From a guide of Abruzzo :
"One of the most beautiful and ancient villages in the Abruzzo Apennines, Scanno is located in the upper Sagittario Valley, on the edge of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park and not far from the Maiella and Velino Sirente Parks and the Sagittario WWF Nature Reserve.
Important summer and winter resort offers visitors recreational facilities, natural and artistic beauty, folklore and handicrafts."
As you stroll through the ancient streets of the old town, an evocative succession of glimpses, stairways, arches, churches and aristocratic palaces, if you are lucky you will meet the last women still wearing traditional dress and you will feel as if time has stood still.
This must be why Scanno is known as the City of Photographers, a popular place and destination for many Italian and foreign authors. Throughout the twentieth century, its unmistakable views and people were the subjects of famous shots taken by Hilde Lotz-Bauer, Henry Cartier-Bresson, Mario Giacomelli, Gianni Berengo Gardin, and Ferdinando Scianna, to name but a few.
Scanno is a quiet mountain village, so don't expect unbridled worldliness; if you chose to come up here it will be for the good air, the walks in the woods, the lake, and the calm and serenity that these places convey.
I recommend a walk through the old town with its Baroque portals and numerous Churches (S. Maria della Valle, S. Antonio, the recently restored S. Eustachio, S. Maria delle Grazie), a visit to the Wool Museum, and a few hours on the shores of the lake.
Information and guided tours at IAT tel. 0864.74317
Our favorite "places" :
the aperitif at the "Brillo Bear" in San Rocco Square;
a café in St. Mary of the Valley Square, the center of the village's social life, where everyone meets in the evening;
the Pan dell'Orso bakery at all hours of the day......
Restaurants are numerous and offer traditional or revisited dishes, with good value for money. The closest to the Palace are "la Porta" on Ciorla Street and "il Caminetto" on Napoli Street.
The place, as it were, does not honor him, but Stefano's pizza from "Angelone" (who was his father) is the best, go there early otherwise you stand in line and risk being without dinner...
You will be pleased to know that there are craft workshops of the highest standard.
If you love jewelry, enter the stores of goldsmiths Francesco Rotolo, Armando di Rienzo, and you can see the masters at work behind their wooden benches creating, today as they did two centuries ago, the jewelry of ancient tradition and new models based on exclusive designs.
insert links to jewelry stores : armando, fronterotta
www.orafirotolo.it, www.eugeniodirienzo.it, www.scannooreficeriamancini.com
If you love embroidery, you can't help but visit Federica Silvani's workshop "i gioielli del tombolo" where you will find or can have appliqués made for tablecloths or sheets, centers, lace and silver jewelry made in pillow lace.
If you love artist ceramics you will fall in love with the works of master Rossicone; from his studio and kiln have passed the most famous names in the art of Italian and international ceramics.
Let's not forget nature.....
The mountains around the village offer beautiful hiking trails, our hiking guides will be happy to accompany you to discover the unspoiled nature along valleys and ridges, and with a little luck you will happen to see the animals that inhabit the park in their natural environment. Ask how to contact them.
If you prefer to be transported ... choose horses from the Ranch in Le Prata, a few kilometers from Scanno on the road to Passo Godi and Villetta Barrea.
A chairlift ride up Collerotondo is also worthwhile. Open both in winter, when it is possible to ski on the slopes that descend from 1900 m. of Collerotondo back to the village, and in summer, when with the lift you can reach the deer wildlife area and the small lake at high altitude; it can also be the starting point of the many hiking routes.
And not to miss anything, but really nothing
deserve mention and a stop :
- charcuterie from L'Olmo Butcher's Shop, in Largo dell'Olmo, Maria will be able to advise you.
- Isidoro's sheep's milk ricotta, you have to reserve it in time, ask me how to do it
- cheeses from the farm Le Prata
- Gregorio Rotolo's cheeses, farm store in Fontana Sarracco
- the caciocavallo cheese and beans from the San Liborio Farm, farm store on Via Roma
- wine doughnuts and mostaccioli from Ilario's Artisan Biscuit Factory, Via Silla
If you are curious and to learn more :
- miscellaneous information www.comune.scanno.aq.it - experience the city
- the parks www.parks.it/regione.abruzzo, www.parcoabruzzo.it, www.parcomajella.it, www.parcosirentevelino.it
- history and architecture : http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanno, www.scanno.org
- pastoralism and transhumance :
www.camminarenellastoria.it/index/trat_approf_musei_files/Tratturi%20-%20I%20musei%20della%20transumanza.pdf
- the muliebre costume : www.costumediscanno.org,