Points of Interest

PIAZZA AND FONTANA DELL’OBELISCO

Piazza dell’Obelisco, illuminated in honour of the 100 Days to the Giro d’Italia celebration, is the most iconic landmark of the City of Tagliacozzo. It is a harmonious square enclosed by historic buildings, at the center of which stands the fountain of the same name, turning 200 years old in 2025. Among the most significant buildings are the 15th-century Palazzo del Governatorato, from the time of the Orsini family, the 16th-century Palazzo del Governatore under the Colonna rule, and the 17th-century Palazzo Fallace, featuring a splendid loggia. The square was originally surrounded by a perimeter arcade, but in the 19th century, its arches were enclosed to create artisan workshops and commercial spaces.

The Fountain of the Obelisk, built in 1825 in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua, follows the style of Roman Baroque fountains: atop an irregular rocky base rises a stone obelisk, crowned by a bronze cross. Before the fountain was erected, the center of the square housed a large stone chair, known locally as the pilozzo, which served as a pillory. Debtors unable to pay were publicly humiliated by being made to sit on it with their trousers lowered. On the 12th of March, the square will be the theater of the Tirreno Adratico 4th stage start.

CHURCH AND CONVENT OF SAINT FRANCIS

The church, officially recognized on November 20, 1233, is one of the first sacred buildings dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, just seven years after his death in 1226. Its architecture, with perfectly Gothic lines, preserves some of the city’s most valuable historical and artistic treasures, including: a late 15th-century altarpiece depicting the Virgin Mary between Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Elizabeth, a gift from the Orsini family; 17th-century statues of the Immaculate Virgin and Saint Anthony of Padua; a 16th-century wooden Crucifix; and the Bronze Urn containing the mortal remains of Blessed Thomas of Celano, the first biographer and companion of Saint Francis, as well as the author of the Dies Irae.

In the 16th-century Cloister, visitors can admire 17th-century frescoes from the Roman school, depicting scenes from the life of Il Poverello d’Assisi and the Franciscan family tree.

TALIA THEATER

Built in the 17th century by a Duke of the Colonna family, following the model of the Court Theater in Palazzo Colonna in Rome, the building was later modified and, by the late 18th century, took on its current form as a classic Italian-style theater, complete with a stage, stalls, and three tiers of boxes. The façade dates back to the late 18th century.

The theater is named after the Muse Thalia, the protector of theatrical arts, who, according to legend, also gave her name to the city. It is said that she once stayed in a cave near the springs of the Imele River, giving rise to the name Taliae Otium, meaning “Thalia’s retreat.”

DUCAL PALACE ORSINI-COLONNA

An architectural and historical monument among the most important in Italy, this building dates back to the 13th century. Over the 15th and 17th centuries, it was expanded and enriched by the noble families who resided there: the de Pontibus, local feudal lords; the Orsini, who ruled the County of Tagliacozzo until the late 1400s; and the Colonna, who held the Duchy of Caput Marsorum until the end of feudalism.

Inside, passing through the grand Renaissance halls, visitors can reach the Palatine Chapel, where frescoes from the second half of the 15th

IMELE SPRINGS

Just a few hundred meters from the historic center, a shaded and accessible path runs alongside the ancient mills and follows the course of the Imele River, leading to the base of the rocky outcrop from which the river—celebrated in Virgil’s Aeneid—springs anew from the depths of Mount Aurunzo.