This was for centuries the main square of the historic village, before the urban centre would develop to the south and the role of Piazza Sant'Antonio would increase.
The various districts arose, developing over the centuries from the Middle Ages to modern times, while the village suffered the feudalism of several landowners (including the families Di Sangro, D'Aquino and D'Avalos), and the effects of two major earthquakes in 1349 and in 1579. The vitality of the centre was Piazza in palatio aulae, which had around the town hall, the mother church and the small palace of Largo Barone, then replaced by the Sipari Palace.
In the nineteenth century the old town was altered, under the Mayor Francesco Saverio Sipari, who removed many of the “poggi” – outer stairs to the houses – facing civil commotion. In the twentieth century the square was dedicated to the King Umberto I of Savoy, while the populous district suffered, as the whole village, the phenomenon of emigration. A fact: until 1931 Pescasseroli counted about 3,300 inhabitants, not a few for a middle-mountain town.
Changes in the appearance of the old town occurred also after the earthquakes of 1915 and 1984. On the houses many ancient portals in stone of Mount Gentile are still preserved, with ornamental crests indicating dates, owners, families and professions.
