Gissi is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

located in the Province of Chieti

Province of Chieti

The Province of Chieti is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Chieti.It has an area of 2,588 km², and a total population of 381,993...

, Abruzzo

Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

It is bordered by two tributaries of the Sinello River and is surrounded by vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

s and olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

 groves.

History

Gissi has been populated since prehistoric times. In the 12th century it was under the influence of the D'Avalos family.

Main sights

The Palazzo Carunchio and the ruins of the Castle are exemplary of the town's buildings, balconies, and alleys. Built in the 19th century, the Palazzo Carunchio now serves as the Town Hall, and houses the town's administrative offices. The town has other fine examples of palazzi from the 18th-19th centuries, adorned with fine architectural details. Also notable is that many Gissi homes are covered with gesso

Gesso

Gesso is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these...

, a material obtained from nearby caves and hills.

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta is Gissi's oldest church, which was remodeled in 1955. Inside, it houses silver crosses from the Neapolitan School

Neapolitan School

In music history, the Neapolitan School is a group, associated with opera, of 18th century composers who studied or worked in Naples, Italy. The best known of which is Alessandro Scarlatti, with whom, "modern opera begins"....

 dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, a 17th century wooden statue of Saint Pamphilus, and a wooden cross from the late 12th. Its ceiling contains a reproduction of the Annunciation

Annunciation

The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...

attributed to Guido Reni

Guido Reni

Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...

, and its 16th century wooden organ is carved and gilded with gold. The church also has two chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

s dedicated to the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...

 and Sacred Heart

Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of His divine love for Humanity....

.

Another church is the Cappella di Santa Lucia located in La Pineta, a pine tree park which affords views of the surrounding countryside, including the Adriatic Sea.

Culture

Gissi is home to a variety of feasts and festivals, many of which are religious feasts in celebration of saints. These include the 20 May feast of St. Bernardino of Siena, who is buried at L'Aquila in the cathedral dedicated in his name. Other feasts include the Feast of St. Lucy

St. Lucia Day

Saint Lucy's Day or the Feast of St. Lucy is the Church feast day dedicated to St. Lucy and is observed on December 13. Its modern day celebration is generally associated with Sweden and Norway but is also observed in Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Malta, Bosnia, Bavaria,...

 on August 20 and the Feast of St. Roch

St. Roch

St. Roch is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America, and the second sailing vessel to complete a voyage through the Northwest Passage...

on August 19.