Città Sant'Angelo
Seaside town, Pescara province
An Abruzzo Insiders Club Production for Life in Abruzzo
Città Sant'Angelo is a comune in the province of Pescara. 14,902 people are registered as living here, about the same as in 2019. The comune also takes in 22 frazioni, or outlying villages.
- 320 metres (1,050 feet) above sea level
- Coastal comune
Save to a shortlistAbruzzo Insiders members
At a glance
- Nearest A&E
- Penne29 min by car
- Pharmacy
- In the comune
- Supermarket
- In the comune
- Rome Fiumicino
- 2 h 44 minby car
- Fibre to the home
- 85% of homesWireless (FWA) and satellite too
- Height and climate
- 320 m1,050 ft, climate zone D
- Earthquake zone
- 2 of 4second highest
- Foreign residents
- 6%876 people
Without a car: Pharmacy, supermarket, post office, cash machine, bank in the comune (usually the main village, not every frazione). Life without a car →
- Metres above sea level
- 320 m1,050 feet. Main village, below 900 m
- Residents
- 14,902Holding: 0.0% since 2019
- Nearest A&E
- PenneAbout 29 min, 22 km by road; base hospital
- Nearest fuel pump
- 4 min1 km by road; 9 stations in the comune
- Weekly market
- WednesdayFrom our markets guides
- Foreign residents
- 6%876 people without Italian citizenship, ISTAT 1 Jan 2025
Getting Here
Airports, by car
- Abruzzo Airport (Pescara)28 min, 23 km
- Rome Fiumicino2 h 44 min, 253 km
- Rome Ciampino2 h 28 min, 227 km
Most international flights land at Rome Fiumicino. Abruzzo Airport, near Pescara, has fewer routes.
Trains
- Nearest station: MontesilvanoAdriatic coast line16 min, 11 km
Nearest coach to Rome
- PescaraFlixBus to Rome Tiburtina, Rome Fiumicino Airport, Rome Ciampino Airport25 min, 17 km
Drive times are by road from the centre of Città Sant'Angelo, without traffic, so allow extra time in winter and at busy times. Coaches: FlixBus timetables and TUA’s Rome lines, checked October 2026; always confirm times before you travel.
Everyday Essentials
- Post office (Poste Italiane)With a Postamat cash machineIn the comune
- Cash machine (bancomat or Postamat)At a bank branchIn the comune
- Bank branch4 branchesIn the comune
- PharmacyIn the comune
- SupermarketIn the comune
Food shops in the comune: alimentari, bakery, butcher, greengrocer.
Times by road from the centre of Città Sant'Angelo. Bank branches: Banca d’Italia register, October 2026. Post offices, Postamat machines, pharmacies and shops: OpenStreetMap, which misses some, especially in small villages, so there may be one closer than shown. Not every post office has a Postamat, and village post offices often open only a few days a week.
Sport and Swimming
- Swimming poolNearest: Montesilvano, Fisicoidea Fitness16 min
- Sports hall or gymPalestra Comunale-Palacastagna, Centro Polisportivo Marina, Sportvillage SrlIn the comune
- Sports ground or pitchCampo Sportivo Comunale, Campo Sportivo "Leonardo Petruzzi", Pista di Pattinaggio e Campo PolivalenteIn the comune
Sport: Regione Abruzzo, list of sports facilities in each comune (2020). It includes pools and gyms run privately but open to the public, and school gyms that clubs use in the evenings. Some may have closed or opened since, and outdoor pools usually open only in summer, so check with the comune or the club.
Emergency Services
- Fire station (Vigili del Fuoco)Pescara27 min
- Volunteer fire stationMontesilvano16 min
- 118 ambulance base, staffed 24 hoursCittà Sant'AngeloIn the comune
In an emergency call 112. Crews are sent by the control room and may come from another base. Sources: Vigili del Fuoco list of sites (2025); Regione Abruzzo 118 plan (2023, with the September 2026 changes).
If You Live Alone
Set up a daily check-in: a good-morning message to a friend or family member, with an agreed plan if it does not come, and a neighbour who holds a key.
Keep a folder where it is easy to find, with copies of your passport and Italian documents, who to call at home, your doctor, your medicines, your will and where the original is, your notaio or lawyer, your living will (the DAT, lodged free at the comune), your funeral wishes and who will take your pets.
Put a card on the fridge, in Italian and English, saying where the folder is.
And ask the comune’s social services (servizi sociali) whether they offer telesoccorso, an alarm button or a regular phone call for people who live alone.
