Ancient houses built on a high hill, a tangle of narrow streets and several characteristic small squares, a delightful, unique landscape, salubrious and fresh air: this is Colonnella.

Since the ancient times its territory was very huge: bounded by sea to the East, by the Tronto river up North, it borders Controguerra to the West and Tortoreto, a sea as well as an agricultural resort, down South.

In L. Giustiniani's Dizionario Geografico Ragionato del Regno di Napoli, published in 1797, the town is described as follows:

"Colonnella, a land in Abruzzo Ultra belonging to Teramo District and to Campli Diocese. It likewise belongs to the Government of Atri, which is a reign. It can be seen up on a high hill, two miles far from the sea and eighteen from Teramo District. The air you can breathe is salubrious and the view is delighted by an astonishing horizon, dominating the most part of the Papal States. In the neighbourhood was the town of Truento, founded by the Liburni people, where they raised fifty towers".

History

Nowadays Colonnella has about 3,200 inhabitants, its territory is 22 sqkm wide and it is divided into nine quarters: the "Centre" county town, Civita, Giardino, Riomoro, San Giovanni, San Martino, Sant'Angelo, Vallecupa and Vibrata. Cicero in his letters to Attico mentions: "Cesare da Fermo in Castrum Truentino venisse" (lib. 8; eist. 18), and Pliny wrote: "Truentum cum amne, quod solum Liburnorum in Italia est." (Hist. Nat. Lib. 3, cap. 13). Finally Strabone: "Deinceps Truentum, et eiusdem nominis oppidum" (lib.6). The Goths first, the Longobards later in 739, dismantled the town of Truento.

The survivors built a rough country called "Civitas Tomacchiara" inside the acropolis of the ancient town and at the mouth of the Tronto river "Torri a Tronto". The survived inhabitants of Truento did not feel safe however, this is why they flattened the highest hill of the whole territory, to found a small colony. Colonnella was generated by the merging of two different populations belonging to two different parishes: San Biagio e San Cipriano and Giustina (Palma v.4, p. 169). It is possible to find two quotations in the Cronicon Farfense, dated 936-962, and namely: "Curtem S. Maria Clolunnellae" and "Curtem de Colunnella". At the end of the 900, Colonnella belonged to the Duchy of Spoleto that governed either on the "County of Aprutinum, as well as that of Ascoli". The Normans, however, who had established in Apulia and in Sicily started entering up North and, in 1078, were stopped by Pope Gregory VIII, menacing them with excommunication. Colonnella therefore, passed to the Reign of Naples, being subject to the Angevins and the Aragonese. In 1723 Abruzzo was divided into two districts: Citra and Ultra Flumen Piscaria.In 1282, Charles I Angevin enacted a capitulary where the strategic points, as well as the passes at the borders of the Reign were designated, included Colonnella and Torre a Tronto. Colonnella was appointed as: "Chapter" or rather as "Fixed Custom". In 1385 Charles III, King of Naples, sold Colonnella to Ascoli.

In 1440, Francesco Sforza, entered into the Aprutinian territory from the Marca to fight against Giosia Acquaviva and wasted many places among which Torri a Tronto and Civita Tomacchiara which could never rise again. On the 22nd November, 1535, Charles V granted the territory of Colonnella to Benedetto Rosales, because of a rebellion of the Ascoli people, upon a remuneration of 200 ducats. In 1582, Benedetto's grandson, Giulio Cesare Rosales, was the chief of the bandits and, in 1588, being brought to justice, he was sentenced to death and executed. Later on, in 1602, Colonnella was bought by Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, Duke of Atri and Prince of Caserta upon a payment of 2,200 ducats, while in 1640 Colonnella was sold to Diana of Capua for 23,131 ducats. Inhabitants of Colonnella listed by occupancies: inh. 1532 (f. 124), inh. 1545 (f.167), a 1561 (f. 200), inh. 1595 (f. 171), a. 1648 (f. 170), inh. 1699 (f. 146), inh. 1797 (f. 1,350). Being gathered to the Reign of Naples, Colonnella shared the destiny of this latter and gain a certain importance as advanced military centre. At the end of the ‘700 the first patriots, open to the ideas of the French Revolution, appeared in Naples. From the 18th June, 1796, the borders of the Reign started to be fortified to withstand to the advance of the French force, especially by the Tronto River; the generals, however, surrendered without striking a blow and sold all the blockhouses to the French.

In December, 1796 a sudden revolt broke out in Colonnella, against the French troops and the bridge on the Tronto river was destroyed, a guerrilla warfare was organized, as well as ambushes were laid and finally, the French soldiers were caught and tortured. Colonnella was subjugated again and terribly wasted at the arrival of General Planta's French troop. Even the Town Hall was burned and all the acts and public writings were destroyed. In 1806 the French forces conquered both the town of Teramo and the fortress of Colonnella. On August, 2 1806, the university and the deanship were abolished. In any of the communes started the government of the Decurions who were drawn lots among those being not younger than 21 and having an income of 96 ducats. Always in 1896 Ferdinandi IV ran away to Sicily and the new Reign of Naples was created and given to Giuseppe Bonaparte who, appointed Kind of Sardinia in July 1807, assigned his power to Jacques Murat who, on his turn, was shot in 1815. In 1809 the Ciammarichella brothers set up a group of rebels who wanted to be called "the mutineers". They acted as supporters of the King Ferdinand IV against the "Jacobin French". They burst into Colonella, in those times administered by the Major Giuseppe Castagna, and wasted the town. After having bought off four home guards they entered into town starting slaughters and revenge.

