Abruzzo (pronounced [a’bruttso]) is a region of Italy known for its castles and Medieval hill towns. It is considered “the greenest region in Europe” as one third of its land — the largest in Europe — is protected as national parks and nature reserves.

The name Abruzzo derives possibly from the Latin “Aprutium” for an ancient tribe in the area. It was used in the 1800s when the region was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which ruled the southern half of today’s Italy. Thus, historically and culturally, Abruzzo is considered part of Southern Italy, despite being in the center of Italy, about 80 km (50 mi) east of Rome.

Stretching from the heart of the Apennines in the west to the sandy beaches of the Adriatic Sea in the east, the region is divided into four provinces: L’Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, and Chieti. The largest city is Pescara (pop. 123,000) and Abruzzo’s capital and second-largest city is L’Aquila (pop. 73,000).

Abruzzo is world-famous for its three national parks (Abruzzo, Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga, and Maiella), a regional park (Sirente Velino) and 38 protected areas.

Rocca Calascio, at an elevation of 1,460 metres, is the highest fortress in Italy and one of the highest in Europe.

Construction of the fortress started in the tenth century as a single watchtower. A walled courtyard with four cylindrical towers at the corners around a taller inner tower was added in the thirteenth century. Considered impenetrable, the castle never saw a battle but was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1461.

Rocca Calascio lies within the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park and is accompanied by a nearby octagonal church.

The “Ladyhawke” view is the classic shot of Rocca Calascio used in the 1985 fantasy film Ladyhawke. Directed by Richard Donner, the movie starred Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

The ruined 13th century castle is where the lady is revealed to become a hawk by day. The hero is cursed to become a wolf by night, so the lovers will be “always together; eternally apart.” Only at dusk and dawn, can they see each other in human form for one fleeting moment. Their salvation comes at the castle during a fortuitous solar eclipse.

Time Out called the movie “always beautifully photographed.”

Santa Maria della Pietà (Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà) is a seventeenth century octagonal church near Rocca Calascio.

Amiternum was an ancient city captured by the Romans in 293 BC. There are considerable remains of an amphitheatre and a theatre from the imperial period.

Obelisco Monte Salviano is a towering obelisk above Avezzano. It remembers the 1915 Avezzano earthquake which completely destroyed the town, killing 96% of its population. Over 30,000 people died in central and southern Italy.

Avezzano Cathedral (San Bartolomeo) is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Bartholomew. There have been churches on the site since the 11th century but earthquakes have repeatedly destroyed them; the present cathedral dates from after the great earthquake of 1915.

Orsini-Colonna Castle (Castello Orsini-Colonna) was constructed in 1490 by Virginio Orsini and, in 1565, adapted by Marcantonio Colonna to be a fortified residence.

Madonna of Incile (Madonnone Incile, La Madonna dell’Incile) is a seven-meter tall statue of the Virgin Mary, with a crown of twelve stars. The statue towers over Incile del Fucino, the start of a waterway used to drain Lake Fucino.

Castello Piccolomini (Piccolomini Castle) is a castle built in stages from 1392 to 1451 and used by the prominent Piccolomini family.

Fontana delle 99 Cannelle (Fountain of the 99 Spouts) is a 13th-century fountain with water from 99 sculpted heads representing the 99 villages that the town was created from.

Fontana Luminosa (Bright Fountain) was built in 1934 by the sculptor Nicola d’Antino. Two female bronze nudes pour water from a conca abruzzese (Abruzzo basin), a traditional water container made of copper with two wrought-iron handles and a wide opening. The fountain is at the historical center of the city.

Santa Maria di Collemaggio is a masterpiece of Abruzzese Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Alternating blocks of pink and white stone give a striking jewel-box effect. The church was consecrated in 1289 and embellished in the 15th century with the tapestry-like façade.

Forte Spagnolo (Spanish Fort) is a Renaissance castle built 1528-1567 for Spain to control the city.

In the 15th century, L’Aquila had become the second most powerful city in the Kingdom of Naples after Naples itself. As the French and the Spaniards battled for the throne of Naples, L’Aquila traded hands and was finally conquered by Spain in 1528. To control the unruly and rebellious Aquilans, Viceroy Philibert of Orange, ruling for King Charles V of Spain, commissioned an enormous fortress on the site of a 1401 garrison.

To thwart the enemy’s artillery, the walls were made 30 metres thick at the base and proteected by a 23-metre-wide ditch (never filled with water). Each of the four bastions had two separate and completely self-sufficient environments — almost independent garrisons on their own. The city’s bells were melted to make the cannons and the city’s aqueduct was deviated to supply the castle first, and block the city’s water supply in case of rebellion.

The enormous cost impoverished the city and, after 30 years of construction, work was halted before completion.

In World War II, the castle was occupied and damaged by the Germans. It was restored 1949–1951 and became the seat of the Museo Nazionale d’Abruzzo.

Basilica of San Bernardino (San Bernardino Basilica, San Bernardino da Siena di L’Aquila) was built 1454–1472 in honor of St Bernardino of Siena. The church is located over a monumental staircase which originates from Piazza Bariscianello to the basilica, establishing a fantastic point of view for the people arriving from via Fortebraccio.

The central nave has an exquisite wooden lacunar ceiling carving, painting and gilding by Ferdinando Mosca da Pescocostanzo (1723-1727), who also made the magnificent pipe organ. The ceiling was later painted by Girolamo Cenatiempo, pupil of Luca Giordano.

L’Aquila Cathedral (Saint Maximus of Aveia and Saint George, Chiesa dei Santi Massimo e Giorgio) is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Maximus of Aveia and Saint George. The 19th century building replaced a 13th century cathedral.

