Santo Stefano di Sessanio

Wool made this stone village rich: under the Medici, Santo Stefano was Florence's base for the carfagna wool produced here and sold across Europe. At over 1,200 metres below the Campo Imperatore plain, emigration emptied it until a restoration project turned many houses into a scattered hotel. Its Medici tower, felled by the 2009 earthquake, was restored in 2021.

Highlights

• Lenticchia di Santo Stefano di Sessanio, the local lentil, celebrated in early September
• The entrance gate bearing the Medici coat of arms
• The remarkably narrow lane running past the old watchtower
• A small snow-fed lake with reeds just outside the walls
• The high plain of Campo Imperatore in the Gran Sasso national park

Summary based on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.