Lazio · Rieti
Amatrice
A 955-meter Apennine town leveled by the 24 August 2016 earthquake, slowly rebuilding the streets that gave amatriciana its name.
Known for
AMATRICIANA
Sugo all'amatriciana, guanciale and pecorino and pepper with tomato added in the nineteenth century, the dish that carries the town's name.
24 AUGUST 2016
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake at 3:36 in the morning killed 295 people in the cratere and leveled most of the centro storico.
MONTI DELLA LAGA
Sandstone Apennine massif above town, part of the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, with beech and silver fir at altitude.
When to visit
Best · May–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Maria, domenica successiva all'Ascensione
Why come
Amatrice sits at 955 meters on a saddle of the Monti della Laga, inside the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, where Lazio runs into Abruzzo and the Marche. At 3:36 in the morning on 24 August 2016, a 6. 2 magnitude earthquake struck.
Two hundred and ninety-five people died in the cratere, most of them in Amatrice. The centro storico, the Corso Umberto I and the Piazza Sagnotti, collapsed almost completely. The Torre Civica, severed at the bell chamber, became the symbol of the disaster and was put under scaffolding for six years; consolidation works began in August 2022 and finished the bell stage in 2023.
The town that survived gave its name to sugo all'amatriciana: guanciale, pecorino, pepper, and, since the nineteenth century, tomato. The Sagra degli Spaghetti all'Amatriciana, run since 1967, returned in 2018 in the temporary food court Area Food. Reconstruction continues. The Laga peaks above town are unchanged.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Amatrice’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
Torre Civica
Fourteenth-century civic tower at the crossing of Via Roma and Corso Umberto, symbol of the 2016 earthquake; bell chamber reconstructed in 2023.
Chiesa di Sant'Agostino
Fourteenth-century church, rose window heightened in the twentieth century, fell first in the 2016 earthquake; primary reconstruction priority.
Monti della Laga
Sandstone Apennine range above town, sheltering rare relict beech and silver fir forest, inside the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park.
Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga
1,413 square kilometers of protected Apennine, the second-largest national park in mainland Italy, with Amatrice on its northern edge.
The slow-trip planner
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Signature dish
Spaghetti all'AmatricianaPasta
Guanciale, pecorino romano and tomato; the town gave the dish its name long before Rome made it famous.
See every town in our catalogue with a dish of its own.
Living here
- Population 2,251
- Off the beaten pathi
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 2 h 17 min drive
- Regional capital Roma, 2 h 10 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 955 m
- Population: 2,251
- Surface area: 174.4 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Featured on
Amatrice appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
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