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are situated at 698 mt. of altitude, on the lower slope of the Salviano mountain. At 53km from L'Aquila and 60Km from Rome, our town lies the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre in Marsica.
But also technology has its place with the huge Micron Technology plant and the astronomical observatory of Telespazio.
There are two common ethimologies for the name of the town: from "Ave Jane", an invocation to the Roman God Janus and from "Ad Vetianum" which means a "to the Vezia family", domiciled in the village of Alba Fucens.
Over the century Avezzano has lived many fortunes and events. The life and settlement of people in this area was mostly influenced by the presence of the lake Fucino and, after its draining, by the explotation of the new emerged territories.
It seems that the draining of the lake dates back to JULIUS CEASAR , then the emperor Claudio sent thousands of slaves to dig a tunnel of 5653 m. long. In 114 a.C. the emperor Traiano continued the works and, alfer Adriano succeeded in reducing the size of the lake.
In the XV century Avezzano was under gentile Virgilio Orsini, who built the castle in 1490.
In 1850 a private enterprise was founded with the aim of draining the lake in exchange of the possession of the land. One of the members of this enterprise was the Prince Alessandro Torlonia. In April 1862 the effluent was completed.
The Fucino valley (a surface of 14.000 hectares) was divided in about 500 patches of land. In the XIX century Avezzano became the most important town in the entire Marsica area.
After the disastrous earthquake of the morning of Jannuary 1915, nothing remained of the original town. More destruction was causeds by air bombings in 1944. Avezzano was completely rebuilt along straingt, parallel streets, with wide green areas and fine liberty villas. So, under a touristic point of view, Avezzano cannot be considered an historical art town.
But, you could enjoy to spend time in our town walking in Piazza Risorgimento, where the cathedral of San Bartolomeo is situated, or going shopping in the downtown.
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