What is Pescasseroli known for?

Capital of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, established 1922 as Italy's first national park, the work of Erminio Sipari. The philosopher was born in Palazzo Sipari in February 1866, in the family home of his maternal grandfather Pietrantonio Sipari. The park protects roughly fifty surviving Marsican brown bears, a subspecies of the Apennines found nowhere else on Earth.

Where is Pescasseroli?

Pescasseroli is a comune in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo region of Italy, about 129 kilometers from Pescara.

Abruzzo · L'Aquila

Pescasseroli

At 1,167 meters at the head of the Sangro valley, capital of Italy's oldest national park and birthplace of Benedetto Croce.

1167m

Elevation

129 km / 80 mi

Nearest hub (Pescara)

2,068

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Parco Nazionale

Why come

Pescasseroli sits at 1,167 meters at the head of the upper Sangro valley, the administrative heart of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. The park was provisionally established in 1922 and confirmed in 1923, making it the first national park in Italy and one of the earliest in the world. The philosopher Benedetto Croce was born here in February 1866 in the Palazzo Sipari, the family house his grandfather Pietrantonio expanded in 1839. The park itself was largely the work of Erminio Sipari, Croce's cousin, an environmentalist and member of parliament. The park protects roughly fifty Marsican brown bears, a subspecies found nowhere else, along with Apennine wolves and Abruzzo chamois. The Centro Visita on the edge of town holds a naturalistic museum, an Apennine garden, and an enclosure for injured wildlife. In winter, Pescasseroli is the southernmost serious ski town in the central Apennines.

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Gallery

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Known for

Palazzo Sipari
Birthplace of Benedetto Croce in 1866, now a historic house museum, with the family balcony from which Croce wrote of his Pescasseroli.
Centro Visita del Parco
Park headquarters with naturalistic museum, Apennine garden, and enclosures for Marsican brown bears, Apennine wolves and roe deer.
Chiesa di San Paolo Apostolo
Parish church of Pescasseroli, with a 13th-century wooden Madonna and Child known as the Madonna Nera, locally venerated.
Monti Marsicani
Surrounding mountain range with trails from town to Monte Marsicano at 2,245 meters, prime habitat for the Marsican brown bear.
Pescasseroli ski area
Modest ski domain on Monte Ceraso and Monte Vitelle, the southernmost regular alpine ski operation in the central Apennines.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

June through September is the hiking season in Pescasseroli, with July and August the busiest weeks and the only ones where the town fills. December through March is the second season, when the modest local ski area opens and snowshoers head into the Marsicani. April, May, October and November are quiet. The bear-watching protocols of the park run mostly in autumn, when the Marsican bears feed heavily on Persimmon Hill above town before denning. Winter temperatures fall below zero at night, with the upper park often impassable until late May. The August 16 feast of San Rocco is the town's main summer gathering.