10 Facts About L'Aquila

L'Aquila sits upon a hillside in the middle of a narrow valley; tall snow-capped mountains of the Gran Sasso massif flank the town.

Home to the University of L'Aquila, it is a lively college town and, as such, has many cultural institutions: a repertory theatre, a symphony orchestra, a fine-arts academy, a state conservatory, a film institute.

L'Aquila is approximately 100 kilometres east-northeast of Rome, with which it is connected by an autostrada through the mountains.

L'Aquila's descendants fought with the Pretatti family for power for several generations, but never again attained the power of their ancestor.

The last, and the one true "lord" of L'Aquila, was Ludovico Franchi, who challenged the power of the pope by giving refuge to Alfonso I d'Este, former duke of Ferrara, and the children of Giampaolo Baglioni, deposed lord of Perugia.

Related searches

Power of L'Aquila was based on the close connection between the city and its mother-villages, which had established the city as a federation, each of them building a borough and considering it as a part of the mother-village.

The citizens of L'Aquila honoured the bravery of their enemy Braccio by dedicating one of the main streets of the city to his name.

L'Aquila, like so much of Italy, is a city of political contrasts.

L'Aquila was then repopulated by decision of Pope Clement XI.

L'Aquila has a Oceanic climate, influenced by its high altitude.