Scanno

Introducing Scanno

A tangle of steep alleyways and sturdy, grey-stone houses, Scanno is Abruzzo’s most photogenic hill-top village and is a popular tourist attraction. It’s left to its own devices in winter, but gets very busy in summer as visitors pour in en masse to enjoy the authentic atmosphere of a remote medieval borgo (archaic name for small town). You would not want to miss it, though – if nothing else for the exhilarating drive up from Sulmona, through the rocky Gole di Sagittaro (Sagittarius Gorges) and past tranquil Lago di Scanno.

Long heralded as a bastion of traditionalism, Scanno was for centuries a centre of wool production and it is today one of the few places in Italy where you can see women wearing traditional dress. The costume – a long black woollen dress, a wide-sleeved bodice and a square fez behind which two plaits (i lacci) are tied – is said to have originated in Asia Minor. Eastern influences are also evident in locally made jewellery, another Scanno speciality.

To learn more, contact the tourist office (0864 7 43 17; Piazza Santa Maria della Valle 12; 9am-1pm & 4-7pm Mon-Sat, 9am-1pm Sun mid-May–Sep, 9am-1pm & 3-6pm Mon-Sat Oct–mid-May) in the village centre.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009