Places like Castel del Monte in the province of L’Aquila – with steep alleys and cylindrical towers, crystallized almost a millennium ago – are irresistible for creative types with fantastic stories set in Italy’s Middle Ages.

Indeed, the small municipality inside Gran Sasso National Park has welcomed a number of cinema troupes, becoming the stage of cult films such as “Lady Hawke” – the 1985 sword-and-sorcery movie set in the 13th century, featuring Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer – and “The Name of the Rose”, based on the Umberto Eco novel of the same name, with Sean Connery playing the role of Franciscan friar William of Baskerville.

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Source: http://www.italianways.com/