Alfedena ( la, Aufidena or Aufidenia, Abruzzese: ') is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' in the

province of L'Aquila The Province of L'Aquila ( it, Provincia dell'Aquila) is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of Central Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of ...

of the

Abruzzo , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1 ...

region of central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is located in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park in the upper Sangro valley, near the

Monti della Meta The Monti della Meta are a massif of central Italy located around the junction point of the boundaries between the regions of Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise. The major of three massifs of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, they take the ...

mountain chain.

History

Alfedena was founded by the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they ...

, who called it ''Aufidena'', because of its excellent strategic view over the high Sangro valley. It occupied two hills, both over above sea-level; in the valley between were found the supposed remains of the later

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

. Alfedena was the setting of several conflicts through its history because of this location. It was a district of the Samnites before it was the capital town of the Caraceni tribe during their first settlement near the high Saro, the ancient name of today’s Sangro river. Alfedena was then conquered by the Romans in 298 BC, and by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

during the 11th century.

Main sights

Many works of art, such as the Ponte Achille (Achille’s bridge), dating back to the Roman age, were destroyed by the German armed forces during the defence of the

Gustav Line The Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of three lines was designed to defend a western section ...

, in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The Germans took away, as spoils, many ruins of the Italic necropolis of Campo Consolino located below the village, which counted 1400 tombs on a total amount of 12,000 tombs. Part of the stolen archeological finds were returned after an accurate restoration at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

. The archaeological excavations bear witness to the ancient presence in the area and to its historically autonomous civilization. They tombs are all true burials, of the late

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

, and date from the 7th to the 4th century BC, falling into three classesthose without

coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewe ...

, those with a coffin formed of stone slabs, and those with a coffin formed of

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wa ...

s. Some ruins of walls built in

polygonal masonry Polygonal masonry is a technique of stone wall construction. True polygonal masonry is a technique wherein the visible surfaces of the stones are dressed with straight sides or joints, giving the block the appearance of a polygon. This techniqu ...

(also referred to as cyclopean masonry) can also be seen in the districts of Civitalta, Curino, and S. Nicola, with some columns and ruins of a temple brought to life by excavations. The village boasts an ancient tradition in the crafts of stone carving. The last craftsmen made the artistic paving of the town unique to its genre. In the historical center, people can admire the octagonal castle of the Simone’s feud, Count of Sangro.

History

Main sights

See also

References

See also