Rocca Calascio

Rocca Calascio stands at just under fourteen hundred metres on a ridge below the Gran Sasso, a square keep with four round corner towers built in stone the colour of the mountain behind it, and it is among the highest fortresses in Italy. It was abandoned after an earthquake in 1703 that also emptied much of the village below. Restoration through the late twentieth century made the ruin stable and walkable. Just below stands a small octagonal church, Santa Maria della Pietà, alone on the slope. The setting has been used in a number of films, which is how many visitors first see it.

What you actually see

• The keep and towers - stone the colour of the mountain behind.
• Santa Maria della Pietà - the octagonal church alone on the slope below.
• The view - Campo Imperatore and the Gran Sasso from the walls.
• Calascio village - largely abandoned after the 1703 earthquake.

When to go

May to October; the road up is often closed by snow in winter. Sunrise and sunset are when the stone takes colour and when photographers are there. It is fully exposed with no shade and considerable wind at any time.

Honest expectations

The last stretch is a walk up from a car park and the ruin is unfenced in places with real drops. Wind at the top is constant and strong. Parking is limited and fills at weekends. There are no facilities beyond a bar in the hamlet below.

Nearby

Campo Imperatore is above; Santo Stefano di Sessanio is ten minutes.