Picciano is a village and ''
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 also ...
'' in
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 re ...
in the
Province of Pescara
The province of Pescara ( it, provincia di Pescara; Abruzzese: ') is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Pescara, which has a population of 119,483 inhabitants. As of 2017, it has a total population of ...
, within 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. Its population at the end of 2006 was 1,398.
History
Picciano is first mentioned in 1049 when Bernardo Earl of
Penne
Penne () is an extruded type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces, their ends cut at an angle. ''Penne'' is the plural form of the Italian ''penna'' (meaning ''feather'' but ''pen'' as well), deriving from Latin ''penna'' (meaning "feather" or " ...
, with the ''Charta Offersionis'', gave fields and buildings to build a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
abbey in its hills. This is the first indication of the existence of a town called ''Picciano''. and could be considered its ''terminus ante quem''.
Many legends are known about the origin of the name "Picciano", the most believable talks about shepherds devoted to the Goddess Pithia; other variants of the name, found in the ''Charta Convenientiae'', is "Piczano" so that perhaps the name of the town can be dated back to the Early Middle Age, avoiding conjectures about Roman origins.
Images
Image:Picciano-2.jpg, The campanile of Santa Maria del Soccorso from north
Image:Picciano_centro-1.jpg, Picciano, Historic Centre
Image:Bella_addormentata.jpg, Picciano & La Bella Addormentata
Image:Panorama_picciano.jpg, Picciano e Piccianello
Image:Piccianello.jpg, Piccianello from south
References
Cities and towns in Abruzzo
{{Abruzzo-geo-stub