Onna is a '' frazione'' of

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, region of central Italy. It is situated in the Apennine Mountain Range,

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The population is about 300 people.

Early history

The area has been inhabited for approximately 1,000 years. It is probable that initially it did not have a defined city structure. During the Roman conquest, the fertility of the area guaranteed food production for Rome. The earliest record of Onna is in 1178 during the time of Pope Clement III, in Villa Unda. Onna is mentioned again by Pope Innocent III in 1204. Aside from these two records, the early history of the area is a mystery. There existed a "grancia" (a type of agricultural company detached from the convent) run by the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monks.

Modern history

A girl was killed by the German occupation forces on 2 June 1944. Nine days later, a large-scale massacre occurred in which 16 persons were killed. This act of retaliation was perpetrated by the 114th Jäger Division, led by

Hans Boelsen Hans Boelsen (6 March 1894 – 24 October 1960) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. During his time in command of the 114th Jäger Division, the unit wa ...

. One-third of the village was also destroyed. On 6 April 2009, 85% of Onna's territory was destroyed. Other villages were severely damaged as a result of the

2009 L'Aquila earthquake The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake occurred in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy. The main shock occurred at 03:32 CEST (01:32 UTC) on 6 April 2009, and was rated 5.8 or 5.9 on the Richter magnitude scale and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale; ...

. At least 40 people died in Onna.

References

External links

Photo, earthquake damage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onna (L'aquila) Frazioni of L'Aquila