What is Capestrano known for?

The 6th-century BC limestone Vestini warrior unearthed in a field at Cinturelli in 1934, now in the Chieti archaeological museum. 13th-century hilltop castle owned in turn by the Medici and the Piccolomini, controlling the Tirino valley. Spring-fed river running clear below the town, navigable by canoe through olive and almond country.

Capestrano is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo region of Italy, about 62 kilometers from Pescara.

Abruzzo · L'Aquila

Capestrano

A hilltop villageabove the Tirino valley, where in 1934 a farmer turned up the 6th-century BC limestone Warrior of Capestrano.

62 km / 39 mi

Nearest hub (Pescara)

833

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Parco Nazionale

Why come

Capestrano sitson a hill above the Tirino river valley, eight hundred residents inside the borders of the Gran Sasso National Park. In September 1934 a farmer working a field at nearby Cinturelli unearthed a 2.1-meter limestone statue of a helmeted warrior, now identified as a 6th-century BC depiction of an early Italic king of the Vestini tribe, sculpted by Aninis. The Warrior of Capestrano was moved to the National Archaeological Museum of the Abruzzi in Chieti, and the discovery triggered excavations that produced thirty-three tombs and a companion piece known as the Lady of Capestrano. The town itself is dominated by the Castello Piccolomini, built in the 13th century by the Medici and later passed to the Piccolomini family. Below the town, the springs of the Tirino feed one of the cleanest short rivers in Italy. The Abbey of San Pietro ad Oratorium stands four kilometers away, a 9th-century foundation rebuilt by the Lombards.

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Gallery

5 photos · scroll →

Known for

Castello Piccolomini
13th-century castle on the hill next to the Tirino river, later owned by the Medici and the Piccolomini families.
Abbazia di San Pietro ad Oratorium
Lombard-era abbey four kilometers from town, founded in the 8th century and rebuilt with characteristic stone masonry.
Sito di Cinturelli
Field where the Warrior of Capestrano was unearthed in 1934, alongside thirty-three Italic tombs and the Lady of Capestrano statue.
Sorgenti del Tirino
Spring system in the valley below town, source of one of the cleanest short rivers in Italy, navigable by canoe.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June is the green season in Capestrano, when the Tirino runs fast and the almond trees in the valley flower early. September and October are dry and gold, the months for walking the abbey ruins and the field at Cinturelli where the Warrior was found. July and August are hot in the valley below 500 meters, though the town itself stays cooler than Pescara on the coast. Winter is quiet, with low cloud often filling the Tirino valley and leaving Capestrano above it on the hill. The August 16 patronal feast of San Rocco draws the diaspora back.