The village was put together by an abbot: in 985 Adam, of the abbey of San Clemente a Casauria, turned the monks' mountain storehouse up here into a castle and brought in the people of four nearby villages, Peteliano, Montefalcone, Vallelupa and Opacolo. A thousand years later, a street beside the square is still called via Abate Adamo.
The castle stood on an enormous boulder, the Pietra di Castello, and from it comes the name, Petra Iniqua; they pulled it down under fascism to make room for new houses. The old village has stayed as it was: houses fanning out below the rock, very narrow lanes that here are called rughelle, and a single opening in the walls, the Porta della Terra. The church, ruined by the earthquakes of 1915 and 1933, was rebuilt on the model of the cathedral of Lucca.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Pietranico
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Pietranico, but an easy day trip away.