The Abruzzo Astronomical Observatory is one of the observatories of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF). Its mission is the advancement of knowledge of the Universe through the study of different sectors of astronomy, and the dissemination of this knowledge both to other professional astronomers, and to the wider public of non-experts.

A rare case among the Italian Observatories, the Astronomical Observatory of Collurania was not born out of the patronage of kings, princes or popes, but out of the passion and commitment of a private citizen of Teramo to demonstrate "all his attachment to science and the public education, the great lever of progress and civil life, and to implement one of the wishes of science that the Specole, directly engaged in scientific research, be built not in large cities but in places far from populated centers and which therefore enjoy a perfect atmospheric transparency ".