Obelisk Tagliacozzo (Obelisco) is a 13th century fountain and obelisk in the suitably-named Piazza dell’Obelisco in Tagliacozzo.

Gran Sasso d’Italia (Il Gran Sasso d’Italia Corno Grande, Great Rock of Italy) is a mountain massif with the highest mountain in the Apennines, Corno Grande (Big Horn) at 2,912 metres (9,554 feet).

Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was imprisoned in a hotel here from August until September 1943 when he was freed by a Nazi commando operation.

In a tunnel through the mountain is the largest underground research center in the world. The Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) opened in 1989 to study neutrinos, high-energy cosmic rays, and dark matter.

The Gran Sasso forms the centrepiece of the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park which was established in 1993.

Barrea is a picturesque town built as a defensive tangle of practically impregnable houses. Everything is protected by nature on one side and by observation towers and defensive walls on the other.

Barrea overlooks Lago di Barrea (Lake Barrea), a lake created after World War II due to the building of a dam on the river Sangro.

San Giovanni Battista (St. John Baptist) is a church in Luco dei Marsi, referring to a nearby wood named for a divine sorceress of the Marsi Italic tribe.

Oricola Castle (Castello di Oricola) is a mid-15th century rocca (fortress) in Oricola.

Castello Piccolomini is a castle from 1488 which originally stood on an island in Lake Fucino, surrounded by a moat. But when the lake dried, the protection failed. The Renaissance-style structure was commissioned by Antonio Piccolomini.

Rocca Orsini (Orsini Castle) is a 13th century castle modified in the 15th century for the Orsini family. It has a triangular plant to reduce the number of sides to defend.

Acquedotto Medievale (Medieval Aqueduct) is a section of one of the longest aqueducts in Southern Italy.

Ovid (Statua di Ovidio) is a statue of the Roman poet — Sulmona’s most famous native. Along with his contemporaries Virgil and Horace, Ovid (43 BC – 18 AD) is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature.

Ovid is today best known for the Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and one of the most important sources of classical mythology.

Alba Fucens is an ancient Aequi and Roman town with finely preserved fortifications.

Campo Imperatore (“Emperor’s Field”), known as Italy’s “Little Tibet”, is a mountain grassland or alpine meadow. It is the largest plateau of the Apennine ridge and lies adjacent to the Apennines’ highest peak Corno Grande.

In spring, summer and fall, shepherds maintain herds of sheep, “semi-wild” horses, and cattle in the plateau. The pastures are covered with field grasses and meadowland wild flowers.

Fater SpA Headquarters is a 2008 building for a joint venture with Procter & Gamble that manufactures Pampers and other brands in Europe.

Ponte del Mare (Bridge of the Sea) in Pescara is a distinctive cable-stayed pedestrian bridge across the Pescara River. Curving for 466 metres, the bridge was opened in 2009.

Pescara Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Cetteus, patron saint of Pescara. The Romanesque Revival building was constructed in the 1930s.

San Liberatore a Maiella (Abbazia di San Liberatore a Majella) is an abbey and church built from 1080 in a Lombard-Romanesque style.

Torri Montanare (Montanare Towers) is a castle made from a tenth century tower and a fifteenth century tower.

Lanciano Cathedral (Basilica of Santa Maria del Ponte, St. Mary of the Bridge) was built in 1619 on bridgework along a precipice. Adjacent is Torre Civica (Civic Tower) built in the 19th century over a pre-existing tower, and now used as a belfry and clock tower.

Ortona Castle (Castello Aragonese) is a Renaissance castle dating to 1492, and may have supplanted a 13th century fort. In the 17th century, the castle became a noble residence of the Baglioni family.

The base is almost trapezoidal and is characterized by four cylindrical corner towers (though only three have survived today) and curtains on a scarp. The palace inside was used to store gunpowder during WWII, and exploded in 1943.

Castello Caldoresco (Caldora Castle) is a Renaissance castle in Vasto.

Punta Penna Lighthouse (Faro di Punta Penna) is an active lighthouse and, at a height of 70 m (230 feet), is the eighth tallest “traditional lighthouse” in the world. The present structure was completed in 1948. A spiral staircase of 307 steps leads up to the summit.

Cascate del Rio Verde are the highest natural waterfalls in the Italian Apennines, making three jumps for a total of over 200 meters.

Santa Maria Maggiore (Collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore) is a church with an elegant 14th-century Gothic portal.

Roccascalegna Castle (Castello di Roccascalegna) is a 15th century castle overhanging a precipice. A Norman tower built by the Lombards was enlarged in the 16th century with three circular towers.

The castle was used in the 2015 dark fantasy film, Tale of Tales.

Crecchio Castle (Castello Ducale di Crecchio, Ducal Castle of Crecchio) is a 12th-century castle in Crecchio which was converted to residential use in 1789.

Santa Maria di Propezzano is a Romanesque-style, former-Benedictine abbey and church. The sculpted portal, so-called Holy Door (circa 1315), was completed by Raimondo del Poggio; behind it is the belltower.

Fontana della Sirena (Mermaid Fountain) is a bronze mermaid statue sculpted by Gabriella Martini in 1982.

Teramo Cathedral (Duomo di Teramo, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Teramo dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and to Saint Berardo, patron saint of the city. The Romanesque church was built 1158–1176 and modified 1331-1335. The large bell tower was added in the late 15th century.

Atri Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Museo Capitolare di Atri) is a Romanesque Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The sober Istrian white stone Gothic façade has a large rose window with a figure of the Virgin and child.

Built over an earlier one, the present church was consecrated in 1223 and reconstructed over two centuries. The bell tower (56 m / 184 ft) was added in the 15th century.