Today I bring you to visit Pacentro
a small village in Abruzzo that I went to visit in mid-August.
I decided to do this short trip just a few days before with some friends and, despite the heat, it was a perfect choice: we have discovered a very picturesque village. The small town is located on the slopes of the Morrone Mountains, at the entrance of Valle Peligna.
We left our car at the intersection of Via San Francesco with the State Road 487, which create a small square where there are some parking (fee 1€/h). We left our car here, and we followed a first indication for the castle, and we arrived at the square where there is the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It is a parish church which, located in the centre of a small village, seems to be even bigger than it is
Our visit to the church was relatively short, but it helped us a lot to recover from the summer heat.
Then we arrived at the Caldora Castle, which dominates the village: It has a square plan and dates back to the fourteenth century. Consists of a complex of three square towers, surrounded by a wide moat, in the fifteenth century were built 3 additional round towers to reinforce the outer wall.
Today it is in ruins, but you can visit it: there is a 2 euro ticket and at the entrance there is an advice which warns visitors that the payment of the ticket doesn’t guarantee a guide or any kind of explanations (we stopped in the yard and frankly, I have not seen any kind of explanation). Be careful because it closes at lunchtime: even if you find open the castle gate, the staff will stop you and send you back.
As we found it closed, we decided to continue to roam the streets of the city centre and this was the best choice we could make: narrow streets and alleys, lined with stone buildings, give to the town a magical and almost surreal… An atmosphere that captures you and makes you want to discover even more on the streets of the village. Not by chance, I have to admit, Pacentro has been included in the list of Italy most beautiful villages!
For all tourist information, I found two addresses: Pacentro Municipality building, via S. Maria Maggiore (tel. +390864 41114) and the Maiella Natural Park Information Center in via Roma. You can find other information on the website of “i borghi più belli d’Italia”
During the visit to Pacentro, I have uploaded a couple of photos on instagram and one of my follower reminded me that this town is known for being the birthplace of Madonna’s grandparents!