What is Pianella known for?

Home of the dritta cultivar, native to the Vestine area, with fruity clear-flavored oil and a medium-early harvest. Basilica founded in 963 by Pandolfo of Capua over a temple of Vesta, the oldest documented building in the commune. Cittaslow member and part of the Golden Triangle of Abruzzo olive oil with Loreto Aprutino and Moscufo.

Pianella is a comune in the province of Pescara, Abruzzo region of Italy, about 20 kilometers from Pescara.

Abruzzo · Pescara

Pianella

A Cittaslow hill townbetween the Tavo and Pescara rivers, anchor of the Aprutino oil triangle and home of the dritta olive.

20 km / 12 mi

Nearest hub (Pescara)

8,472

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Pianella sitsbetween the Tavo and Pescara rivers, fifteen kilometers inland from Pescara. The first documented mention dates to 963, when Pandolfo, Prince of Capua, ordered the construction of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore on the foundations of an old temple of Vesta. Saracens, Normans, the Aquaviva, and the Orsini all passed through; in 1522 the village became a fief of Margherita d'Austria Farnese, and Ferdinand IV later granted it the title of Royal City. The local agricultural identity is older than all of that. Pianella shares with Loreto Aprutino and Moscufo the so-called Golden Triangle of Abruzzo olive oil, producing the DOP Aprutino Pescarese, and it is the home of the dritta cultivar, a medium-early olive native to the Vestine area that gives a fruity, clear-flavored oil. The Cittaslow membership and the Città dell'Olio listing both run on that long agricultural history.

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Gallery

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Known for

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Pre-Romanesque-Romanesque basilica founded in 963 by Pandolfo, Prince of Capua, built over an old temple of Vesta on the village hill.
Centro storico
Medieval hill nucleus with traces of the Aquaviva and Orsini periods, surrounded by the surviving fragments of Farnese-era walls.
Oliveti di varietà dritta
Hillside groves of the native dritta cultivar, basis of the DOP Aprutino Pescarese extra virgin olive oil produced by local frantoi.
Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate
Old parish church in the centro storico, with a Romanesque core and a later baroque interior.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June is the green window in the Aprutino hills, with mild evenings and active grove work. September and October are the harvest and new-oil months, when the frantoi run nearly around the clock. July and August are hot at 236 meters between the two rivers, and the centro empties between four and seven in the afternoon. November through March is quiet. The new oil moves into bottle by Christmas, and the Cittaslow calendar shifts to tastings and slow-food evenings indoors.