Capodirigo

Capodirigo is one of the highest and most fascinating villages in the Acquasanta Terme territory, nestled at over nine hundred meters in altitude along a panoramic ridge between the Tronto and Castellano rivers. Its compact layout, adjoining stone houses, and wooden balconies testify to an ancient tradition of defense and community life. At the center of the village stands the Church of Santa Caterina, founded in 1412 by Lateran canons: a single-hall building with a travertine altar and a Gothic portal of rare beauty, carved in sandstone with symbolic figures and allegories. The village streets preserve Renaissance architraves dated between 1511 and 1536, with IHS monograms, decussate crosses, and Christian motifs, while a tower house with arrow slits recalls the defensive past of the place. The stone tells of different eras: inscriptions from the 17th and 18th centuries, trilithic windows, carved faces, and ancient dovecotes. Today, Capodirigo is a small open-air museum where every door, every wall, every engraving speaks of folk art, faith, and craftsmanship passed down through the centuries. Visiting it, one perceives the deep connection between humans and the mountain, in a silence that still preserves the memory of its origins.