Cappadocia ( In Marsican Dialect: ')is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' and town with approximately 550 inhabitants in the

province of L'Aquila The province of L'Aquila () is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated Provinces of Italy, province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It ...

in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

region of central Italy. It is part of

Marsica Marsica is a geographical and historical region in Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 ''comuni'' in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, National Par ...

. It's also part of the "''Borghi autentici d'Italia" (English: Autentic

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

s of Italy) club''.

Physical Geography

The area, collected in the Valley of The Nerfa, between the south-ovest versant of the Caresolain Mountains (Padiglione and Aurunzo), and it marks the border between

and

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, in the centre of the Appenino Centrale Abbruzzese. It's 100 km to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Distance given by Google Maps 135 km to

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, 68 to

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of the Province of L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region in Italy. , it has a population of 69,902. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the A ...

and 22 from

Avezzano Avezzano ( ; ) is a city and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the ...

. In the

are included the

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

of Petrella Liri, Verrechie and the touristic destination of Camporotondo, collocated on the Cesca Mountains, and the

Homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

ski station.

Etymology

There are various hypothesis on the name origin, and all are disputed ▪︎ From the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Caput Duodecim,'' according to which, the town was founded by 12 criminals, who allegedly committed a " Rape of the Sabine Woman" at the near Petrella Liri ▪︎Again from Latin, ''Caput Otium,'' place where Shepherd ''went to relax.'' ▪︎ Or from the homonym Turkish Region.

History

In ancient times,

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long stru ...

and

Marsi The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained in the time of Claudius). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. They originally spoke a l ...

lived in the region, before the Roman occupation, but there are nearly zero archeological testimonials from the area The first historical document, where Cappadocia is mentioned is the

Papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

of 1158 of

Pope Clement III Pope Clement III (; 1130 – 20 March 1191), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 December 1187 to his death in 1191. He ended the conflict between the Papacy and the city of Rome, by allowing the electi ...

, who nominates the Churches of

Saint Blaise Blaise of Sebaste (, ''Hágios Blásios''; martyred 316 AD) was a physician and bishop of Sivas, Sebastea in historical Lesser Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) who is venerated as a Christian saint and martyr. He is counted as one of the Fourteen ...

and

Margaret the Virgin Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr () in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 30th of July (Julian calendar) by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip ...

Later, it became part of the Albe county, and then of the

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

Tagliacozzo Tagliacozzo (Neapolitan language, Marsicano: ') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). History Tagliacozzo lies in an ar ...

, both fiefs of the ''"Regno Di Napoli"'', until its annexion by

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

in 1860. In the first year of the union, the

, saw the impact of

brigandage Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder. It is practiced by a brigand, a person who is typically part of a gang and lives by pillage and robbery.Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded ...

. Its inhabitants were mainly occupied by the

Transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and low ...

of the

Ager Romanus The ''Ager Romanus'' (literally, "the field of Rome"') is the geographical rural area (part plains, part hilly) that surrounds the city of Rome. Politically and historically, it has represented the area of influence of Rome's municipal government ...

and by

wood industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry – when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry (economics), industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and woo ...

The area, already damaged by the

1915 Avezzano earthquake The 1915 Avezzano earthquake or 1915 Fucino earthquake occurred on 13 January in central Italy at . The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicenter was located in the city of Avezzano ...

s, experienced major human

depopulation Population decline, also known as depopulation, is a reduction in a human population size. Throughout history, Earth's total human population has continued to grow but projections suggest this long-term trend may be coming to an end. From ant ...

when many man were sent to war as

Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operati ...

guards. Many, then started a mass immigration to the capital city,

References

{{authority control Marsica Cappadocia, Abruzzo Ski areas and resorts in Italy