Insiders can download our bilingual emergency folder, with a fridge card and a wallet card, from the Members’ Library.
Schools
In the comune: scuola dell'infanzia (ages 3 to 6), scuola primaria (ages 6 to 11), scuola media (ages 11 to 14), liceo (Liceo Scientifico, Liceo delle Scienze Umane).
The School Bus Starts Early
The scuolabus goes round all the frazioni and outlying houses, so children are often picked up an hour before school starts. A 15-minute drive can mean being at the stop by 7 in the morning, in the dark in winter. Ask the comune for the route and pick-up times before you choose a house.
State and paritarie schools, Ministero dell’Istruzione, school year 2026/27.
Asili nido (under-3s): 66% of comuni in the province of Pescara offered one in 2020 (Abruzzo: 48%; ISTAT via Regione Abruzzo). Nidi are run or licensed by the comuni and are not in the school register, so ask the comune whether there is one nearby.
Your Home
- Climate zone DHeating season by law: 1 November to 15 April, up to 12 hours a day1,748 degree days
- Fibre to the home (FTTH)Reaches only part of the comune: about 9 in 10 households. Fibre to the street cabinet (FTTC) is available in parts. Fixed wireless (FWA) and satellite are widely available.85% of households
- Earthquake zone 2The second highest of 4 on the official scale (Regione Abruzzo, 2024)Zone 2
Summer Water Rationing
Città Sant'Angelo is one of the comuni where ACA, the water company, has cut the supply at night in summer to refill its reservoirs, most recently in 2026. The cuts usually run from late evening to early morning, leaving a short window in the evening to use water and fill up.
If you are buying, look for a house with a water tank (serbatoio or cisterna) and an autoclave, the pump that keeps the pressure up, or with room to add them.
Water rationing. Night-time closures announced by SASI (Chieti province) in August 2026 and by ACA (Pescara area) in summer 2021, 2024 and 2026, as reported in the local press. Closures change from year to year and street by street: ask the comune or the water company about the house you are looking at.
Be Prepared
Abruzzo is an earthquake and landslide region, and snow or storms can cut power and roads for days.
Keep a grab bag by the door with copies of your documents, medicines, a torch and foil blankets; keep water, food, cash and batteries for 72 hours at home; learn how to turn off the gas, water and electricity; and find your nearest waiting area (area di attesa) in the comune’s civil protection plan.
The full grab bag and 72-hour checklist is part of our emergency folder for Insiders.
Internet: the figure counts households with fibre to the home within 20 metres of the door, so it can reach one street and not the next. Check a specific address on AGCOM’s broadband map. Where there is no fibre, many people use fixed wireless (FWA), a small antenna on the roof pointed at a mast, or satellite, which works anywhere with a clear view of the sky.
Heating: Abruzzo spans 4 climate zones, from C on the coast to F in the high mountains, and the law sets when heating may run. In a block of flats with central heating you don’t choose when it comes on: it runs within these dates and hours. Degree days measure how cold the winter is; the higher the number, the bigger the heating bill.
Mains gas: it usually reaches the main village, but outlying frazioni and country houses are often not connected and rely on an LPG tank, wood or pellets. Ask before you buy, because it changes running costs a lot.
Earthquakes: before you buy, ask a geometra or engineer whether the house has been built or strengthened to modern seismic standards, and whether any work qualified for the sismabonus.
Waste tax (TARI): each comune sets its own tariffs every year, by the size of your home and the number of people in it, with different rates for second homes. Ask the comune’s tributi office for the current tariffs before you buy.
Sources: AGCOM Broadband Map, coverage at 6 July 2026; DPR 412/1993 (climate zones and degree days) and DPR 74/2013 (heating periods); Regione Abruzzo seismic classification, Decreto 4/2024 and DGR 425/2024.
Tax Breaks for Newcomers
7% Flat Tax: Città Sant'Angelo Qualifies
If you draw a foreign pension and move your tax residence here from abroad, you can choose to pay a flat 7% on all your foreign income, pensions, dividends and interest included, for 10 years.
The comune must have no more than 30,000 residents, and Città Sant'Angelo has 14,902. You must not have been tax resident in Italy in the previous 5 years, and must be moving from a country that exchanges tax information with Italy.
Take advice from a commercialista before you move: the choice is made in your first Italian tax return.
7% flat tax: article 24-ter of the income tax code (TUIR), with the population limit raised from 20,000 to 30,000 by Law 34/2026, article 26, from 7 April 2026; residents: ISTAT. Comuni montani: DPCM 121/2026 and its annex, the new list of comuni montani (Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 155, 7 July 2026), under Law 131/2025, articles 6, 7 and 25 to 27; the comuni that lost the status, from the Camera dei Deputati research dossier. Tax rules change: this is a guide, not tax advice.
