Arco della Nocella

The Arco della Nocella is a stone passage linking buildings above Via Silla in Scanno's historic centre. Its low arch, barrel vault and carved corbel show how the town's tightly packed houses developed around shared structures.

Why it matters

The arch belongs to a group of connecting underpasses that bind buildings along the same street line. It illustrates how Scanno's urban fabric grew through additions that joined or supported neighbouring structures rather than standing apart from them.

What to notice

Squared stone marks the springing of the arch, while rougher masonry rises above it. A small room with a pitched roof sits over the barrel-vaulted passage. Beneath the vault, a projecting carved stone corbel, known locally as a cemmusa, provides the arch's principal ornament.

Context and history

The date of the Arco della Nocella is uncertain. It may belong to the fifteenth-century expansion of the settlement, or it may have been built later, perhaps in the eighteenth century, to connect and support buildings along Via Silla. The neighbouring Zazzarotta arch is also an example of this form of passage through Scanno's dense historic fabric.