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The origin of the name “Loreto Aprutino” can be found in ancient Roman times and is credited to a forest of bay leaf trees that supposedly dominated the area back then. Loreto Aprutino boasts ancient origins dating back to Italic, Roman and early Christian settlements. The remains of an ancient Roman villa, and a temple dedicated to the goddess Feronia together with an Italic necropolis at Colle Fiorano and Farina-Cardito show that the area was already inhabited in the VI century B.C In ancient Roman religion, Feronia was a goddess broadly associated with fertility and abundance. The town became a Norman county in 1071 and was conquered by Conrad of Anjou in 1252, followed by a succession of powerful families until 1806. In the early Middle Ages, it became known by the name of Castrum Laureti. The town’s millenary history is visible in numerous national monuments and in the four municipal museums. Among the most important we should list the Church of Santa Maria in Piano, the Castello Chiola, the Acerbo Museum of Castelli Ceramics, the Casamarte Antiquarium, the Ethnographic Museum of Farming Traditions and the Museums of Olive Oil and Olive oil Artifacts. The church of Santa Maria in Piano, dates back to 1280 and is decorated with XIV-XVI century frescoes on the life of St. Thomas the Aquinas (the Dominican monk who lived in 1225-1274), whose family ruled over the town, and houses the magnificent Universal Judgement. The Chiola Castle at Loreto Aprutino is extremely old, its fortifications dating from 864 A.D. From the 13th century onwards, the fortifications became a noble residence and passed through various owners until the Chiola family purchased and renovated it from 1843 to 1995, thus saving it from ruin. |
The Acerbo Museum of Castelli Ceramics at Loreto Aprutino is one of the oldest and most interesting in the Abruzzi. It is the most complete collection from the 17th to the 19th century AD, when the ceramics produced by the famous Grue brothers and the Gentili family were in great demand in courts across Europe. The Casamarte Antiquarium hosts a 300-piece collection of stone, ceramics and metal from the Paleolithic period to the Middle Ages, all dug up locally. The economy of Loreto Aprutino has always been linked to the production of fine olive oil and two institutions preserve the memory of millenary rites and traditions belonging to the whole community. The Museum of Olive Oil houses tools, machinery, documents and images of one of the oldest oil mills in town dating back to the end of the Second World War and also today’s technology in use. The Regional Oil Centre collects all the best oil regional productions, with a special room for professional tasting. The patron saint of Loreto Aprutino is San Zopito, a Christian martyr, who was transported to Loreto from the catacomb of San Callisto, Rome. The Feast is celebrated on Whitsunday and Monday with a procession. The parade is led by a white ox, ridden by a child in white robes, obliged to kneel down before the Saint’s statue. This celebration has been repeated yearly since 1710. The tradition says an ox knelt before the remains of the saint, in the fields of the Parlione family. |