L'Aquila (Italian: [ˈlaːkwila], meaning "The Eagle") is a city and comune in Southern Italy, both the capital city of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. As of 2013^[update], it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the Aterno river, it is surrounded by the Apennine Mountains, with the Gran Sasso d'Italia to the north-east.

L'Aquila sits upon a hillside in the middle of a narrow valley; tall snow-capped mountains of the Gran Sasso massif flank the town. A maze of narrow streets, lined with Baroque and Renaissance buildings and churches, open onto elegant piazzas. Home to the University of L'Aquila, it is a lively college town and, as such, has many cultural institutions: a repertory theatre, a symphony orchestra, a fine-arts academy, a state conservatory, a film institute. There are several ski resorts in the surrounding province: (Campo Imperatore, Ovindoli, Pescasseroli, Roccaraso, Scanno).

Close to the highest of the Apennine summits, L'Aquila is positioned at an elevation of 721 metres (2,365 ft) in the Valley of the Aterno-Pescara, situated between four mountain peaks above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft).

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