Visiting L'Aquila: Collemaggio, 99 Cannelle, Spanish Fort, Gran Sasso

Sights by group

Churches and monuments: the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio with its white and pink lozenge façade and the Holy Door, restored after 2009; the Fountain of the 99 Spouts (thirteenth century), the city's symbol; the sixteenth-century Spanish Fort housing the MuNDA (National Museum of Abruzzo) and the mammoth; Santa Maria del Suffragio or delle Anime Sante, in piazza Duomo, with its rebuilt Valadier dome; San Bernardino with the saint's mausoleum; the Cathedral of San Massimo, in piazza Duomo, still under reconstruction. The centre: corso Vittorio Emanuele, the Quattro Cantoni, piazza Duomo with its market, the Fontana Luminosa, Palazzo Margherita (town hall) and the Emiciclo.

Museums: the MuNDA in the Spanish Fort (and partly in the former slaughterhouse), MAXXI L'Aquila in Palazzo Ardinghelli (contemporary art, opened 2021), the Experimental Museum of Contemporary Art (MuSpAC) and the Natural Sciences Museum at the Castle. Many historic buildings display before-and-after views of the reconstruction.

Gran Sasso and day trips

The Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park begins inside the municipality: from Fonte Cerreto (Assergi), 20 minutes by car, the cable car climbs to Campo Imperatore (2,100 m) with the hotel where Mussolini was held prisoner in 1943, the astronomical observatory and the trails to Corno Grande, the highest peak of the Apennines (2,912 m); in winter it is the city's ski resort. Campo Imperatore is also the "little Tibet" plateau, drivable from Castel del Monte and Santo Stefano di Sessanio. INFN's Gran Sasso National Laboratories, under the mountain, can be visited by booking on open days.

Other trips: Rocca di Calascio and Santo Stefano di Sessanio (an hour), Bominaco with its frescoes, the Stiffe Caves (30 minutes), Campo Felice and Ovindoli for skiing, Sulmona and Scanno to the south, Rieti and the Terminillo to the west.

Seasons and crowds

L'Aquila receives modest but growing tourism: the Perdonanza, in late August, fills the centre with the historical procession and concerts; winter weekends bring Rome's skiers to Campo Imperatore and Campo Felice; summer is the hiking season. The centre remains quiet in almost all other periods.

Tourist tax and information

The Comune applies a tourist tax in accommodation; the tourist office is in the centre. The MuNDA and the other state museums are free on the first Sunday of the month; the basilica of Collemaggio and the churches are free to enter.