Patron Saint
San Michele Arcangelo (St Michael the Archangel)
Third Sunday of September, traditional date. Festivities often move to the nearest weekend, so check locally.
Villages in the Comune
Alzano, Annunziata, Crocifisso, Fagnano, Fonte Umano, Gaglierano, Maddalena, Madonna della Pace, Marina di Città Sant'Angelo, Piano della Cona, Piano di Sacco, Ponticelli, Sant'Agnese, San Giacomo, San Martino, San Pietro, San Rocco, San Vittorito, Sorricchio, Sorripe, Vertonica, Villa Cipressi
Frazioni can sit hundreds of metres above or below the main village, so the height above is for the main village only.
The Year in Città Sant'Angelo
Plan a trip from here →What happens here through the seasons: the feste, the sagre, the old traditions, and what the weather brings. Market day: Wednesday, all year.
Summer
June to August
- JuneMerenda nell'Oliveta
- JuneBorgo diVino wine fair
- June to SeptemberBeach season: the lidos open, and the town fills up in August
Autumn
September to November
- SeptemberFesta of St Michael the Archangel, the patron saint
- SeptemberSagra dell'Uva
- October and NovemberOlive harvest, and new oil at the frantoio
From the patron saint and parish feasts, the Abruzzo Living Calendar, our #WhatsOnAbruzzo listings, guides and event reviews, and the comune’s height and terrain. Dates are traditional: feste often move to the nearest weekend, and Easter and Pentecost move every year, so check locally before you travel. Members can add what we have missed.
Your Weekends
Museums, Castles and Sights
We are gathering the museums, castles and sights near Città Sant'Angelo. Check back soon.
Within 30 minutes by road, whoever runs them: state, civic, church and private. From our own list and © OpenStreetMap contributors. Opening hours change with the seasons, so check before you go. Know a museum we have missed? Tell us.
Painted Villages and Street Art
- MontesilvanoPulpa Festival: more than 60 murals across the town since 2021, each with a QR code16 min
- Mutignano (Pineto)Murals of everyday life on the house fronts of the old hilltop village27 min
- PescaraStreet art by Millo, Ericailcane and others, from the river pillars to Fontanelle, and Caboto Social Street every September27 min
Painted villages make a lovely slow walk: park at the edge, wander the lanes and look up. Drive times are by road from the centre of Città Sant'Angelo. Know a painted village we have missed? Members can add it below.
Eat and Drink
Made Here
- Aprutino PescareseDOPExtra virgin olive oil from the hills of Pescara province.
Close by
- Fagiolo tondino del TavoSlow Food PresidioSmall, round, creamy-white beans. Nearest: Cappelle sul Tavo16 min
- Pretuziano delle Colline TeramaneDOPExtra virgin olive oil from the hills of Teramo province. Nearest: Silvi21 min
- Colline Teramane Montepulciano d'AbruzzoDOCGAbruzzo's first DOCG: Montepulciano red from the Teramo hills. Nearest: Silvi21 min
Across the region you will also find Montepulciano, Trebbiano and Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC wines, and Agnello del Centro Italia lamb and Vitellone Bianco dell’Appennino Centrale beef, both IGP. DOP, IGP, DOCG and DOC areas are from the official production rules; Slow Food Presidi from the Slow Food Foundation.
Where to Eat
See ratings and reviews near Città Sant'Angelo on Google Maps →
In the Guides: Michelin, Gambero Rosso and Slow Food
- Font'ArtanaPicciano · Slow Food Chiocciola22 min
- La CorteSpoltore · Slow Food Chiocciola22 min
- Taverna 58Pescara · Bib Gourmand, Slow Food Chiocciola27 min
- EstròPescara · Bib Gourmand27 min
- NolePescara · Bib Gourmand27 min
- Bacucco d'OroPineto · Slow Food Chiocciola27 min
From the Michelin Guide Italia 2026 (stars, and the Bib Gourmand for good food at a fair price), Gambero Rosso Ristoranti d’Italia 2026 and Slow Food’s Osterie d’Italia 2026 (the Chiocciola marks a favourite osteria). Drive times are by road from the centre of Città Sant'Angelo. Book ahead, especially at weekends.
Abruzzo Connections near Città Sant'Angelo
Browse the directory →Places to stay, local food, tours, guides and services from our Abruzzo Connections directory.
