Villa Petto, also known as Castel Petto, is an Italian village in the municipality of

Colledara Colledara ( Abruzzese: ') is a town and ''comune'' in province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of I ...

(It.: “frazione”), a municipality located in the territory of the

Province of Teramo The province of Teramo (; Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: ') is a provinces of Italy, province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Teramo. The province has an area of , a population of 313,029 (2012), and is subdivided into ...

, 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. It is located 450 meters above sea level, on the slopes of Mount Cicembro. It is 20 km from Teramo, the provincial capital. The most important architectural element of its historic center is the Church of Santa Lucia. The place of worship was built on the remains of the castle walls that dominated the town. It was probably founded during the 14th-15th centuries. The ruins of the 14th-century church of San Salvatore, very close to the church of Santa Lucia, are still recognizable. Castel Petto does not seem to have been mentioned before the Swabian period (late 13th century). In the Angevin era it was part of the Valle Siciliana area (of Abruzzo), already under the

Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following: * Aaro ...

family since the 14th century. In 1526 the domain of the area passed from the Orsini to the Alarcón-Mendoza. At the end of the 18th century, until 1807, it constituted an autonomous Universitas. After a brief period under the jurisdiction of Tossiccia, in 1811 it definitively became a district of Colledara. Between 1338 and the end of the 19th century it was a fief of the Isca, Sterlich, Torres and Scorpioni families. Even in a shared manner, from the beginning of the 19th century until the abolition of feudalism in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

in 1806, Sterlich, Torres and Scorpioni (mentioned above), the Castiglioni, Coletti and the Scaricamazza family were the holders of the barony of Castel Petto. With the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

, the town witnessed the revolts of the Bourbon bandits, the “briganti”, which broke out against the new kingdom of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

. Small semi-detached houses characterize the Villa Petto; the great noble palaces, which often identify nearby towns, seem to be absent. On

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

, Villa Petto hosts a singular procession of the dead Christ in which the presence of women predominates: with a tense voice they sing the painful drama of the Passion and with firm postures they transmit and embody before the whole community the pain of the women who they accompanied Christ on his way to Calvary. The town, also due to the earthquakes that have affected the region, is suffering a gradual and continuous depopulation.

References

{{reflist Frazioni of Abruzzo Colledara