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Places in Abruzzo Province of L'Aquila > Pizzoli

Pizzoli province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy history | sights | where to stay | events | news & links | province index

The place At the foot of Monte Marine, Pizzoli is a well-kept, lively centre chosen by many for their summer vacations and a starting point for trekking itineraries in the mountains of Gran Sasso and Laga. Information: Altitude: 740 m a.s.l -- Distance from L'Aquila: 17 km -- Population: ca. 2500 inhabitants -- Zip code: -- Phone Area Code: 3 -- How to reach it: road: ss 80 from L'Aquila Autoroute A24 exit L'Aquila Ovest History: Pizzoli rises near the remains of the ancient Roman town of Amiternum, and was probably a suburb of this Roman town, as many epigraphic findings have shown. In the early Middle Ages a Benedictine monastery rose in importance around Equizio, whose body (now in the Chiesa dei Gesuiti, L'Aquila) was kept for centuries in a crypt in the church of San Lorenzo in Marruci. In 1185 "Castrum Piczolum" belonged to Gentile Vetulo, together with San Vittorino and Rocca di Corno. In the Middle Ages Pizzoli (Castrum Piczoli) was one of the castles that took part to the foundation of the city of L'Aquila, where Pizzoli had an area in the quarter of San Pietro, building there the church of San Lorenzo. When in the early XVI century L'Aquila rebelled against Charles V, Pizzoli was given by the king to Captain Francesco Aldana (1533) and later on to Giovanni De Felicis, then passed to other feudal Lords until in 1575 it was bought by Ferrante de Torres, whose descendants kept it until feudalism was abolished in 1809. In 1703 the settlement was hit by a violent earthquake, and the population moved downward in the valley. Sights & Excursions Castello Dragonetti De Torres, in the middle of a wood, built in the XVII century by engineer Pietro Larbitro, built around the ancient medieval tower, still visible on the back of the present castle. Church of Santo Stefano, with a massive belltower on the left of the facade and XVI century frescoes inside Church of Madonna del Carmine, in nearby Villa San Pietro dating back to the XIII century but heavily reconstructed after the 1703 earthquake, with a XVI century canvas in the altar representing the Virgin with Child with the Apostles peter and Paul on each side Church of San Lorenzo, in Marruci, where a Benedictine monastery rose in the early Middle Ages Madonna Lignea, previously kept in the Townhall, now in the National Museum in L'Aquila La Valle del Chiarino Events & Festivities 17 January Feast of S. Antonio Abate 25 March MArket fair 10 August Feast of St. Lorenzo Second week in August "Festa della fraternità", with gastronomic stands Hotels, Lodging, Restaurants HOTEL LA GIOIA

Genealogy, News & Links People researching in Pizzoli Vladimiro Placidi, Strutture Urbane e Tipologie Pretorotettoniche, Marcello Ferri editore, L'Aquila 1985 G. BArbato, A. del Bufalo, L'Abruzzo e i centri storici della Provincia dell'Aquila, Ferri ed., L'Aquila 1978

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