Province of Chieti

The province of Chieti (provincia di Chieti; Abruzzese: pruvìngie de Chjìte) is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Chieti, which has a population of 50,770 inhabitants. The province has a total population of 387,649 inhabitants and spans an area of . It is divided into 104 comuni (comune) and the provincial president is Mario Pupillo. Chieti's cathedral was first constructed during the 9th century but was reconstructed during the 13th century. The province contains the National Archaeology Museum of Abruzzo, in Italian the Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo, which contains items from the area prior to Roman rule. It was first settled by the Osci people near the Pescara River. In around 1000 BCE it was conquered by Marsi and Marrucini people. The city was also lived in by the Greeks, who named it Teate. It was conquered by the Romans in 305 BCE but after the fall of Rome in 476 CE, Theoderic the Great gained ownership of the city and it was subsequently used as a Lombard fortress. The city was then owned by the Franks, the Normans, the Hohenstaufen, the Angevins and Aragonese rulers until strong control over the city was gained by Charles V of France. Chieti was made the capital of Abruzzo Citra under its period of rule by the House of Bourbon. The province of Chieti contains Ortona, a town founded by Fretani people for trading with the Greeks, which was the scene of a World War II battle between German and predominantly British and Canadian forces; over 2,000 civilians died and the town was largely destroyed. The province of Chieti is one of four provinces in the region of Abruzzo on the eastern coast of Italy. It is the most easternmost province in the region and is bounded to the northeast by the Adriatic Sea. The Province of Pescara lies to the north and the Province of L'Aquila to the northwest. To the south lies the Province of Isernia and the Province of Campobasso lies to the south east, both these provinces being part of the region of Molise.