Anywhere Italy
Stemma di Tagliacozzo

Abruzzo · L'Aquila

Tagliacozzo

A Marsica town at 740 meters below Monte Civita, where Charles of Anjou won the 1268 battle and the Orsini built the ducal palace.

Known for

  • BATTLE OF 1268

    Charles of Anjou defeated Conradin of Hohenstaufen on the Piani Palentini in August 1268, a turning point cited by Dante.

  • PALAZZO DUCALE

    Fourteenth-century Orsini ducal palace, later passed to the Colonna, with a Gothic ground floor and Renaissance piano nobile.

  • FESTIVAL DI MEZZA ESTATE

    International summer festival founded in 1984 on the model of Spoleto, running across the Palazzo Ducale, Piazza dell'Obelisco and Teatro Talia.

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

Tagliacozzo sits at 740 meters at the foot of Monte Civita, whose summit, at 998 meters, still holds the ruins of the counts of the Marsi's medieval castle. The town gave its name to the 1268 battle in which Charles of Anjou defeated Conradin of Hohenstaufen on the nearby Piani Palentini, cited by Dante in Inferno XXVIII. Roberto Orsini built the Palazzo Ducale at the end of the fourteenth century; its first floor reads as Gothic, its second as Renaissance, the join visible in the windows.

Marcantonio Colonna, third duke of Tagliacozzo, was the hero of Lepanto in 1571. The heart of the town is Piazza dell'Obelisco, ringed by Renaissance loggias, with a fifteen-meter fountain-obelisk from 1824 topped by a statue of John the Baptist. The Festival Internazionale di Mezza Estate, founded in 1984 and inspired by Spoleto, runs through August.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Tagliacozzo’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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Tagliacozzo — photo 1
Tagliacozzo — photo 2

What to see

  • Piazza dell'Obelisco

    Old-town square ringed by Renaissance loggias, with a fifteen-meter fountain-obelisk built in 1824 and a statue of John the Baptist on top.

  • Palazzo Ducale Orsini-Colonna

    Fourteenth-century ducal palace built by Roberto Orsini, 4,000 square meters across two floors mixing late Gothic and Renaissance styles.

  • Castello Orsini

    Ruined medieval fortress on Monte Civita at 998 meters above the town, built by the counts of the Marsi between the tenth and twelfth centuries.

  • Convento e Chiostro di San Francesco

    Franciscan convent with a quiet cloister used as a venue for the summer festival, built into the medieval town fabric.

  • Teatro Talia

    Nineteenth-century town theater, principal indoor venue for the Festival Internazionale di Mezza Estate.

  • Piani Palentini

    Plain east of the town, site of the 23 August 1268 battle that ended Hohenstaufen power in southern Italy.

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Living here

  • Population 6,436
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy: none mapped
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Rome, 1 h 50 min drive
  • Regional capital L'Aquila, 44 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 740 m
  • Population: 6,436
  • Surface area: 87.46 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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