Visita Chieti
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In this section you will find general information about the city of Chieti, its territory and also brief notes about the climate.
CHIETI
Chieti is a city and comune (municipality) in Central Italy, 200 kilometres (124 miles) east by northeast of Rome.
It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region.
In Italian, the adjectival form is teatino and inhabitants of Chieti are called teatini. The English form of this name is preserved in that of the Theatines, a Catholic religious order.
Etymology and first prehistoric settlements.
Chieti is amongst the most ancient of Italian cities. According to mythological legends, the city was founded in 1181 BC by the Homeric Greek hero Achilles and was named in honor of his mother, Thetis.
It was called Theate (Greek: Θεάτη) (or Teate in Latin).
As Theate Marrucinorum, Chieti was the chief town of the warlike Marrucini. According to Strabo, it was founded by the Arcadians as Thegeate (Θηγεάτη).
Discoveries of great importance to the prehistory of Abruzzo were those of two hand axes and some Clactonian splinters at Madonna del Freddo's fluvial terraces, traces of settlements dating back to 850,000 – 400,000 years ago. Instead, over Chieti's hill the oldest archaeological finds of human settlements date back to 5000 BC.
The Gran Sasso at the back of the city
geograpphy
Chieti is situated a few kilometers away from the Adriatic Sea, and with the Majella and Gran Sasso mountains in the background. It is divided into the old town on the homonymous hill overlooking the Aterno-Pescara and the more recent commercial and industrial area, which is called Chieti Scalo and has developed thanks to the Chieti railway station along the ancient layout of Via Tiburtina, in the valley of the Aterno-Pescara.
The city includes also the ancient Chieti Underground, archaeological treasure of immense value.
The Underground Chieti is the oldest, least known and least visible, and still constitutes an immense artistic, cultural and archaeological heritage of considerable interest.
[source: Wikipedia. Chieti - Passato, presente e futuro di Raffaele Bigi]
The sea is visible from many points of the city
CLIMAte
[source: wikipedia]
The Gran Sasso of Abruzzo, silhouette of the "Sleeping Beauty"