What is Capracotta known for?

2.56 metres of snow in 24 hours on 5 March 2015: a Guinness-recognized world record for a single-day snowfall. Cross-country ski plateau in the beech woods above the village, host of the 1997 Italian national championships. Second-highest commune near the centre of Italy and forty-first highest in the country, on the Abruzzo-Molise border ridge.

Capracotta is a comune in the province of Isernia, Molise region of Italy, about 111 kilometers from Pescara.

Molise · Isernia

Capracotta

At 1,421 meters the second-highest commune in central Italy, holder of the world record for snowfall in 24 hours: 2.56 meters on 5 March 2015.

1421m

Elevation

111 km / 69 mi

Nearest hub (Pescara)

799

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi Autentici

Why come

Capracotta sits at 1,421 meters in Alto Molise, the second-highest commune near the centre of Italy and the forty-first highest in the country. On 5 March 2015 a single 24-hour snowfall dropped 2.56 metres on the village, a Guinness world record that has not been broken since. Cross-country skiing has been the winter discipline here for decades: the Prato Gentile plateau, set among beech woods at the head of the village, holds the Mario Di Nucci ski trail and hosted the Italian National Cross-Country Ski Championships in 1997. The village itself is stone, narrow and tightly packed against the wind, eight hundred residents in winter and roughly twice that in August when emigrant families return. The summer pasture, the wildflowers on the Prato Gentile, and the wide views into Abruzzo make Capracotta as much a June-to-September place as a December-to-March one. The shoulder months stay cold and quiet.

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Gallery

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Known for

Prato Gentile
Beech-fringed plateau above the village, home to the Mario Di Nucci cross-country ski trail and host of the 1997 Italian national championships.
Monte Campo
Local peak above the village, the high ground that funnels the snow systems and gives Capracotta its record-setting winter precipitation.
Centro storico
Tightly packed stone village built against the wind at 1,421 meters, with low arches and short streets that funnel the snow off the roofs.
Giardino della Flora Appenninica
Alpine botanical garden on the slopes above the village, dedicated to the wildflowers of the central Apennines and open in summer.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Capracotta has two seasons. June through September is the high pasture and walking season: temperatures rarely cross twenty-five degrees even in August, the Prato Gentile fills with wildflowers, and the village swells to twice its winter size when emigrant families return for the August fiesta. December through March is the snow season, when the cross-country trails open on the Prato Gentile and the village turns to skiing and the stove. April, May, October and November are the cold shoulder months: snow lingers on the higher slopes, many trattorias close, and the wind off Monte Campo carries the smell of beech smoke through the centro storico.