A stupendous 15thC citadel sits foursquare on a hill overlooking the drained Fucino lake, with grey and russet houses plastered to its skirts. Celano was a Roman station, then a Lombard town. People look subdued, and no wonder: the town was sacked many times and wrecked in three earthquakes, the most recent in 1915. Celano’s cathedral has 15thC frescos and there is a macabre little chapel decked with human skulls.