A Pleasant Town in the Province of L’Aquila

Cerchio is a communal capital in the Province of L’Aquila in Italy’s Abruzzo Region.

The village is situated on the lower slopes of Mt. Sirente, overlooking the Fucino plain. About 1700 people lived there in the year 2008. The town was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1915. The patron saints of the town are San Giovanni and San Paolo. During the medieval period the village was controlled by the powerful Colonna and Piccolomini families of Rome.

Some people say Cerchio arose from a small group of houses constructed around a theater (circo) set up by the Romans to celebrate the inauguration of Emperor Claudius, who drained the ancient Fucine lake. In more recent times the Fucino plain once again found itself largely under water until it was redrained in the mid-nineteenth century. Many people from Cerchio have farmed the rich soils of the lake bed, working as tenant farmers, share-croppers and day-laborers.

Sitting at an altitude of 850 meters, Cerchio is home to a bio-agriturismo, La Locanda, owned and operated by Gabriele Ciotti.  Each year visitors come from all over Europe and throughout the world to dine at this fine location and enjoy the hospitality of the Ciotti family at the inn they have so painstakingly restored.

Cerchio made national headlines in the summer of 2007 when a fireworks factory exploded not far from the village center.

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In collaboration
Casale-Abruzzo Villa Rental & AbruzzoVillas