Magliano de’ Marsi

Discover Magliano de’ Marsi

Magliano de’ Marsi has 3,739 inhabitants and extends along the western slope of the Fucino Plain, in the province of L’Aquila, at an altitude of approximately 720 metres. The town lies along the route that once connected Rome to the Adriatic coast through the Marsica basin, and its urban layout still bears the marks of the rebuilding that followed the 1915 earthquake, which devastated the entire Marsica area. Asking what to see in Magliano de’ Marsi means exploring a territory where the remains of the Marsi civilisation coexist with early twentieth-century reconstruction architecture and the wide horizon of the Fucino, the lake drained by Alessandro Torlonia in 1875.

History and origins of Magliano de’ Marsi

The place name most likely derives from the Latin fundus Mallianus, referring to a Roman landed estate. The territory was part of the area inhabited by the Marsi, an Italic people who became allies of Rome after the Social War (91–88 BC). Local epigraphy has yielded inscriptions confirming the presence of settlements during the Republican and Imperial periods, connected to the nearby Alba Fucens, a Latin colony founded in 303 BC just a few kilometres away.

In the Middle Ages the town came under the control of the Counts of the Marsi, then the Colonna family, and finally the Orsini. Its position along the Marsica communication routes made it a well-frequented stopping point. The Marsica earthquake of 13 January 1915, with a magnitude of 7.0, levelled most of the settlement and caused thousands of deaths across the wider area. Reconstruction, which began in the post-World War I period and continued for decades, redesigned the town’s layout according to anti-seismic criteria that remain visible in the façades and the regular grid of the main streets. For a comprehensive overview of the history of Marsica, see the dedicated Wikipedia entry.

In the second half of the twentieth century, the reclamation of the Fucino radically transformed the local economy: the former lakebed, converted into farmland, became one of the most productive areas in central Italy for the cultivation of potatoes, carrots and sugar beet. Magliano retained an agricultural vocation that today intersects with the renewed interest in the Marsica’s archaeological heritage.

What to see in Magliano de’ Marsi: 5 main attractions

1. Church of Santa Lucia

The most significant religious building in the town centre, rebuilt after the 1915 earthquake. The façade displays the sober lines typical of ecclesiastical architecture from the Marsica reconstruction period. Inside, it preserves recovered liturgical furnishings and sacred artworks from the earlier medieval building, including wooden statues of Abruzzese craftsmanship.

2. Remains of the medieval castle

In the upper part of the town, the remains of the fortification that once controlled the valley below and the access routes to the Fucino Plain can still be identified. The surviving walls, built from local limestone, allow the plan of the original defensive enclosure to be traced. The position provides a direct vantage point over the entire Fucino basin as far as the mountains of the Vallelonga.

3. Archaeological area of Alba Fucens

A short distance from Magliano, within the neighbouring municipal territory, lies the site of Alba Fucens, one of the best-preserved Latin colonies in central Italy. The amphitheatre, the forum, the macellum and the paved streets document a city that in the 3rd century BC had approximately 6,000 inhabitants. The site is managed by the Abruzzo Region and the Ministry of Culture.

4. The Fucino Plain

The Fucino — Italy’s third-largest lake before its drainage, completed in 1875 — is today a geometric agricultural expanse, divided into regular plots visible from above. From Magliano, the full extent of the plain can be appreciated, covering approximately 160 square kilometres and bounded by the Sirente-Velino and Vallelonga mountain ranges. The drainage channels designed by the Swiss engineer Franz Mayor de Montricher remain in operation.

5. Church of the Madonna delle Grazie

Located near the town centre, this rural church preserves architectural elements predating the 1915 earthquake, including sections of stone masonry and a simply carved portal. The building is linked to a Marian devotion widespread throughout the Marsica and is one of the most noteworthy minor religious structures in the municipal territory.

