Santo Stefano di Sessanio

Santo Stefano di Sessanio owes its prosperity to its strategic position near the very important “tratturo regio”, the main migration road that connected L’Aquila to Foggia. In the twelfth century, the village became part of the Barony of Carapelle. Later, it became a possession of the Piccolomini family, who were succeeded by the Medici from the end of the 16th to the 18th century, and then subsequently annexed to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as a private possession of the King until the unification of Italy.
The period of greatest splendor for Santo Stefano di Sessanio corresponds to the regency by Francesco de ‘Medici and the commercial success of Carfagna wool, a particular dark-colored raw wool. The village was built according to the scaffolding technique: all the original buildings were built around a central element consisting of an ancient watchtower, better known by the misnomer of Torre Medicea.