Lanciano is a town and commune in the
province of ChietiThe 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...
, part of the
AbruzzoAbruzzo Abruzzo Abruzzo (IPA: /aˈbruttso/ is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than 50 miles 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...
region of southern
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. It has 36,389 inhabitants.
The city is also known for the first recorded alleged Catholic
Eucharistic MiracleA Eucharistic miracle is any miracle involving the Eucharist. Alleged Eucharistic miracles typically involve the visible transformation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ during the consecration portion of a Catholic or Orthodox Mass...
.
History
The
ancient RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
name of Lanciano was
Anxanum, a city of the
FrentaniThe Frentani were an ancient people of central Italy, occupying the tract on the east coast of the peninsula from the Apennines to the Adriatic, and from the frontiers of Apulia to those of the Marrucini. They were bounded on the west by the Samnites, with whom they were closely connected, and from...
Italic tribe. The city would have been founded in 1181 BC by Solimus, a
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
an refugee arrived in Italy along with
AeneasIn Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy, which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid...
. Legends apart, archaeological findings have shown that the area was settled from the 5th millennium BC.
Under the Frentani it was probably under the influence of Greater Greece. After the end of the
Samnite WarsThe First, Second, and Third Samnite wars, between the early Roman Republic and the tribes of Samnium, extended over half a century, involving almost all the states of Italy, and ended in Roman domination of the Samnites...
, which saw the Frentani allied with the
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
s, Lancianum obtained the status of
municipium. It was probably a flourishing commercial site, across an ancient and important trade route connecting
PescaraPescara is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. As of January 1, 2007 it was the most populated city within Abruzzo at 123,059 residents, 500,000 with the surrounding metropolitan area...
to
ApuliaApulia is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southern portion known as Salento, a peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy...
.
According to tradition, Lanciano is also the birthplace of Longinus the Roman
centurion-Military:* Centurion, professional officer of the Roman army* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy-Transport:* Centurion Engines, German series of aircraft engines...
who thrust his spear into
JesusJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
' side during the
CrucifixionCrucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
:
Lanciano in
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
means "of the Spear"
During fall of the
Western Roman EmpireThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
, Lanciano was sacked by the
GothsThe Goths were a heterogeneous East Germanic tribe. The historian Jordanes claimed that the Goths arrived from semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland , and that a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century, lending their name to the region of...
, and was destroyed during the
LombardThe Lombards were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks...
invasion (c. 571 AD). A new settlement was then created around a castle built by the new rulers. In 610, however, it was conquered by the Byzantines, who annexed it to the Duchy of
Teate (
ChietiChieti is a city 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...
) and allowed the trades to restart. In the late 8th century Lanciano was conquered by the
FranksThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
, who included it in the
Duchy of SpoletoThe independent Duchy of Spoleto was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard dux Faroald.- Lombards :The Lombards, a Germanic people, had invaded Italy in 568 and conquered much of it, establishing a Kingdom divided between several dukes dependent on the King, who had...
.
In 1060 the Normans made it a centre of the unified
Kingdom of SicilyThe Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy. The Kingdom covered not only the island of...
. Lanciano flourished again and in 1340 it was the largest city in Abruzzo with 6,500 inhabitants, renowned industries (ceramics, wool, silk, goldworks, ironworks), receiving important privileges by both
Frederick IIFrederick II of Hohenstaufen was Holy Roman Emperor from his papal coronation in 1220 until his death; he was also a pretender to the title of King of the Romans from 1212 and unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, and of Burgundy...
and his son
ManfredManfred was the King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266. He was an illegitimate son of the emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen but his mother, Bianca Lancia , is reported by Matthew of Paris to have been married to the emperor while on her deathbed.-Background:Manfred was born in Venosa...
, with a substantial administrative autonomy. Charles I, King of Sicily, assigned the revenues of the city's port to the Vatican Basilica. Later it was frequently at war with nearby
OrtonaOrtona is a coastal town and municipality of the Province of Chieti in the Italian region of Abruzzo, with some 23,000 inhabitants.Ortona was the site of fierce fighting between German and Canadian forces during the Italian campaign in World War II...
.
It was here that Pope Gregory XII, fleeing from Cividale, landed on Neapolitan territory (1409), and went thence to
GaetaGaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
. After the end of the
Italian WarsThe Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy in historical works, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western Europe as well as the...
, the new Spanish rule and the shift of commerce due to the discovery of America, impoverished Lanciano, which, in 1640, became a baronial possession.
Later, the city took the part of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799 and rose against the
BourbonThe House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples & Sicily, and Parma...
kings in 1848, 1849 and 1853. In 1860 it voted for annexation to the newly formed Kingdom of Italy.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
it was an active center of the
ResistanceThe Italian resistance movement was a partisan force during World War II.-Origins of the movement:After Italy's armistice on 8 September 1943, the Italian resistance movement became massive...
against the German occupation. On 6 October 1943 Italian citizens attacked German soldiers (revolt of the martyrs of October 1943). In 1952 it was awarded the Gold Medal to Military Valour by President
Luigi EinaudiLuigi Einaudi, Cavaliere di Gran Croce decorato di Gran Cordone OMRI was an Italian politician and economist. He served as the President of the Italian Republic between 1948 and 1955.-Early life:...
.
Main sights
- Cathedral of Santa Maria del Ponte ("St. Mary of the Bridge"), so called because it is built on bridgework along a precipice: is the work of Michitelli (1619) and has some paintings by Pozzulaniello (Giacinto Diana). It houses also an 8th century Byzantine statue portraying the Madonna, probably brought here during the iconoclast
An iconoclast is someone who performs iconoclasm — destruction of religious symbols, or, by extension, established dogma or conventions.Iconoclast may also refer to:...
controversy.
- Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the most important architectural sites in Abruzzo. Built in 1227 according to Bourgogne
Burgundy is one of the 26 regions of France.The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy. It is made up of the following old provinces:...
-Cistercian lines, it was updated in 1540 in BaroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
style, with the addition of two aisles and stucco decorations (recently stripped off). The main gate is from 1317.
- San Francesco (1258), built over a pre-existing 7th century church. The high altar houses the relics of the Eucharistic Miracle.
- Sant'Agostino (1270). The façade has maintained the original rose window and the gate, while the single nave interior is a Baroque restoration.
- Torri Montanare, a relic of the ancient walls (11th century). They consist in two massive towers, the most recent dating to the 15th century, offering a panoramic view of the area.
- Porta San Biagio (11th century), the only one gate remaining of the nine once existing.
Subdivisions
Apart from the city of Lanciano, the
comuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.- Importance and function :...
(municipality) of the same name contains 33
contrade. The population of the
contrade has ben estimated (as of 2005) at 12,682.
They are:
Camicie, Colle Campitelli, Colle Pizzuto, Costa di Chieti, Follani, Fontanelle, Gaeta, Iconicella, Madonna del Carmine, Marcianese, Nasuti, re di Coppe, Rizzacorno, Sabbioni, San Iorio, Santa Croce, Santa Giusta, Santa Liberata, Santa Maria dei Mesi, Sant'Amato, Santa Nicolina, Sant'Egidio, Sant'Onofrio, Serre, Serroni, Spaccarelli, Torremarino, Torre Sansone, Villa Andreoli, Villa Carminello, Villa Elce, Villa Martelli, Villa Pasquini, Villa Stanazzo.