San Pietro della Ienca (L’Aquila)

The Borgo

San Pietro della Ienca is a small village in the province of L'Aquila, very close to the two villages of Assergi and Camarda, along the Provincial Road of Vasto. It is set on the top of a hill at an altitude of over 1100 meters, in front of the majestic peaks of the Gran Sasso, which seems to protect it with its breathtaking grandeur. The village consists of very few stone houses, once ancient dwellings of shepherds who grazed their cattle on high-altitude meadows, which surround a beautiful church, also in stone, now called the "Church of the Pope". Indeed, it often welcomed Pope Wojtyla, who loved to pray in these mountains and, precisely for this reason, has been consecrated official Sanctuary of John Paul II. The village, moreover, is famous for the presence of another sacred place: the hermitage of San Franco, from which emerges the water that flows from the fountain of San Pietro della Ienca, whose source, according to popular tradition, was miraculous work of San Franco and seems to have the power to heal from skin diseases.