Things to see in Avezzano

Avezzano is a city in Abruzzo. Avezzano is an excellent starting point to reach the numerous mountain locations of Marsica.

The city centre of Avezzano essentially revolves around the large Piazza Risorgimento which overlooks the mother church of the diocese, the Cathedral of the Marsi, rebuilt from scratch after the disastrous earthquake that destroyed the old historic city centre in 1915. The central area includes the generating points of Piazza Matteotti, near the railway station, and Piazza Castello from which the main arteries branch out in a radial pattern.

The modern appearance of Avezzano is characterised by a regular structure made up of streets frequently crossing at right angles and an orthogonal road network. The road system is mostly equipped with wide, tree-lined sidewalks.

Orsini-Colonna Castle. Thanks to Marcantonio Colonna, who chose Avezzano among his residences, in the 16th century the castle was adapted to a fortified noble palace surrounded by a garden. Severely damaged by the 1915 earthquake and the bombings of 1944, it was restored in the 1990s based on a project by the architect Alessandro Del Bufalo after a long planning and bureaucratic process. On the first floor, the stage and stalls for theatrical performances and conferences were built, while some areas of the upper floor hosted the modern art gallery for several years. You can admire the models reproducing some historical areas of the city before the 1915 earthquake such as Piazza Castello and Palazzo Torlonia. Villa Torlonia. With a rectangular plan, it extends, together with the adjacent public garden of Piazza Torlonia, for over five hectares and includes the palace of the same name, the spaces dedicated to the section of the State Archives, the "Antonio Picchi" conference room, the prince's ice house and the museum of peasant and pastoral civilisation set up in the characteristic Torlonia pavilion.