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Villa Torlonia is an important park in the centre of Avezzano. With a rectangular plan, it extends, together with the adjacent public garden of Piazza Torlonia, for over five hectares and includes the palace of the same name, the spaces dedicated to the section of the State Archives, the "Antonio Picchi" conference room, the prince's ice house and the museum of peasant and pastoral civilisation set up in the characteristic Torlonia pavilion. In the park it is possible to admire the romantic garden and the centuries-old trees of various species that make it a green lung located in the centre of the city. The buildings present inside the park, originally used as warehouses and granaries, are often used for exhibitions and fairs. In the large garden there is an interesting collection of agricultural vehicles, used by the first farmers of Fucino between the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the following century, to thin out and plough the land and to thresh wheat and cereals. You can also visit an artificial lake located in front of the snow house. Inside the park there are two cast iron statues depicting the Immaculate Conception, the sculptures made by a Neapolitan workshop were used by Alessandro Torlonia to mark the borders of the emerged lands of the former Fucino lake drained in the second half of the 19th century.
The manor was built in 1490 by Gentile Virginio Orsini on the remains of the pre-existing 12th century tower of the feudal lord Gentile di Palearia. Thanks to Marcantonio Colonna, who chose Avezzano among his residences, in the 16th century the castle was adapted to a fortified noble palace surrounded by a garden. Severely damaged by the 1915 earthquake and the bombings of 1944, it was restored in the 1990s based on a project by the architect Alessandro Del Bufalo after a long planning and bureaucratic process. On the first floor, the stage and stalls for theatrical performances and conferences were built, while some areas of the upper floor hosted the modern art gallery for several years. You can admire the models reproducing some historical areas of the city before the 1915 earthquake such as Piazza Castello and Palazzo Torlonia.
Monumenti funerari di Valle Solegara
South of the Pettorino hill of Alba Fucens, between the hamlet of Antrosano and the northern area of the city, there are the funerary monuments of Valle Solegara. The mausoleums located on the side of the original route of Via Valeria date back to the imperial era. In the same area, traces of tombs have emerged that most likely date back to between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, therefore prior to the construction of the Roman colony of Alba. Not far away, between the hamlets of Antrosano and Cappelle dei Marsi, there is the archaeological site of Cretaro-Brecciara, whose necropolis was brought to light during the construction work of the Avezzano intermodal hub. The tombs date back to between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, while other finds such as armor discs, ornamental female discs and pendants can be traced back to the Republican era.
Museo dell'intrattenimento elettronico
The museum, dedicated to electronics and information technology, permanently houses computers, consoles, pinball machines, arcade cabinets and video games made between the 1970s and the 2000s on a covered surface of approximately 1,500 m². Inaugurated in 2021, it features two large game rooms, two test rooms for playful interaction and exhibition spaces dedicated to retrogaming and retrocomputing. The game rooms do not feature gambling systems and smoking and drinking alcohol are prohibited. The museum spaces highlight the ingenious works of electronic, digital and musical entertainment.