Charity Salviamo l’Orso – Marsican Bear Charity
Montesilvano · 16 min
Agriturismo Agriturismo D. Fiore – Bed & Breakfast on a Lavender Farm
Silvi · 21 min
Health & Wellness Essentia D. Fiore – Luxury Lavender Beauty Products
Silvi · 21 min
Tours, Excursions & Guides Abruzzo Escape – Storyteller & Heritage Expert
Pescara · 27 min
Homes & Properties for Sale in Abruzzo – Teramo, Pescara, L’Aquila, Chieti Daisy’s Rest – Villa for Sale, Collecorvino, Pescara | Turnkey Home, Pool, Olive Grove
Collecorvino · 28 min
Homes & Properties for Sale in Abruzzo – Teramo, Pescara, L’Aquila, Chieti Restored 360° Historic Penthouse, Centro Storico of Penne
Penne · 33 min
Drive times are by road from the centre of Città Sant'Angelo. Run a business near here? Join Abruzzo Connections.
Coming Up in and near Città Sant'Angelo
What’s on across Abruzzo →-
Saturday 31st October, from 18:00 until lateFestivals & TraditionsLa Notte dei Misteri, Città Sant'Angelo
The Night of Mysteries takes over Corso Vittorio Emanuele II in the historic centre of Città Sant'Angelo, one of the finest hilltop old towns on the Pescara coast, with views down to the Adriatic. Monsters and ghosts roam the lanes, with music, street entertainment and plenty to eat, and this year's highlights include La Corte del Conte Dracula, Count Dracula's Court, and the return of a Día de los Muertos corner, Mexico's Day of the Dead. Free entry, costumes encouraged, and a shuttle bus runs up to the old town. Organised by the Comune di Città Sant'Angelo.
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Running to 21st FebruaryArtPescara · 27 min by roadTeofilo Patini, Le verità dipinte, Museo Paparella Treccia, Pescara
An anthological exhibition on the Abruzzese verismo painter Teofilo Patini, unflinching depictions of peasant life, poverty and labour, shown alongside the museum's own collection of 151 antique Castelli maioliche. €8 full, €6 reduced, free under 8.
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Running to 9th JanuaryArtPescara · 27 min by roadLa scuola di Barbizon e le radici dell'impressionismo, Museo dell'Ottocento, Pescara
A Barbizon School exhibition tracing impressionism's roots, running through the autumn and into the new year.
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A Saturday in late October, 2026 date to be confirmedFestivals & TraditionsRosciano · 45 min by roadLa Notte delle Streghe, Rosciano
The Night of the Witches has been running for over a decade in this hill town above the Pescara valley, and it is aimed more at teenagers and adults than small children. In past years the old centre has filled with a new theatre piece rooted in local witch legends, a tunnel of fear, a plague alley, a witches' village, a display of torture instruments, live music, street artists, fortune tellers and street food, with free entry. We'll confirm the 2026 date as soon as it is announced.
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25th OctoberCulturePescara · 27 min by roadTeatro Massimo, Pescara
A theatrical production about living with borderline personality disorder, the kind of serious drama the Teatro Massimo programmes well outside its usual comedy-and-classics run.
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Around Halloween and Ognissanti, 2026 dates to be confirmedFamilyRoseto degli Abruzzi · 34 min by roadIl Borgo Incantato, Montepagano, Roseto degli Abruzzi
The Enchanted Village turns Montepagano, the old hilltop centre high above Roseto's beaches, into a school of magic inspired by the world's best-loved boy wizard, with costumed characters, spells and themed sets through the lanes. It is ambitious for a village event, run by the Associazione Sociale e Civismo with the Comune di Roseto, and it books up: one year saw around 2,000 advance bookings before opening. Dates move each year, from 28th October to 1st November one year to 1st to 3rd November another, so book as soon as the 2026 dates are published.
From People Who Know It
Nobody has shared anything about Città Sant'Angelo yet. Abruzzo Insiders members add their tips, tales, family history and photos to each comune.
Members of the Abruzzo Insiders Club add their own tips, tales, family history and photos, and keep a private shortlist of comuni with notes.
Join for €30 a yearMember log inPicture It in 10 Years
The figures above are a snapshot of today. Before you buy, picture Città Sant'Angelo in 10 years. Who will run the bar? Will the school still be open? Will the bus still come up the hill?
Before You Buy
How much this matters depends on what you spend. A house under €50,000 is a lifestyle choice. Over €250,000 it is different: where there are few young families, your eventual buyer is most likely to be another foreigner, asking the same questions you are asking now.
