Avezzano
Avezzano is a city and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the Marsica area, with important high-tech industries and the Fucino Space Centre.
The city was destroyed by the earthquake of 1915. It was rebuilt after the 1944 Allied bombing. The city was decorated with the silver medal for civil merit, an award granted by the Italian Republic.
History
Toponymy
There are different common etymologies for the name of the city: from "Avidianum" or "fundus Avidianus" which is derived from the noble Avidius domiciled in the nearby ancient town of Alba Fucens; from "Ad Vettianum" which means a "to the Vettia family" or for an unlikely hypothesis from "Ave Jane", an invocation to the Roman god Janus.Earliest history
The presence of hunters dates back to the palaeolithic period about 18,000 to 14,000 years ago. There are several sites that bear witness to the presence of humans in prehistoric times, as in the Cave of Ciccio Felice located just south of Avezzano.Traces of necropoleis dating to 8-5th centuries BC have emerged along the border between the Aequi and Marsi at Colle Sabulo, Cretaro-Brecciara and Valle Solegara.
Roman period
Avezzano was a rural area in the ager of Alba Fucens founded by Rome between 304-3 BC after the Roman conquest and colonisation of the territory of the Aequi bordering that of the Marsi.Several Roman villas have been found in the area. The remains of the so-called Villa of Avezzano of the 2nd century BC are along the ancient via Tiburtina Valeria. The grandiose remains of a Roman villa on terraces can be seen at S. Pelino with an aqueduct conduit upstream of the fountain with an opening on a beautiful wall in opus isodoma. Below the spring, a long terracing wall in opus cementicium is visible, 36 m long and preserved to a height of 4.4 m: below is a curtain of blocks, molded in steps on the edges, in polygonal work 40 cm thick in six rows surmounted by a coating of opus reticulatum up to 1.8 m. On the slopes is a terrace wall about 5 m high with masonry 70 cm thick.
Other villas of considerable size are at nearby Paterno, one on terraces in Panciano and another in the modern town. The first has a terrace wall in polygonal work, a conduit from a spring and a vast area of pottery fragments along the country road which joins S. Pelino Vecchio with medieval Paterno. Lower down on the Via Valeria is the "villa of Paterno" in the fundus Paternianus discovered in 1971 which included a baths with a room paved in cocciopesto, another with a hypocaust, while in a third the furnace was visible.
The fundus Avidianus was an estate owned by the Avidii family as attested by local inscriptions and attributable to the II-I century BC which would have included a villa.
The first major settlements in this area began after drainage of Lake Fucino by the Tunnels of Claudius from 52 AD.
Roman villa of Avezzano
The Roman villa rustica in the locality of Macerine opened to the public in 2008. It was built in the 2nd century BC over an area of about 3,000 m2 belonging to the ager publicus of Alba Fucens. The farm was used by the settlers primarily for agricultural crops for the needs of the colony of Alba Fucens. The colony became a thriving and populous commercial centre and was connected to the surrounding area by a road paved with cobblestones.The entrance led into the atrium around which are rooms for the owner and servants. In the pars fructaria were cisterns and basins in which oil and wine were collected and grapes and olives were pressed.
A head of Apollo with hair of the Apollo Belvedere type of the Vatican dates from the period following the Social War. The villa was enlarged over the centuries and enriched with private baths with hypocaust heating between the 2nd and 3rd century AD, with a mosaic floor with figurative motifs. The polychrome central panel represents the winged victory on a chariot pulled by two running horses.
Inhabited until the beginning of the sixth century AD, it was probably abandoned following an earthquake that shook the whole area. Graves dating to the 5th-6th century AD have come to light again near the perimeter of the villa, containing objects used for the decoration of the deceased and for daily use.
Middle Ages
In 591 in the area came under the control of Ariulf and the duchy of Spoleto. Charlemagne, after the mid-700s, donated Gastald of the Marsi and all the lands of the duchy to the papal states. So originated the county of the Marsi.In the Late Middle Ages the victory of Charles of Anjou led to the destruction of Albe and Pietraquaria whose people had sided in favor of Conradin, duke of Swabia, defeated after the battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268.
In the fourteenth century in Avezzano ended the process of aggregation of the various villages that make up the urban center.
Early modern
In the 15th century Avezzano was under Gentile Virginio Orsini, who built the castle in 1490. In the fifteenth century occurred the victory of the Colonna family over Orsini. Their lordship lasted about three centuries. The castle of Avezzano in 1565 was expanded by Marcantonio Colonna and was later converted into a fortified palace.Late modern and contemporary
Avezzano once lay on the shores of the largest lake in peninsular Italy, Lake Fucino, which was drained in the late 19th century. After the draining of the lake, wide fields became available for cultivation and the area underwent terrific growth. It was completely destroyed by one of the worst recorded earthquakes in the history of Italy on the early morning of January 13, 1915, with only Palazzi's house and a wing of Orsini-Colonna castle spared. More than 30,000 people died.The town streets were then completely rebuilt along straight, parallel lines, with wide green areas and villas in the Liberty style.
During World War I and World War II, a concentration camp was located near the city, where foreign war prisoners were interned. During World War II, Avezzano was liberated by elements of the New Zealand Army on 10 June 1944.
Geography
The city is located north-west of the Fucino. It is dominated in the north by Monte Velino and west by Monte Salviano. Avezzano is considered "the city territory" of Marsica, Abruzzo sub-region that includes 37 municipalities, for a total of about 134,000 inhabitants.The city is located about 100 kilometers east of Rome, 110 km west of Pescara and 55 km south of L'Aquila.
Topography
The urban center of the old city revolves around the Castello Orsini-Colonna. To the east the territory extends to the villages of San Pelino and Paterno. It is situated between 695 meters s.l.m. in the urban sector and 740 meters in the north, the land of which is a slight uphill slope to the north-northwest.Neighbourhoods : Barbazzano, Borgo Angizia, Borgo Pineta, Centro città, Cesolino, Chiusa Resta, Cupello, I Frati, La Pulcina, San Rocco, San Nicola, Sant'Andrea, Scalzagallo, Via Napoli.
Climate
Because of its geographical location, situated as it is in the former bed of the Fucino and surrounded by towering hills, Avezzano is characterized by a Mediterranean mountain climate. Based on climatic averages for the period 1951–2000 published by the agency ARSSA , and climatic averages related to thirty years of reference 1961–1990, the average temperature of the coldest month, January stood at +2,0 °C; that of the hottest month, August, +20.5 °C. In summer sometimes temperatures exceed 30 °C.The Climate classification is: Zone E, 2561 GR / G.