Navelli

Navelli is a hilltop village about 30 km from L'Aquila, on the inland Abruzzo plateau that bears its name, and a member of Italy's "Most Beautiful Villages" (Borghi più belli d'Italia) club. It is best known as the historic heart of Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP, one of the world's most prized saffrons: tradition holds that a Dominican friar of the Santucci family, native to Navelli, introduced saffron cultivation to the area from Spain in the 13th century, and the surrounding fields still turn purple with crocus blooms each autumn during the harvest, when flowers are picked by hand at dawn using methods largely unchanged for centuries. The product received Protected Designation of Origin status in 2005.

Navelli is most easily reached by car via the A24 motorway (Rome–L'Aquila).

The historic hilltop core is walkable.

• Palazzo Santucci: built on the ruins of the village's medieval fortress, tied to the Santucci family associated with the introduction of saffron.
• Church of San Sebastiano: Abruzzo-Romanesque style, built on the remains of the earlier Church of San Pelino.
• Church of Santa Maria in Cerulis: dating to the 11th century, the oldest church in Navelli.
• Porta Castello: the gate marking the entrance to the village's oldest quarter.
• Palazzo Cappa: home to the San Pasquale chapel.
• The saffron fields: the plateau surrounding the village turns purple with crocus blooms during the autumn flowering, a notable seasonal spectacle.

Take a guided saffron tour to learn the harvesting and drying process, with tastings of saffron-based dishes; visit during the autumn "Sagra dei ceci e dello zafferano" for the saffron risotto and the Palio degli Asini donkey race.

Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP saffron, produced locally and considered among the finest in the world.

L'Aquila (roughly 30 km away) · other villages of the Navelli plateau and Abruzzo's interior hill towns.