Avezzano in the context of "Rome–Sulmona–Pescara railway"

Abruzzo (US: /ɑːˈbruːtsoʊ, əˈ-/, UK: /æˈbrʊtsoʊ/, Italian: [aˈbruttso]; Abruzzese Neapolitan: Abbrùzze [abˈbruttsə], Abbrìzze [abˈbrittsə], or Abbrèzze [abˈbrɛttsə]; Aquilano: Abbrùzzu), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a region of Southern Italy. It has an area of 10,831.84 square kilometres (4,182.20 sq mi) and a population of nearly 1.3 million. It is divided into four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, and Chieti. Its western border, shared with Lazio, lies 80 km (50 mi) east of Rome. L'Aquila is both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila, and is the second largest city. The other provincial capitals are Pescara, which is Abruzzo's largest city and major port, Teramo, and Chieti. Other large cities and towns in Abruzzo include the industrial and high tech center Avezzano, as well as three important industrial and touristic centers, Vasto, Lanciano, and Sulmona.

Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and northwest, Molise to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Geographically, Abruzzo is divided into a mountainous area in the west, which includes the highest massifs of the Apennines, such as the Gran Sasso d'Italia and the Maiella, and a coastal area in the east, with beaches on the Adriatic Sea.

Marsica is a geographical and historical region in Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 comuni in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, the plain of Carsoli and the valley of Sulmona.

The area takes its name from the Marsi, an Osco-Umbrian Italic people, and then from the Latin adjective marsicus. In the center of the area there is the Fucino former lake, dried up in 1877, surrounded by parks and nature reserves. Avezzano is the most populous city of the territory. Marsica has about 130,000 inhabitants as of 2019.

The Fucine Lake (Italian: Lago Fucino or Lago di Celano) was a large endorheic karst lake between 650 and 680 m (2,130 and 2,230 ft) above sea level and surrounded by the Monte Sirente-Monte Velino mountain ranges to the north-northeast, Mount Salviano to the west, Vallelonga to the south, and the Valle del Giovenco to the east-southeast. Located in western Abruzzo in Central Italy, the city of Avezzano lies to the northwest, Ortucchio to the southeast, and Trasacco to the southwest of the historic lake. Once the third largest lake in Italy after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore, it was finally drained in 1878.

The plain is a geographical depression of tectonic origin formed during the Apennine orogeny between the Pliocene and Quaternary.