After changing fortunes order was established again and the rebels were defeated. The few of them, who survived, ran away to the near countries and up to the mountains. The corrupted ones were: Luigi Ionni, Marco Trivelli and the Camozzi brothers Michele and Filippo. The "rebels" were: Pasquale, Silvestro and Domenicantonio Pezza, Giovanni and Lorenzo Marini, Tommaso Ionni, Mattia Pandolfi, Angelo De Santis, Serafino De Santis, Bernardo Tori, Francesco Sabatino and Pancrazio Bianchini. Among the several bandits, who operated in the territory of Colonnella we recall: Sante Sgaliffa, Pietro Cesarini, Francesco Di Giuseppe and Vincenzo Paolucci, Emidio Pecoraro, Ventura Piccioni, Giacomo and Giovanni Pistoferri, Claudio, Lorenzo and Vincenzo Di Saverio, Gioacchino Silimperi. Among the bands we mention: the Sciabolone band, the Piceno one, the Ciammarichella brother's as well as Nicomì's, who had been boy of the Ciammarichellas. The Congress of Vienna gives back to Ferdinand IV his territory now called "Reign of the two Sicilies" and the King gained the name of King Ferdinand I. Colonnella, together with all the other communes south Tronto, was included into the Reign of the two Sicilies. The town was ruled by a major, elected by a provincial intendant, a 1st elected (or vice major), by a 2nd elected and 10 decurions. All the citizens who paid the taxes and the professionals could either vote and be elected.

At the end of the ‘50s the Reign of the two Sicilies was coming to its end because of the patriots, of the popular revolts and also because of Garibaldi's landing in Sicily and the consequent conquest of Naples, occurred on the 8th September, 1860. The plebiscite of the 21st October 1860, proposing "either the coming back of the Borboni on the Tronto or the annexation to the Reign of Italy", ended in favour of the last choice with 15,113 "ay" and only 165 "nay". On the 11th October 1861 the major Giuseppe Marzi and the Town Council, made up of the councillors Filippo Castagna, Michele Crescenzi, Achille Castagna and Giovanni Bernabei decided the following: "Considering that the solemn remembrance of the Plebiscite of 21st October 1860, occurred in any commune of these southern provinces, has to be celebrated with great pomp, therefore this Council decrees a public holiday has to be celebrated on the 21st of this month, anniversary of the popular vote in favour of the unity of Italy, under the crown of the immortal Vittorio Emanuele". In 1862 the electors were 55 upon a population of 3,809 inhabitants. In 1862 the Commune started to face urgent problems, such as the building of a stable bridge on the Tronto river, replacing the "pontoon bridge"; so, "while the railway bridge is being built, the Commune asks the Government that it could be larger to let the wagon pass". Public education, as well as the building of roads to Controguerra and Martinsicuro were taken into consideration, and they started facing even the problem of the supply of drinkable water. It is stated in the public acts that, in 1867 the old San Leopardo church, located by the Large Palace, was destroyed, and the services were celebrated in the new church of the Saints Cipriano and Giustina.

In 1873 the problem of the public light was faced putting in 10 paraffin streetlights, and other 3 were put in later in 1879. The year 1896 proved to be "a painful time for our salubrious and pleasant county town, that is cholera". In 1900 the paraffin public lights were changed into acetylene ones, and later in 1913 in electric plant. The major stated: "at the end of July the mysterious fluid brightened our country with adamantine light". Efficient majors were Francesco Franchi, from 1886 to 1890, and Bernardo Volpi from 1902 to 1905. The responsible for the town layout of Colonnella was Massimo Cincolà. With the coming of Fascism, a dynamic podestà was Francesco Franchi, who realized several public works. He also faced the problem of the coat of arms, and on its resolution , dated 27th November, 1930 he stated: "From time immemorial our Commune has a coat of arms represented by a shield having two crossed laurel sprigs at its bottom, and a column, projecting on three points, depicting the three hills (Civita, the town centre, Marzio hill), at its centre. On Civita hill rose the ancient town of TRUENTUM, destroyed in 565 by Byzantines, led by John, grandson of Bellisario, sent to the Piceno to fight against the Goths and destroy the towns with them allied. Being our Council lacking in probative documents, because our archive has been destroyed by French invasion in 1809, we therefore reckon the ancient use of the above mentioned coat of arms confirms the rightfulness of its use and possession, as well."

In 1936 the War Memorial in Garibaldi Square was unveiled, as well as the new elementary school in 1938, being present in both cases H.E. Pietro Badoglio, Marshal of Italy and Duke of Addis Abeba. The names of those who died in war are reported on the memorial tablet of the monument: 76 during the first world conflict and 51 during the second one. The local elections of 1946 were won by the left wing parties. The contrast between the hamlet of Martinsicuro and the chief town sharpened in the subsequent years: the rivalries between the two centres had always existed, but the situation seemed to deteriorate when the number of the inhabitants in Martinsicuro became higher than that of the chief town. For a certain time the Council majority was detected by the representative of the hamlet. It seemed natural that even the name of the Commune could change. The population of the chief town mobilized and, according the rules in force, asked for the division of the territory, obtained in 1963. Martinsicuro and Villa Rosa were separated by Colonnella to form the Town of Martinsicuro. From there on, the life in Colonnella did not suffered from "shakes" and went on calmly, as that of many other small provinces. The Majors that led our town from those times were, in order: Guido Iustini, Rivo Bianchini, Ugo Crescenzi, Vincenzo Cicchetti and Augusto Di Stanislao, actually in charge. On 6th December, 1991 Luciano Lama, who was the Vice President of the Senate, was a guest in Colonnella. Lama had been the Secretary-General of the CGL from 1970 to 1986. He came to Colonnella to meet, after more or less fifty years the former Major Guido Iustini, one of his friends and schoolmate. Lama was received warmly and lovely by Colonnella's inhabitants, gathered in a crowded assembly in the middle school.

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