Loreto Aprutino
Encyclopedia
Loreto Aprutino is a comune
and town
in the Province of Pescara
in the Abruzzo
region of central Italy
.
) that grew in the area. The modern town grew up around a castle and Benedictine
abbey in the 11th century. In the Middle Ages
many of the characteristic buildings of the city were built, with one particularly notable example being the parish church of San Pietro Apostolo.
In 1863, after the unification of Italy
, the adjective "Aprutino" was added to the name of the town to distinguish it from several other towns in Italy: in Ancona
province, in Asti
province, in Novara
province, and two separate towns in Perugia
province.
, the city celebrates the Festa di San Zopito and a parade is held. A child, dressed all in white and wearing a crown of flowers, rides a white ox
that is decorated with colored ribbons on its horns and a red mantle bearing an image of San Zopito.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
and town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the Province of Pescara
Pescara
Pescara is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. As of January 1, 2007 it was the most populated city within Abruzzo at 123,059 residents, 400,000 with the surrounding metropolitan area...
in the Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
region of central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
History
The Roman town on this site was called Laurentum, because of the many bay laurels (laurusLaurus
-Overview:Laurus is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three species, whose diagnostic key characters often overlap ....
) that grew in the area. The modern town grew up around a castle and Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
abbey in the 11th century. In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
many of the characteristic buildings of the city were built, with one particularly notable example being the parish church of San Pietro Apostolo.
In 1863, after the unification of Italy
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
, the adjective "Aprutino" was added to the name of the town to distinguish it from several other towns in Italy: in Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
province, in Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
province, in Novara
Novara
Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...
province, and two separate towns in Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
province.
Festivals
Each spring on the first Monday after PentecostPentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
, the city celebrates the Festa di San Zopito and a parade is held. A child, dressed all in white and wearing a crown of flowers, rides a white ox
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...
that is decorated with colored ribbons on its horns and a red mantle bearing an image of San Zopito.