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 kilometres 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 inhabitants 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......
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