What is Calascio known for?

Highest fortress in the Apennines at 1,460 meters, watchtower for the Abruzzo-Puglia transhumance routes, film set for Ladyhawke and The Name of the Rose. The 1985 Richard Donner film added crowns to the Rocca's towers; the scene where Michelle Pfeiffer falls was staged on one of them. Wool capital under the transhumance, with flocks moved 250 km to Puglia every September; the wealth ended in the 1850s and the population followed.

Calascio is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo region of Italy, about 70 kilometers from Pescara.

Abruzzo · L'Aquila

Calascio

At 1,200 meters under the highest castle in the Apennines, a village of 125 people that played the monk's refuge in Ladyhawke.

1200m

Elevation

70 km / 43 mi

Nearest hub (Pescara)

125

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Calascio sits at 1,200 meters in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, with Rocca Calascio above it at 1,460 meters, the highest fortress in the Apennines. The Rocca began around the year 1000 as a watchtower controlling the transhumance routes that ran 250 kilometers down from L'Aquila to the Tavoliere delle Puglie, the wool wealth that built the village. Wool from these flocks was so prized that the Medici came north to buy it. The transhumance ended in the 1850s and the village emptied. Today 125 people remain. The Rocca became a film set: Ladyhawke in 1985, with crowns added to the towers and Michelle Pfeiffer's fall staged on one of them, then The Name of the Rose, The American, and a series of others. The Borgo Autentici designation reflects the slow restoration of the abandoned upper village (Rocca Calascio borgo) by stonemasons working with original materials. From the castle, the view runs across Campo Imperatore to the Gran Sasso peaks.

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Gallery

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Known for

Rocca Calascio
Highest fortress in the Apennines at 1,460 meters, watchtower for transhumance routes from L'Aquila to Puglia, film location for Ladyhawke and The Name of the Rose.
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà
Octagonal Renaissance chapel below the Rocca, built on the site of a 1456 battle won by local farmers against bandits, with painted interior.
Borgo di Rocca Calascio
Partly abandoned upper village beside the castle, slowly restored by stonemasons, with the Rifugio della Rocca offering rooms in stone houses.
Centro storico di Calascio
Lower stone village at 1,200 meters, with the parish church of San Nicola di Bari and the houses of the post-transhumance shepherds who stayed.
Campo Imperatore
The high plateau immediately north of Calascio, 27 km long at 1,800 meters average, the largest pasture of central Italy, called Italy's little Tibet.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

June through September is high season at Calascio: the Rocca trail is dry, the Campo Imperatore plateau is open for hiking, and the air at 1,200 meters stays cool through August afternoons. December through March is the second season, when ski traffic to Campo Imperatore brings winter visitors and the Rocca in snow becomes the picture everyone wants. The village empties on weekdays from November to April and the road up to the Rocca closes after heavy snow. The shoulder months can be raw and windy. Sunset from the Rocca, with the Gran Sasso lit pink and the village silent below, is the moment the 125 residents stay for.