Vasto

Vasto is a town of some 35.000 inhabitants in the Italian Region Abruzzi.

Related Topics:
Italian - Region - Abruzzi

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It is part of the province of Chieti.

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Historical Notes.

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Mythology claims the city was founded by Diomedes, the Greek hero; archaeological relics provide evidence of settlements dating to 1300 BC.

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In pre-Roman epoch, the territory?s inhabitants belonged to the Italic tribe: the Frentani. Following Roman conquest (I century BC), Histonium, Vasto?s Latin name, became Municipium, a municipality which gained prominence at every level - economic, artistic and cultural.

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After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the city fell to Byzantine dominance, then to the Lombards and, finally, to the Franks. During the Middle Ages (c.1076), the city?s Latin name Histonium changed to Guastaymonis (or the Waste of Aimone) from which, through corruption, it derives its current name: Vasto.

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In 1400s, the city?s urban structure was transformed by Giacomo Caldora, a mercenary captain who, given the quarrelsomeness of the vastesi, the locals, presented himself as mediator, first, then as lordship. The Caldoras built new city walls; its gates and towers can still be seen today: Torre Bassano in Piazza Rossetti, Torre Diomede in Vico Storto del Passero, Torre Damante in Piazza Verdi and Porta Catena, with Castello Caldoresco as its primary defensive outpost.

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With Spanish Dominion, Vasto became fief of the Marquises of d'Avalos. Theirs is the contribution to the building?s present-day structure; in the reign of Cesare Michelangelo (marquis from 1697 to 1729), Vasto reached its zenith.

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Only superficially shaken by the revolutionary events of 1799 (one can speak of a short-lived Republic of Vasto which, however, was immediately overturned by the sanfedista or loyalists), the city followed the nation's historical developments throughout the Restoration to the Unity of Italy when a liberal elite controlled and governed the coastal town on the Adriatic.

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In the age of Giolitti, Vasto changed its features. Governed locally by the mayor Luigi Nasci and represented on a national level by Francesco Ciccarone, the historical centre was redrawn (esp. Corso de Parma) and the foundations were set for the alterations occurring, incisively, during 1920s and 1930s. In fact, it was during the Fascist regime that the present forms of both Piazza Rossetti and Corso Italia were created.

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Despite the devastating landslide, 1956, that dragged a significant part of the oriental ridge - now Via Adriatica - into the gorge below, the years following WWII were a time of significant industrial, urban and socio-cultural development. Furthermore, the city discovered its tourist vocation thanks to the coast?s progressive development and the salvaging and restoration of important archaeological sites of the Roman era (thermal baths, their remarkable mosaics, the cisterns and remains of the amphitheatre).

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Today, Vasto is one of the Adriatic Coast?s most loved coastal towns, thanks to the territory?s natural beauty, its historical and cultural traditions and its culinary specialties.

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Travel Info:

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Nearest Airport: Pescara (75 km/50 mi)

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Train Station: Vasto - San Salvo

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Highway Exit: Vasto Nord-Casalbordino or Vasto Sud-San Salvo

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Day excursions: Tremiti Isles, daily ferry from the Porto di Vasto; National Parks of Abruzzo; Gargano - Peschici, Vieste; 3 hrs from Rome or the Amalfi Coast.

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For more info:

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