on the Lazio border, beneath the central Apennines' second-highest waterfall at over 80 meters.
Where is Morino?
Morino is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo.
What is the nearest airport to Morino?
Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 2h 24m by car.
How long is the drive from Pescara to Morino?
About 2 hours by car.
When is the best time to visit Morino?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 18 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Morino?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: natività della Beata Vergine Maria, 8 September.
Which other towns are like Morino?
Tocco da Casauria, Controguerra and Vernasca.
How many people live in Morino?
1,303 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 440 m
  • Population: 1,303
  • Surface area: 51.28 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.

Similar

Towns like Morino