Traditional cuisine and local products

The table in Magliano de’ Marsi reflects the dual identity of the territory: mountain and agricultural. The Patata del Fucino IGP, grown in the fields of the plain, is the base ingredient of numerous preparations, from soups to fried dishes. The Carota dell’Altopiano del Fucino IGP, sweet and firm thanks to the lacustrine soil, is another certified product of note. Local tables feature maccheroni alla chitarra, cut with a frame strung with steel wires and dressed with lamb or mutton ragù, and sagne e fagioli, irregular pasta cooked with borlotti beans in a broth flavoured with pork rind. Arrosticini — skewers of diced sheep meat grilled over a fornacella — are present at every communal gathering. In winter, scrippelle ‘mbusse, thin crêpes immersed in hen broth, and polenta rognosa, enriched with crumbled sausage and cheese, are prepared.

Among the cheeses are Pecorino d’Abruzzo, aged in caves or cellars, and giuncata, a fresh soft cheese made from sheep’s milk. The Marsica territory also supplies lentils grown at higher elevations and Zafferano dell’Aquila DOP, whose production area extends across the nearby Navelli plain. For desserts, ferratelle (thin wafers cooked in a patterned iron press) and mostaccioli, dense biscuits made with almonds and cooked grape must, are prepared during festive occasions. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC accompanies meat dishes, while Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC pairs well with legume soups. Summer food festivals — dedicated to potatoes, carrots and Fucino garden produce — bring together producers from the plain and local cooks during July and August.

When to visit Magliano de’ Marsi: the best time

Spring, between April and June, is when the Fucino Plain appears as a green mosaic: the cultivated fields reach their most intense vegetative phase and temperatures range between 10 and 22 degrees, well suited for walks towards Alba Fucens and along the hillside paths. Summer brings food festivals and outdoor evening events, but temperatures in the basin can exceed 30 degrees during the middle of the day.

Autumn coincides with the harvest of the Patata del Fucino IGP and the Carota dell’Altopiano del Fucino IGP, a period when local markets offer produce at peak freshness. Winter is harsh — minimum temperatures frequently drop below zero — but it brings clear days when the view from the hill of Magliano extends as far as the snow-covered mountains of the Sirente-Velino Regional Natural Park, a short distance away. The commemoration of the 1915 earthquake, held every 13 January, is a moment of collective remembrance for the entire district.

How to reach Magliano de’ Marsi

Magliano de’ Marsi can be reached via the A25 Roma-Pescara motorway, exiting at the Magliano de’ Marsi toll station, which connects the town directly to the motorway network. From Rome the distance is approximately 100 kilometres, covered in about one hour and ten minutes. From Pescara the journey is roughly 110 kilometres, just over an hour’s drive.

The Magliano de’ Marsi-Cappelle railway station, on the Rome–Avezzano–Sulmona–Pescara line, provides train access with services operated by Trenitalia. The nearest airport is Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci, approximately 140 kilometres away. Pescara Abruzzo Airport is about 130 kilometres distant. Avezzano, the main town of the Marsica and the area’s service hub, is just 10 kilometres away and offers bus connections to L’Aquila and Rome via TUA lines. For up-to-date information on services and transport, consult the official municipal website.

Other villages to discover in Abruzzo

Those travelling through inland Abruzzo along the axis of the province of L’Aquila can extend their itinerary towards Fagnano Alto, a scattered municipality in the Aterno Valley made up of distinct clusters — hamlets distributed between 600 and 900 metres above sea level — that preserve rural churches and stone structures linked to the pastoral economy of the L’Aquila slope. The landscape differs from the Fucino Plain: here, oak woods and abandoned terraces dominate, evidence of a mountain agriculture now partly being recovered.

Moving towards the Vestina hill belt, Catignano, in the province of Pescara, offers another variation of the Abruzzese landscape: a mid-hill territory where olive growing and viticulture mark the land with regular rows. The contrast between the Marsica of Magliano — tied to the Fucino and Roman archaeology — and these villages of the L’Aquila mountains and the Pescara hills reveals the geographical and cultural variety that runs across the region from west to east, within less than a hundred kilometres.