Municipality in the Marsica area, in the province of L'Aquila, Tagliacozzo is located on the northern slopes of the mountains Simbruini, on the border with the Lazio Region. The name derives from "talus" (cut) and "cotium" (rock), which means "cut into the rock, indicating the development of urban settlement in a area that divides in two the mountain.
The territory was occupied, since ancient times, by the Marsi and the Equi , but the first documented reports date back only to the XII century. In 1173 the village submitted the rule of De Pontibus, then ceded to the Orsini, and finally the Colonna.
Not to miss:
- the remains of the Castle, situated on the slopes of Mount Civita, and built in the XI century on the ruins of an ancient Equi fortification;
- the ancient gates to the city (Porta Romana, Porta Valeria, Porta San Rocco, Porta Da' Piedi e Porta Corazza)
- Palazzo Ducale, an architectonic masterpiece dating from the XIV century, with stained glass Gothic windows, ornamental halls, staircases and a chapel;
- the Talia Theater, originally a Benedictine monastery, deconsecrated in 1652 and converted theater in 1686,
- Piazza of the Obelisk;
- the Church of Santa Maria del Soccorso, cited in an edit of Pope Pasquale II in 1115, it has undergone several renovations over the centuries;
- the Church of Saints Cosma and Damiano, with an adjoining monastery, one of the oldest churches in the town and in the whole region, dating from the VIII century. It was built in Romanesque style and for many years belonged to the Benedictines of Monte Cassino;
- the Church of San Francesco, with an adjoining monastery, rebuilt in the XIII century and embellished by the Orsini and the Colonna. It features a beautiful façade with an old Gothic portal and a rose window, while the interior, simple and austere, preserves several valuable art works in bronze and wood;
- the Church of Mercy, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, local seat of the Order of the Knights of Malta;
- the Shrine of Our Lady of the Orient, which dates back to the XIII and XIV centuries, is situated in the outskirts of the town. It features a revered sacred image miraculously escaped the iconoclastic fury of Leo III Isaurico.