Overview
In a picture postcard setting, Villa Santa Lucia degli Abruzzi, in the province of L'Aquila, awaits you with serenity. Reach it slowly, enjoying curve after curve the road that rises on State Road 17 bis with a beautiful view of Capestrano, the centre of the famous warrior, symbol of the region.
In about six kilometres, you are in the small village, immersed in the greenery of oak and beech forests, with the hamlet of Carrufo.
You are in the southern entrance gate to the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, the third largest in Italy, at 900 metres above sea level, halfway between Ofena and Castel del Monte.
The air is fine and crisp and everything around you is natural, intact and harmonious. Perfect as nature creates.
The earliest documented evidence of the settlement dates back to around the year 1000, when the church of Santa Lucia is mentioned in a papal bull (but there are also traces suggesting human presence in the area from the Vestina era onwards, and according to many studies, it may have been a mountain detachment of Aufinum).
Centuries of power transitions followed between one family and another close to the emperor, first Frederick II of Swabia, then Charles of Anjou. In 1578, Villa became part of the principality of Capestrano held by Francesco de Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany, becoming the most important centre of the Baronia of Carapelle in terms of antiquity, trade and wealth.
If you explore the surrounding area, where the fortified area called "Il Castelluccio" is located - the original settlement of the population - you will discover a nucleus of twenty-five dry stone tholos: evidence of the way the Abruzzo people lived many years ago.
These simple dwellings were born from the work of farmers, who came across the large stones embedded in the earth of the fields and removed them, forming pyramid-shaped piles. With this simple material, over time, several huts were built, up to three storeys high, some of them with walls to keep animals out.
With the development of civilisation and the advent of 'comforts', the Tholos were abandoned by farmers and became a refuge for shepherds and their animals. When the shepherds also left them, the buildings began to deteriorate.
The "little houses" that you can see are perfectly preserved thanks to the work of the Park Authority, which considers them talking stone monuments.
Now approach the table with the good products of the land, such as the evergreen 'sagne e fagioli', 'ndritgli', cheese balls and fried pizzas.