Castelli
Member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia
Maiolica made this village famous: from the 16th century, potter dynasties such as the Grue and the Gentili produced painted ceramics collected by Europe's nobility, and local artists still work the clay today. The houses sit beneath the north-east face of Monte Camicia, inside the Gran Sasso national park. Carlo Levi called the church of San Donato the 'Sistine Chapel of maiolica' for its tiled ceiling.
Highlights
- San Donato's ceiling of early 17th-century maiolica tiles, about 800 surviving
- The ceramics museum, which keeps broken tiles from San Donato
- Ceramics shops and workshops all through the village
- San Giovanni Battista, with altar frames of maiolica by Ferdinando Grue
- The road via Rigopiano and Vado di Sole up to Campo Imperatore
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Castelli (comune italiano), Castelli, Abruzzo), Wikivoyage (Castelli (Italia)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 976
Things to see
Events through the year
- Feast of Saint Eusanius
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Adapted from Wikipedia (Castelli (comune italiano)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Specialities of Abruzzo
Typical of the region rather than of this village.
- Confetti di SulmonaSweet
Ventricina vastesePublic domainVentricinaCured meat
Adapted from Wikipedia (Cucina abruzzese). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
No places to stay are mapped within 3 km.
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Pietracamela · 14 km
- Castel del Monte · 14 km
- Santo Stefano di Sessanio · 17 km
- Penne · 17 km
- Campli · 26 km