Overview
Are you ready to explore a natural paradise in the province of L'Aquila?
Here’s Raiano and its incredible territory, which you can reach after winding through the curves and rocky walls of a stretch of the Aterno Valley, known as the San Venanzio Valley, with its regional nature reserve of the same name. It is a deep and narrow gorge, between the slopes of the Mandra Murata mountains and those of the chain from Mount Le Spugne to Mount Urano.
This is an ecological passageway of great importance between the Maiella National Park and the Sirente-Velino Regional Park, evoking a canyon of those of the American landscape, furrowed by the river that has carved it for millennia without a moment's respite.
The entire area is rich of water and springs, such as the Giannella, Bellezza, and Quercia springs, and the sulphurous springs that flow near the Aterno.
Of great interest is the Corinthian aqueduct built in the imperial age, which crosses the valley. It is dug into the rock with a tunnel of over 5 km and is bordered by a road on which there are 134 wells, serving as vents.
At the narrowest point of the gorge, on a system of arches where the Aterno flows below, a sanctuary appears like a mirage before your eyes. It is the hermitage of San Venanzio that welcomes you in prayer, marking the passage to the fertile alluvial plain, among woods and cultivated land.
After the darkness of the rocky passage comes the light.
Like a metaphor.
Inside the religious monument – one of the most evocative sacred places in Central Italy, dating back to the 15th century (although older information can be found in a papal bull of 1156) – you can admire the remains of 16th-century frescoes depicting the four evangelists. Via a small staircase near the loggia on the river, descend to the “Sette Marie” Chapel, which houses a terracotta Lamentation of Christ, dated 1510. Information on visiting hours can be found on the dedicated website.
On the right side of the valley, 390 metres above sea level, you will see Raiano, on the western edge of the Peligna Valley. It is an ancient settlement mentioned as early as 1047 when it was one of the castles in possession of the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere, as attested by Emperor Henry III.
In the city centre, you can admire a series of beautiful churches such as the parish church, with a statue dedicated to San Venanzio in silver foil, of 17th century Abruzzese art; the Madonna delle Grazie, which shows in a slab on the façade an eclipse that occurred in 1567; the church of Sant'Onofrio, which preserves a large 18th century Baroque walnut altar by the Bencivenga brothers.
Don't miss the oldest church in the area, the rupestrian parish church of the Madonna di Contra, which houses valuable statues from the early medieval period and, in its walls, some fragments from the 8th-9th centuries and excerpts of Roman tombstones with inscriptions also mentioned by the philosopher and historian Benedetto Croce, a native of Pescasseroli.
If you still have time to spare, we recommend a visit to the archaeological site of Corfinium, defined as the “first capital of Italy”, located in the municipality of Corfino, about three kilometres from the village.
Now, settle down at the table, next to the exquisite traditional dishes of Abruzzo and get the ball rolling with “maccheroni alla chitarra” followed by a generous portion of roast lamb.