Popoli (Abruzzo): what to see


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What to see in Popoli, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including Castello Cantelmo, Chiesa San Francesco, Taverna Ducale and Abbazia San Clemente a Casauria.


Tourist information

Located in the Peligna valley in the province of Pescara, from which it is 52 km away, Popoli is located on the slopes of Mount Morrone.

Formerly the domain of the bishop of Valva and Sulmona, Popoli was a fiefdom of the Cantelos in the period between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries.


The Romanesque Church of San Francesco, rebuilt in the fifteenth century, preserves the original portal and rose window, while the upper part of the facade is from the eighteenth century.

Inside there is a wooden crucifix, placed on the high altar, and a remarkable frontal made of ceramic by Castelli.

The Taverna Ducale is an interesting example of civil architecture typical of the Middle Ages.


Built in the fourteenth century to collect and allocate tithes of the crops for sale, it later became an inn which, in 1574, was enlarged.

Note the facade of the two-storey building, characterized by noble coats of arms and noteworthy bas-reliefs.

What see

The Castle of Popoli, erected in the tenth century on commission of the bishops of Valva, which was the diocese to which Popoli was subjected, has a triangular plan structure including three towers.


In 1269 it passed to the Cantelmo family who abandoned it when they decided to move to the Palazzo Ducale built in the city at the end of the fifteenth century.

Restored in 1997, it has been equipped with external lights that make it visible even at night.

Recommended readings
  • Giulianova (Abruzzo): what to see
  • Abruzzo holidays: travel between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea
  • Roccaraso (Abruzzo): what to see
  • Abruzzo: Sunday day trips
  • Sulmona (Abruzzo): what to see in the homeland of confetti

Among the excursions to do in the surroundings include the Abbey of San Clemente a Casauria, located 11 km away, near Torre dei Passeri.

The abbey was founded in the year 871 by Emperor Ludwig II, who had the remains of San Clemente moved there.

Looted several times over the following centuries, it was rebuilt by the Benedictines in the second half of 1100.

The façade is preceded by a large portico, characterized by columns with carved capitals, below which there are three portals, of which the central one is a masterpiece of medieval sculpture, with a lunette and lintel entirely sculpted, with images of San Clemente and stories of the abbey, while the bronze door is decorated with 72 panels depicting various subjects.

In the interior with three naves, with a semicircular apse, there is a remarkable pulpit covered with decorations.

The main altar consists of an early Christian sarcophagus, surmounted by a magnificent fourteenth-century ciborium.

Two apsidal enclosures placed in the crypt make up the division between the original church and the one rebuilt in the twelfth century.


To see the museum adjacent to the building, where Roman archaeological finds and materials from the ancient abbey are preserved.

"POPOLI" Abruzzo,Italy (March 2024)


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