La Storia di castel di Sangro

Castel di Sangro arose on the site of the ancient town of Aufidena, inhabited by the Samnites around the 3rd century B.C.; archeological finds from this time include a Samnite Bull and a lead Urn, displayed in the town’s museum, and a Lapide Osca enclosed in the walls of the council portico. During Roman times this settlement gained in historical, strategic and commercial importance. It had it’s own autonomous senate, patrician residences, a forum and even buildings for games held in honour of the Emperor Augustus.

During the Barbarian invasions the population was forced to abandon the town and move to higher, remoter ground to escape control. Due to these events there is a lack of further documentation. Paolo Diacono in Historium Longobardum cites it alongside Teate, Isernia, Sannio and Benevento as the cities making up the Decimo-Quarto Province, the Sannio. In 1383 the DePetra, a family of lawyers arrived. They dealt harshly with the local population, so much so that in July 1647 their palace on Via del Leone was burnt down in a popular uprising.

During the period of Italian unification, after a period of clashes and upheavels, the population welcomed Victor Emanuel II to the town on the 20th October 1860. The next day, in the presence of the King and the Marchese Villamarina, a meeting (plebiscite) took place in Piazza Cannavini, to announce the annexation of all the Neopolitan provinces to the Kingdom of Italy. Since that day, the square has been known as Piazza del Plebiscito. The feudal state of Castel di Sangro was bought in 1569 for a mere 16,200 ducats by Don Fabio D’Afflitto, who had the honour of playing host to Johann of Austria, the victor at Lepanto. He had recently visited Loreto to give thanks to the Holy Virgin for the victory over the Turks. Don Ferdinando Caracciolo ended the cycle of feudalism in Castel di Sangro. On the 20th October 1744 the Bourbon King Charles III conferred the title of City on Castel di Sangro, in recognition of the prestigious and economically successful decorative arts of wool and iron production; for it’s pasture - amongst the finest in the region and the kingdom, and the mercantile activity with frequent trade fairs of national importance. It’s geographical position has, throughout the centuries, made it a place of strategic importance. On the 8th November 1943, German troops began a systematic destruction of the town in order to secure their position on the left bank of the Sangro, close to an inhabited area. After only a few days, Castel di Sangro was a smoking heap of ruins, amongst which the heroic citizens stayed to lend a hand to the allied troops. In recognition of the many hundreds of lives lost a bronze medal for military valour was added to the town flag.

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