L'Aquila lies in a high bowl of the central Apennines, at about 700 metres, ringed by the snow-covered limestone of the Gran Sasso to the northeast and the Sirente-Velino range to the southeast. It is the capital of Abruzzo, and looks more like a mountain fortress than the coastal region's reputation suggests. The city was founded in the thirteenth century when the people of dozens of surrounding villages came together under imperial authority, and the legend says that each village built its own piazza and church within the walls, hence the Fontana delle 99 Cannelle, a long wall of ninety-nine spouts, one for each of them.
On the night of 6 April 2009, a powerful earthquake destroyed much of the old centre and killed more than three hundred people. The scaffolding and cranes that filled the historic quarter for years have gradually given way to restored palaces and churches, but you will still see the signs of the scale of the damage, and the rebuilding continues. It is respectful to treat the place as somewhere people live and are putting back together. The Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, with its pink-and-white patterned facade, is one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in Italy, and is where Pope Celestine V was crowned in 1294. The ceremony of the Perdonanza, a pardon granted to pilgrims, takes place here every August.
For a motorcyclist, L'Aquila's role is practical: it has fuel stations, supermarkets and restaurants, and it is the last place with real services before the mountains. From here, the roads climb to Campo Imperatore and the high plateau beneath the Gran Sasso, or head east through Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a stone village on a hilltop that has been carefully restored. The roads are twisty and quick, with good surfaces in places and potholes in others, and winter closures are common at altitude, so check before heading up in the cooler months.
Food in Abruzzo is hearty and straightforward. Arrosticini, small skewers of mutton grilled over charcoal, are the signature, along with saffron grown on the plateau and pecorino cheese from shepherds who still move flocks between pasture and plain. Watch the weather, because at this height, a clear morning can turn to cold fog in an hour.