Aveia was an ancient town of the

Vestini () were an Italic tribe who occupied the area of the modern Abruzzo (central Italy), included between the Gran Sasso and the northern bank of the Aterno river. Their main centres were ''Pitinum ''(near modern L'Aquila), ''Aufinum ''(Ofena), ''Pe ...

and Roman former bishopric, which remains a Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

. Its site is on the

Via Claudia Nova The Via Claudia Nova was an ancient Roman road, built in 47 AD by the Roman emperor Claudius to connect the Via Caecilia with the Via Claudia Valeria in central Italy. There is no precise information about the road's route: according to som ...

, c. 10 km south-east of L'Aquila, N.E. of the modern village of Fossa, in 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 ...

's Abruzzo region. Some remains of ancient buildings still exist, and the name Aveia still clings to the place. The identification was first made by V. M. Giovenazzi in ''Della Città di Aveia ne' Vestini'' (1773). Paintings in the church of S. Maria ad Cryptas, of the 12th to 15th centuries, are important in the history of art. An inscription of a stationarius of the 3rd century, sent here on special duty (no doubt for the suppression of brigandage), was found here in 1902.

Ecclesiastical history

Residential Bishopric

The

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of Aveia (Vestina) was founded in the mid-5th century (circa 450 AD) and disappeared, along with the town, in the 6th-century devastations of 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 ...

, circa 500 AD.

Maximus of Aveia Saint Maximus of Aveia (d. ca. 250 AD) (sometimes also known as ''Saint Maximus of Aquila'') is one of the patron saints of L'Aquila, Italy. He was born in Aveia, nowadays known as Fossa. A deacon, he was martyred for his faith. The tradition s ...

, a native of the town and a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

, was

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

ed in the persecution of

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procl ...

, Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. The bishopric of Aveia may have arisen because of veneration of his relics. After the destruction of the town, these were removed to a nearby town which became known as ''Civitas Sancti Maximi'' (Saint Maximus Town), which thereupon became the seat of the diocese. From there, in 1256, they were moved to the new town and diocese of L'Aquila.

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, Aveia is listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as ''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 843

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of Aveia since the diocese was nominally restored in January 2009. Its only incumbent so far has been, of fitting episcopal (lowest rank) : * Titular Bishop (2009.01.30 – ...) Raúl Antonio Chau Quispe, Auxiliary Bishop of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

(Peru)

Notes

Sources and external links

;Attribution *
GCatholic
{{Coord, 42, 18, 0, N, 13, 29, 23, E, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Ghost towns in Italy Catholic titular sees in Europe 5th-century establishments in Italy 6th-century disestablishments in Italy Populated places established in the 5th century Populated places disestablished in the 6th century Roman towns and cities in Abruzzo