Since 1986, the Golden Fleece ceremony has been held annually in Vasto, bringing the city’s streets to life. Participants, dressed in elaborate and colorful 18th-century costumes, take part in two processions. One group represents the d’Avalos family and other influential families of the time, while the other portrays the Colonna family and their entourage. Once…
Cesare Michelangelo d’Avalos d’Aquino d’Aragona was born in Vasto on January 15, 1667, and baptized on January 19 in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. He was the third son of Diego I d’Avalos, Marquis of Vasto. After the untimely death of his elder brother, who left no heirs, Cesare Michelangelo assumed the title of…
The first historical mention of Jacopo Caldora‘s marquisal palace appears in a document cited by the seventeenth-century chronicler Nicola Alfonso Viti. This document refers to compensation granted by the lord of Vasto to the Augustinian friars in 1427 for the use of part of their garden to build a palace. There is no evidence to…
Situated today in front of the Belvedere Romani, which overlooks the Angrella valley, the Arch of Porta Nuova is both the oldest and the most recent gate of the historic city. Built in 1790 under the direction of Master Juror Giuseppe Tambelli, the arch occupies a location about twenty meters behind its original position, where…
A circular tower overlooks Piazza Verdi, the city’s main traffic crossroads, easily identifiable by its fifteenth-century base, which contrasts with the second floor built in the twentieth century and covered in plaster. This is the Santo Spirito Tower, one of the five towers that originally formed part of the defensive bulwarks of the “degli inforzi”…
Hidden among the alleys between Corso Plebiscito and Corso Garibaldi, the Diomede del Moro Tower, also known as the Damante Tower, stands out as the best-preserved of the three surviving towers of the city walls completed by Giacomo Caldora in 1439. To fully appreciate its structure, one must view it from Vico Storto del Passero,…
The Bassano Tower, rising twenty meters above the main city square, is named after the Bassano family. This family arrived in Vasto from the Republic of Venice in the previous century, built the tower in the seventeenth century, and made it their residence for nearly two centuries. Today, the tower features a shop on the…
Jacopo Caldora, also known as Giacomo Caldora, was an Italian nobleman, military leader, and captain of fortune who lived from 1369 to 1439. His legacy is closely tied to the history of Vasto, where he became lord in 1422. The son of Giovanni Antonio Caldora, Jacopo displayed exceptional military talent from a young age, quickly…
The facade of the church of San Pietro, demolished after the landslide of 1956, still stands in the square of the same name, and its Maiella stone portal almost seems to open a window onto the sea. The ancient door of San Pietro is not only a wonderful postcard view, but still retains a strong…
The Church of San Pietro in Vasto, although no longer existing today, having been demolished after a landslide in 1956, represents a fundamental chapter in the religious and cultural history of the city. Its story, full of events and changes, is closely intertwined with the events of Vasto and its noble families. Its origins are…