Abruzzo Insiders Club
Thinking of living here? See the full picture of Città Sant'Angelo
Members also see:
- The age structure: how many residents are over 65 and under 15
- Average declared income, and how much of it is pensions
- Save comuni to a private shortlist with your own notes
- See every photo and tip, and share your own
- Plan a trip: everything on during your dates, up to a year ahead
- The Living Calendar in your own calendar app
Life Without a Car
Moving to a village here is an adventure, and for most people a joy. But rural life runs on the car, so picture the day the driver stops.
The Day the Driver Stops
For a couple who are both 65, there is about a 1 in 3 chance that one of them will have died within 10 years. A stroke, glaucoma or a cataract waiting for surgery can end the driving much sooner.
After Dark
Night driving often goes first. Many country roads are unlit, with faded lines or none, and a poor result on night vision or glare can leave you with a daylight-only licence.
In winter it is dark by 5pm, and village life happens after dark all year round: dinner at a friend’s, the winter bonfires, the summer sagre and the patron saint’s festa. Most start at 8 or later and run into the early hours, and some end with a procession at dawn.
They are the heart of life here, and with a daylight-only licence you miss them.
The Italian Licence
Often only 1 of a couple takes the Italian test: Americans and many others can drive on their own licence for just 12 months after becoming resident.
After that it is the Italian theory and driving tests, and renewals with a medical check, eyesight included, every 5 years from 50, every 3 from 70 and every 2 from 80.
On Your Own
Getting About Alone
Then ask how the one left alone would get about. The family doctor must visit at home if you are too ill to get to the surgery.
But the routine things still need transport: the surgery itself, often in the main town or the next comune with no bus; the pharmacy where the bowel-screening kit goes back; the mobile mammography van, parked for a few days in another town. From a frazione, the cash machine, post office and main shop may all be a drive away too.
Taxis are few out here, and dear. Neighbours will help, but in an ageing village many don’t drive either: they rely on children who have often moved away. Count what you could reach on foot.
Your Neighbours
The best thing about an older village is its people. Your neighbours know where the wild asparagus grows and how the feast used to be done.
Learn enough Italian to talk to them, and to ask for help. Fall ill or break an ankle in the village, and someone can bring round a meal or the shopping; out in the countryside, that is much harder to ask.
Newcomers who only mix with other foreigners miss the best part of living here. An expat circle is a comfort, but it ages with you: friends move back, fall ill or die, and the lifts go with them.
Still to Check for Any House
Landslide and flood zones on ISPRA IdroGEO, how much winter sun clears the mountains, and the summer water supply.
The 1 in 3 figure is worked out from the US Social Security life table (2023). Eyesight: the Italian rules ask for 7/10 with both eyes, glasses allowed, and can limit a licence to daylight or shorten it when an eye disease gets worse over time (D.Lgs 59/2011, Annex III). Home visits: national agreement for family doctors (ACN), for patients who cannot be moved. Screening: ASL kits for bowel screening are returned to a pharmacy; mammograms for women 50 to 69 are offered every 2 years, partly in a mobile unit.
Nearby Comuni
The Pulse of Abruzzo: all 305 comuni →- Cappelle sul Tavo119 m (390 ft) · 16 min by road
- Montesilvano7 m (20 ft) · 16 min by road
- Silvi4 m (10 ft) · 21 min by road
- Picciano158 m (520 ft) · 22 min by road
- Spoltore176 m (580 ft) · 22 min by road
- Elice255 m (840 ft) · 24 min by road
Sources. Height: ISTAT, via Tuttitalia. Residents: ISTAT, 1 January 2025 (provisional), compared with 2019; the same figures as People of Abruzzo, which explains growing, holding, quietening and thinning. Foreign residents and age structure: ISTAT, 1 January 2025, via Tuttitalia. Hospital drives: percorsokm.it, October 2026; route planners assume good conditions, so allow extra time in snow. Fuel: Where Abruzzo Fills Up, September 2026. Markets: Life in Abruzzo markets guides. Patron saints: Tuttitalia and local sources; parish feasts from the Abruzzo Living Calendar. Frazioni: Wikipedia and ISTAT. Parks: comuni with part of their territory in a national or regional park, from the parks' own lists via Wikipedia. Nearby comuni and every drive time on this page: by road between comune centres (OSRM route planner), in good conditions.
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
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© 2026 Life in Abruzzo. The Pulse of Abruzzo is researched and compiled by Life in Abruzzo from official sources, which are named in each section’s notes. Copying or reusing this guide, in whole or in part, including its data, needs our written permission: contact us.