Identity: city of the 99 spouts, San Massimo, the Perdonanza
L'Aquila is the capital of Abruzzo, seat of the Region and the Prefecture, and a municipality with dozens of hamlets but no elected municipi. The patron saint is San Massimo d'Aveia, feast on 10 June. The Perdonanza Celestiniana, at the end of August, has been UNESCO intangible heritage since 2019. The Aquila dialect belongs to the central Italian area. The city is Italian Capital of Culture 2026.
Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays
Municipality, hamlets, region
L'Aquila is governed by a mayor and a city council; the municipal territory, among the largest in Italy, is organised in dozens of hamlets that were once the founding "castles" of the city (tradition counts 99, like the squares, the churches and the spouts of the fountain). There are no municipi with elected bodies: decentralised services are municipal offices in the larger hamlets. The city is the seat of the Abruzzo Region (Regional Council at the Emiciclo, executive at Palazzo Silone), of the Prefecture and of state offices, while Pescara hosts part of the regional offices: the de facto double capital is a recurring political issue.
San Massimo, the Perdonanza, Celestine V
The patron saint is San Massimo d'Aveia, a third-century martyr whose relics are in the Cathedral: the city holiday is 10 June. The identity-defining event, however, is the Perdonanza Celestiniana, in late August: Pope Celestine V, crowned in L'Aquila in 1294, granted by papal bull a plenary indulgence to anyone entering the basilica of Collemaggio between vespers on 28 and 29 August; the celebration, with its historical procession and the opening of the Holy Door, has been on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2019. The 2009 earthquake is remembered every 6 April with a torchlight procession and 309 bell strokes.
Dialect and character
Aquilano is a dialect of the central Italian area, closer to those of Rieti and eastern Lazio than to the Adriatic Abruzzo dialects. The city has a strong identity, built on its thirteenth-century foundation by a federation of castles, its history as a free city and the experience of reconstruction: newcomers notice an attachment to the historic centre and its churches that is also a memory of 2009. In 2026 L'Aquila is Italian Capital of Culture, with a programme of more than 300 events and the planned reopening of the Teatro Comunale.
Data
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Reviewed: 10/20/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-31
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