Santa Jona, 969 m: the tower between the Fucino and the Altopiano delle Rocche

Santa Jona stands at 969 metres on the slopes of the Magnola mountains, overlooked by Monte Faito and Monte Tino (the Serra di Celano). It borders San Potito to the north, the territory of Celano to the south and Forme to the west, and lies entirely within the Sirente-Velino Regional Park.

The name comes from a spring dedicated to Saint Eugenia, near which the first settlement grew: in dialect «Sant’Eugenia» became «Santa Jona», and old documents also spell it «Santa Iona». Until 1811 the village belonged to Celano, then it passed to the municipality of Ovindoli. The 1915 Marsica earthquake brought down the churches and part of the tower; the village was rebuilt in the 20th century.

The medieval tower

The round tower, built in the 13th century for Count Tommaso, was a lookout: it was in sight of the towers of Venere and Sperone, the castles of Celano and San Potito and the fortifications of Ovindoli and Rovere. After the 1915 earthquake it was lowered for safety and lost its battlements; at its base is the cistern. Today’s village grew up all around it.

The old village

Before the tower there was the «Castrum Sancte Eugenie», built around a 12th-century Norman tower on the Colle Marciano. The village was a small «universitas» with two coats of arms, one showing the saint holding the village in her hand. In the central quarter, inside the medieval walls, stood the church of Santa Eugenia, mentioned as early as the 13th century and destroyed in 1915.

Santa Maria di Collemarciano

The parish church, in the Colle Marciano district, was rebuilt in 1950 in place of Santa Maria delle Grazie, destroyed by the earthquake. It has a single nave, 16th-century frescoes, the old stone portal and a square bell tower.

The sanctuary of Santa Eugenia and the Alba Fucens aqueduct

North of the village are the remains of an Italic-Roman sanctuary. From the Sant’Eugenia spring ran the aqueduct that carried water to the Roman town of Alba Fucens, through Fonte Capo la Maina and the Arci di Forme. At Calcare di Casalmartino, at 1,166 metres, lie the ruins of the Oretino fortress, built by the counts of the Marsi between the 10th and 11th centuries.

The Santa Jona stream crosses the Val d’Arano and drops, through a series of small waterfalls, into the La Foce stream inside the Celano Gorge. Around the village runs the «Santa Jona loop», a circular walk on the Park’s trails, and from here it is an easy climb to the Pizzo di Ovindoli, the Serra di Celano and Monte Magnola. Some riding stables in the area offer horseback rides. More routes in the Sirente-Velino hiking guide.

The SS696 takes you in about 11 km to the Ovindoli Monte Magnola ski area; continuing via Rocca di Mezzo you reach Campo Felice. Snow and lifts open today in the snow report.

Every year, between the end of August and the first days of September, the village celebrates its patron saint, Saint Eugenia.

The village restaurants serve the food of the Marsica mountains: homemade pasta, grilled meat and arrosticini. From the plain come the Fucino potato and carrot (PGI). More products of the park in Flavours of the parks, all the recipes in traditional Abruzzo cuisine.

By car: A25 Rome – Pescara motorway, Celano exit, then the SS696 towards Ovindoli: Santa Jona is about 6 km from Celano and 9 from Ovindoli. The SP24 road goes down to Forme and Alba Fucens. Avezzano is about 18 km away, L’Aquila 47. By train: the nearest station is Celano-Ovindoli, on the Rome – Avezzano – Pescara line. Getting around Abruzzo.

• Municipality of Ovindoli: 0863 706100 · municipal website
• Emergencies and mountain rescue: 112 · 118

• Celano, with the Piccolomini castle and the Gorge
• Ovindoli and the Altopiano delle Rocche
• Forme and Massa d’Albe, with Alba Fucens
• Pescina and the Giovenco valley
• Sirente-Velino Regional Park