Abruzzo · L'Aquila
Scanno
A 1,057-meter Sagittario valley village where women in black still walk the alleys photographed by Cartier-Bresson and Giacomelli.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Scanno is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, Bandiera Arancione and Bandiera Blu.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 1 h 20 min from Pescara
- Population
- 1,681
- J6°
- F9°
- M9°
- A12°
- M18°
- J23°
- J27°
- A26°
- S21°
- O17°
- N11°
- D8°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Scanno sits in the Sagittario valley, ringed by the Majella foothills and the Marsicano massif. The lake lies three kilometers down the valley from the town, at a lower elevation, so the walk between them moves from stone alleys to open water framed by the same slopes that produced it: a landslide off the mountain dammed the Tasso river and left the basin behind.
The town's isolation, closed in by the surrounding massifs, is what let the older costume and its headdress survive into the era of the camera, and it is what drew photographers to record it rather than something they invented. The goldsmiths' filigree, made in the same stone streets the women walked, belongs to the same thread: a village shaped by its enclosure in the mountains, still making by hand what it has always made.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 2 h 5 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 49 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 1 h 20 min or Ancona 2 h 50 min.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Scanno is about 1 h 21 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Lago di Scanno
Seen from above, the water reads as a clean heart shape against the valley walls.
Centro storico
Stone-alley medieval center where the black costume, with its folded headdress some historians trace to Balkan or Eastern origins, is still worn by older women against limewashed walls.
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Valle
Parish church first documented in the eleventh century, rebuilt in the seventeenth, with a Renaissance portal and Baroque interior.
Madonna del Lago
Small lakeside chapel of the Santissima Annunziata on the south shore, with its altar built against a natural rock wall.
Sentiero del Cuore
Footpath above the lake leading to the viewpoint where the heart-shape becomes visible, passing the Eremo di Sant'Egidio hermitage.
From the guides
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.
Terra dell'Albergo Centrale ScannoRistorante
Terra dell'Albergo Centrale Scanno has one Gambero Rosso fork (77/100) to its name.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Scanno is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,681. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Sulmona, is 42 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Chieti, a city of 48,403, is 1 h 10 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
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 1,681, down 11.9% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Chieti, 1 h 10 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sulmona, 19 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €800 to €1,200 per m² to buy, €2.70 to €4.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Full fibre reaches 98% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Pescara airport (PSR), 1 h 23 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 1 h 19 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
3% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Georgia, against 9% across Italy. There are 386 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 67% 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 Sulmona, 19 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Latina, 96 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 115 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 0.9% 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 between 0.65% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €10,000. 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 F, the coldest of Italy's six, with no national limit on when the heating runs. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. Under 1% 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
PHOTOGRAPHY
Cartier-Bresson photographed Scanno in 1951, Giacomelli's series 1957-59 made the women in black one of the most reproduced Italian images.
PRESENTOSA
Filigree star pendant with two hearts in the center, traditionally given by the groom's family to the bride, still made by village goldsmiths.
HEART-SHAPED LAKE
Largest natural lake in Abruzzo at 922 meters, formed by a Monte Genzana landslide that blocked the Tasso river.
Common questions
- What is Scanno known for?
- Scanno is a 1,057-meter Sagittario valley village where women in black still walk the alleys photographed by Cartier-Bresson and Giacomelli.
- Where is Scanno?
- Scanno is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo, at 1057 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Scanno?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pescara (PSR), about 1 h 23 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Scanno?
- About 1 h 20 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Scanno?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 27 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Scanno?
- Pescasseroli, Geraci Siculo and San Vito di Cadore.
- How many people live in Scanno?
- 1,681 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Scanno a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Scanno is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Sulmona, is 42 min away. The nearest city, Chieti, is 1 h 10 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sulmona, 19 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 1057 m
- Population: 1,681
- Surface area: 134.68 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 Scanno appears in
- The best hidden towns inside a national park that eat well within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescarainside a parkwithin 90 mineats wellhidden6 towns · smallest 659 residents · closest 48 min away
- The prettiest villages inside a national park in the province of L'AquilaL'Aquila provinceinside a parkprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 105 residents
- The 7 best small towns that eat well in the province of L'AquilaL'Aquila provinceeats wellsmall7 towns · smallest 659 residents
- The prettiest small villages that eat well within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescarawithin 90 mineats wellprettiest villagessmall7 towns · smallest 1,058 residents · closest 44 min away
- The prettiest villages that eat well in AbruzzoAbruzzoeats wellprettiest villages7 towns · smallest 1,058 residents
- The best ski towns inside a national park within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescaraski areainside a parkwithin 90 min8 towns · smallest 659 residents · closest 49 min away
Featured on
Scanno appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Scanno
What all six share with Scanno: high in the mountains · under 3,000 people · mountain towns above 1,000 metres
The letter
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