Chieti is a city and
comune in central
Italy, 200 km northeast of
Rome. It is the capital of the
Province of Chieti in the
Abruzzo region. Chieti lies on a crest along the
Pescara River a few kilometers away from the
Adriatic Sea, and with the
Maiella and
Gran Sasso mountains in the background.
History
As
Theate Marrucinorum, Chieti was the chief town of the warlike
Marrucini. According to
Strabo, it was founded by the
Arcadians as
Tegeate.
After their defeat against the
Romans, the Marrucini became their loyal allies and later their territory was placed under Roman municipal jurisdiction after the
Social War. In imperial times Chieti reached up to 60,000 inhabitabts but, after the fall of the
Western Roman Empire, it was destroyed by
Visigoths and
Heruli. Later it was seat of a
gastaldate under the
Lombard Kings. After its destruction by Peppin, it became a fief of the
Duchy of Benevento.
Chieti recovered some political and economic importance under the
Norman rule of southern Italy, a role it kept also under the Hohenstaufen,
Angevine and
Aragonese rules. After a cultural and architectonical flourishment during the 17th century, under the aegis of the
Counter-Reformation, Chieti was again shattered by
plague in 1656. In the 18th century it received several new academies and schools which further increased the city's artistical heritage. In 1806 Chieti was turned into a fortress by the French. It became part of the newly-created
Kingdom of Italy in 1860.
During World War II Chieti, as it was not bombed because it was declared an
Open City (like Rome), welcomed many refugees from the near towns and villages. Allied forces liberated the city on June 9, 1944, one day after the Germans left the city.
Main sights
The belltower of the Cathedral of Chieti.
- The Gothic Cathedral, re-built by bishop Attone I in 1069. Of that building only parts of the Romanesque crypt remain. The church was remade in the 14th century when also the belltower was enlarged. After several earthquakes, the church was rebuilt again in the late 17th-18th centuries in Baroque style.
- Oratory of Sacro Monte dei Morti
- Church of San Francesco al Corso, founded in 1239. The façade shows an incomplete Baroque restoration.
Under the church of
SS. Pietro e Paolo and the adjoining houses are extensive substructures (in
opus reticulatum and brickwork) of the 1st century CE, belonging to a building erected by M. Vectius Marcellus (probably mentioned by
Pliny, H.N., II., 199) and
Helvidia Priscilla. There are also remains of large reservoirs and of an ancient theatre. New excavations are currently under way on the site of the former Campo Sportivo.
Culture
The
Theatine order is named for Chieti, as one of its founders,
Giovanni Pietro Carafa, later Pope Paul IV was
bishop of Chieti.
Museum
- National Archaeological Museum of the Abruzzi "Villa Frigerii" - The rooms of the Museum are dedicated to: Burial cults in pre-Roman Abruzzo / Italic sculpture / The Capestrano Warrior / The Pansa collection / The Sanctuary of Hercules Curinus at Sulmona / The Numismatic collection / Roman Iconography in Abruzzo.
- Art Museum "Costantino Barbella"
- Archaeological Museum "La Civitella"
Education
The
University of Chieti (
Università G. d'Annunzio - Chieti e Pescara) is based in Chieti and
Pescara and hosts about 35,000 students, covering areas of Architecture, Arts and Philosophy, Economics, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Management, Medicine, Pharmacy, Psychology, Sciences, Social Sciences and Sports Medicine.
Famous people
- Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 BC / AD 4) - Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic and historian
