The meaning of the name Pescasseroli, given to this small town, comes from “jutting rock, sheer rock, fit for building houses”. As a matter of fact the old town centre lies at the foot of a rocky slope, probably founded by the “Peligni” pre- Roman tribes, that separating from their first stock settled on a rocky hill, that was called Castel Mancino. In a few word Castel Mancino is a pre-Roman fortified settlement, nowadays almost completely covered with vegetation. During the centuries it has preserved its structure plan, the so called “fenced castle”. Worth a visit is the Mother Church, embellished with Cistercian elements.

Pescasseroli is the most important centre in Abruzzo National Park and offers the tourists many possibilities for a winter vacation. The ski facilities in Pescasseroli are equipped with 16 ski runs and with the most modern ski tows, in addition to it more than 63 km of cross-country skiing. The park territory is rich in evocative itineraries: water rivers, water falls, lakes, mountains, rupestral areas, natural caves and woods. Walking on a path immersed in secular beech groves, at a distance of 6 km from Pescasseroli it is possible to reach the Monte Tranquillo shrine, an old small church, where a miraculous statue of a Black Madonna is preserved.