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Stemma di Civita d'Antino

Abruzzo · L'Aquila

Civita d'Antino

At 904 meters above the Roveto valley, the ancient Marsi town that became a Danish painters' colony from 1883 until the 1915 earthquake.

Known for

  • DANISH COLONY

    Summer school of Kristian Zahrtmann from 1883 to 1911, drawing some 80 Scandinavian painters including P.S. Krøyer.

  • ANTINUM

    Ancient Marsi municipal town named by Pliny, with inscriptions still visible in the walls of the modern village.

  • 1915 EARTHQUAKE

    Marsica quake of 13 January 1915 broke the painters' colony and the 30-year link with Scandinavia.

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

Why come

Civita d'Antino sits at 904 meters on a plateau above the Roveto valley, with the Liri running below. The Latin name Antinum identifies it as a town of the Marsi people, mentioned by Pliny and confirmed by inscriptions suggesting it was a significant municipal center. The natural stone barrier around the village survived into the present.

In 1883 the Danish painter Kristian Zahrtmann arrived and began spending every summer here through 1911, lodging with the Cerroni family. Around him grew an artists' colony of roughly 80 Scandinavian painters, including P. S.

Krøyer, drawn by the light over the Roveto valley. Zahrtmann was made an honorary citizen in 1902. In 1908 he held an exhibition in Copenhagen marking 25 years of the Civita connection.

The 1915 Marsica earthquake ended the colony. Gabriele D'Annunzio had discovered Zahrtmann's school in Venice in 1895. Most of Civita today still trades on this story.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Civita d'Antino’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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Civita d'Antino — photo 1
Civita d'Antino — photo 2

What to see

  • Centro storico

    Stone village on a plateau at 904 meters, the painted subject of two generations of Scandinavian artists, surrounded by a natural rock barrier.

  • Casa-museo Zahrtmann

    Cerroni family house where Kristian Zahrtmann lodged every summer from 1883 to 1911, now a memorial museum to the painters' colony.

  • Resti di Antinum

    Roman-era inscriptions and fragments of the ancient Marsi municipal town, scattered through the modern village walls.

  • Belvedere sulla Valle Roveto

    Plateau-edge viewpoint over the Liri valley, the precise vantage that drew the Danish painters and held them for thirty years.

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Living here

  • Population 913
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy: none mapped
  • Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 2 h 9 min drive
  • Regional capital L'Aquila, 1 h 4 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 904 m
  • Population: 913
  • Surface area: 28.35 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.

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