Type:

Luoghi della cultura; Oggetto fisico

Category:

Defence buildings; History museums

The remains of the town - specifically the ruins of a fortress and of the little church of Santa Maria della Pietà - are particularly suggestive, since they rise about 1500 meters above the sea-level on the Gran Sasso Mountains. The fortress of Calascio, fortified and enlarged in the XV century by order of the family Piccolomini, is one of the highest bastions in Italy. From its height it overlooks the plain of Navelli and the Tirino Valley. It consists of a square plan with four corner-towers. The entrance door lies five meters above the ground, which made suppose that a wood ladder was used to enter the building and then withdrawn. Near the ruins there is the little church of Santa Maria della Pietà, situated over a former votive chapel. The present building, dating back to the XVI century, has an octagonal plan surmounted by a cupola made up of eight sections; the sacristy is built against one of the external facades of the church.