What to see in Roccaraso, a town located in the province of L'Aquila at 1236 meters above sea level, between Rivisondoli and the Sangro valley, known for its excellent tourist reception capacity and for the ski slopes equipped with comfortable ski lifts.
Tourist information
The origins of Roccaraso date back to the year 1000, when the first settlement was planted near the Rasinus stream.
Developed over time, it became a thriving agricultural village, as well as pastoral and artisanal, allowing its population a discreet well-being.
At the end of the nineteenth century, coinciding with the opening of the railway connection with Naples, the first tourists began to arrive, attracted by the magnificent natural environment of the area, thanks to which several hotels arose.
Unfortunately, the Second World War temporarily interrupted this expansion, as Roccaraso was located right along the route of the Gustav line, or the system of fortifications by which the Germans tried to prevent the advance of the Allies who had landed in Salerno.
Thus, the town was completely destroyed by bombing, which among other things caused the loss of the theater which, dating back to 1698, was one of the oldest in Italy.
But thanks to the tenacity and courage of the inhabitants, Roccaraso, once the war was over, began to live again, to return again to being a very popular and appreciated tourist center.
What see
Among the places to see is the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta, located in front of the Rocca di Roccaraso and dating back to the end of the fifteenth century.
The interior has beautiful stone columns which, joined by round arches, separate the three naves.
The sixteenth-century pulpit, made of carved wood, is placed close to one of the columns of the main nave, the baptismal font is very beautiful.
Partially destroyed by the earthquakes of 1703 and 1706, the church was razed to the ground following bombings during the Second World War.
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Rebuilt in 1954, only the silver statue of Saint Hippolytus, patron of Roccaraso, the work of the Neapolitan goldsmith school, remains of the original church.
The theater, which was built in 1698 on behalf of Donato Berardino Angeloni the elder, was among the oldest of its kind and had a monumental portal that allowed access to an open courtyard.
On the facade there was an arcade and a round arched loggia, on whose cornice a symbolic phrase was engraved.
The church of San Rocco was built in 1656 as a thank you for the end of the plague, in fact San Rocco is the patron saint of the plague victims.
The interior of the church has a single nave and a semicircular apse, with a shell decoration in the upper part.
The altar rests on wooden columns, above the wooden choir there is a niche containing the statue of San Rocco.
In the summertime in Roccaraso and surroundings it is possible to carry out naturalistic trekking excursions, while in the winter months there are ski slopes and ski lifts for all those who prefer this type of holiday.
