Where slow pace living becomes luxury: inside Abruzzo’s reawakening

 L'AQUILA -- “Stop talking about the earthquake” is the collective motto of Abruzzo’s tourism operators, especially those in the city of L’Aquila – where 16 years ago, in 2009, an earthquake of Richter magnitude 5.9 devasted the city.

 As of now, 60 percent of L’Aquila’s public buildings have been rebuilt and over 95 percent of private buildings have been restored to their former charm.

 “Seeing it now is something completely different,” confides journalist Roberto Miliacca to ‘I am Giappo,’ a content creator from L’Aquila, during the press tour that led us through Abruzzo’s hinterland. “It used to be a ghost town; now, with the blue sky and the new buildings, it’s wonderful,” Miliacca adds.

Glory and shade

 Among L’Aquila’s white and pink buildings, soon to be the Capital of Culture 2026, we begin to uncover its history. 'I am Giappo' —Gianluca Giappo's name on social medias— tells us that “in the 1500s, L’Aquila was the second most important city in the Kingdom of Naples,” thanks to the rich production of saffron and wool. “All the saffron that was collected in the region was stoked and sold here” but “with the arrival of the Spanish, the city’s influence declined, weighed down by taxes.”

 At the time, these levies impacted saffron producers most significantly—the medicinal spice imported a century earlier by Father Santucci was used at the time as a painkiller and food preservative. With taxes overwhelming saffron producers, Abruzzo became increasingly unknown and isolated.

 So much so that after the downfall of Mussolini's regime and the arrival of the Allied forces in Sicily, King Vittorio Emanuele III chose Gran Sasso – the highest mountain in the Apennines, located in the province of L’Aquila - as a place of imprisonment for the former dictator.

 “No one would have ever thought to look for Mussolini here,” says Gianluca Museo, CEO of the Gran Sasso Tourist Centre, standing at the foot of the Villetta (chalet) of Fonte Cerreto. At the end of August 1943, the chalet hosted the Fascist dictator, before he was transferred to Campo Imperatore. Today the chalet has been renovated and turned into an hotel, ready to welcome skiers and summer hikers.

A new luxury, made simple

 Beyond history, Abruzzo’s mountains offer something rare today: tranquillity. “There are wellness centres; you can relax, do any kind of outdoor activity,” says Museo. As long as you have a car, the inland landscape is dotted with rare gems—from hand-produced D.O.P. saffron, to the renowned Montepulciano wine, to donkey trekking.

 Marianna Colantoni, president of the Territorial Development Group, calls it “authentic luxury” and explains: “true luxury is time, authenticity, the encounter with people.”

 Since 2017, her life mission has been to make her land known to Italy and the world. “When I told people where I was originally from, I would often see a giant question mark on their face.”

 In response, Marianna, along with several tourism entrepreneurs, created the first “business to business digital catalogue,” a search engine to help over 1,000 international tour operators design the perfect trip in the region. Through the portal, one can find more than 200 tourist activities led by local entrepreneurs.

Mountain struggles

 Amongst the entrepreneurs, I met Saskia Steigleder—German by origin, Abruzzese by choice. She welcomed us with two donkeys, Rosina and Violetta, at the entrance of her village, Goriano Valli. Here, together with her husband Giuseppe, she runs an agrotourism business surrounded by thirty more donkeys. Since 2009, they have offered tourists the chance to go trekking with these animals for hours or even days, staying overnight in nearby villages. “Donkeys, contrary to what people think, are very intelligent,” Saskia tells me. “They can sense the smell of a bear even days later,” and when they do, they dig their hooves into the ground and change route, leading tourist on a safe path.

 Despite her shy smile, Saskia doesn’t hide the difficulties of running a farm with just two people: “We can’t afford to hire anyone.”

 For her and her agrotourism business, entering the digital catalogue represents hope—to attract new tourists, especially in the off-season, and to create job opportunities for the few young people who remain. Depopulation is a major problem for villages in Abruzzo. “I left Villamagna, which has 2,000 inhabitants, because I couldn’t see a future, nor opportunities,” says Guido Cucchia, who now lives in the Netherlands.

Network and tourism

 In a warm room in the community centre “the heart of the valleys”, Francesco D’Amore, mayor of Fagnano, a tiny municipality in the Sirente-Velino Regional Park, highlights the greatest obstacle for Abruzzo tourism: “Parochialism, the lack of a network, has done more harm here than the earthquake.”

 In the same room, provincial secretary Massimo Pedone reveals his formula for reconciling tourism and repopulation: “A temporary resident (a tourist) lives well where the permanent resident also lives well.”

 A virtuous example of this mantra is the village of Villamagna (‘great farm’ in Latin), the same village Guido left fifteen years ago. From the main square, one can admire 84 hectares (207 acres) of vineyards belonging to Italy’s smallest D.O.P.—Villamagna D.O.P, officially recognized in 2011. In 2018, the Generazioni Association was born, a cooperative of fifty wineries, chaired by Katia Masci. “Today, the village has 2,400 residents, 70 percent of whom work in the wine sector,” Katia says.

 “Before Covid there were no organised hosting facilities,” explains Luana Di Lorito from the Villamagna D.O.P . Thanks to the collaboration amongst wineries, these days, Villamagna is booming with tourists. Counting over 20,000 yearly visits, tourism has doubled since 2024. The town has rediscovered its lifeblood, and tourism has blossomed alongside it. “The excellent relationship with the municipal administration is a driving force ... even though there is still a lot to do, we are on the right track,” concludes Luana.

 Networking works. It helps village residents to stay and allows tourists to experience an authentic reality, made of passion and history. The Abruzzo hinterland today presents itself as a laboratory of rebirth, where tourism promotion intertwines with the fight against depopulation. Between villages that resist and entrepreneurs returning to invest, the territory is trying to build a new identity. Abruzzo today seeks its place in international tourism, betting on a different kind of luxury: one of time and authentic experiences, while refusing to remain invisible.

 Ready to visit Abruzzo? Some useful information.

 According to Marianna Colantoni, president of Territorial Development Group:

 A complete lovebirds’ week-end can cost around 450 euros, including hotel, breakfast, lunch or dinner and two activities.

 Estimated time from Rome to L’Aquila:1h 20

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