Ancient era , born in the city. Sulmona was one of the principal cities of the
Paeligni, an
Italic tribe, but no notice of it is found in history before the
Roman conquest. A tradition alluded to by Ovid and
Silius Italicus, which ascribed its foundation to
Solymus, a
Phrygian and one of the companions of
Aeneas, is evidently a mere etymological fiction. The first mention of Sulmo occurs in the
Second Punic War, when its territory was ravaged by
Hannibal in 211 BC, who, however, did not attack the city itself. Its name is not noticed during the
Social War, in which the Paeligni took so prominent a part; but according to
Florus, it suffered severely in the subsequent civil war between
Sulla and
Gaius Marius, having been destroyed by the former as a punishment for allegiance to his rival. The writings of that rhetorical writer are not, however, to be taken literally, and it is more probable that Sulmo was confiscated and its lands assigned by Sulla to a body of his soldiers. In all events it is certain that Sulmo was a well-peopled and considerable town in 49 BC, when it was occupied by
Domitius Calvinus with a garrison of seven cohorts; but the citizens, who were favorably inclined towards
Julius Caesar, opened their gates to his lieutenant M. Antonius as soon as he presented himself. Not much more is known historically of Sulmo, which, however, appears to have continued to be a considerable provincial town. Ovid speaks of it as one of the three municipal towns whose districts composed the territory of the Paeligni: and this is confirmed both by
Pliny and the
Liber Coloniarum; yet it does not seem to have ever been large, and Ovid himself designates it as a small provincial town. From the
Liber Coloniarum we learn also that it had received the status of a colony, probably in the time of
Augustus; though Pliny does not give it the title of a Colonia. Inscriptions, as well as the geographers and Itineraries, attest its continued existence as a municipal town throughout the
Roman Empire. The chief claim to fame of Sulmona is derived from its having been the birthplace of Ovid, who repeatedly alludes to it as such, and celebrates its salubrity, and the numerous permanent streams of clear water in which its neighbourhood abounded. But, like the whole district of the Paeligni, it was extremely cold in winter, whence Ovid himself, and Silius Italicus in imitation of him, calls it "gelidus Sulmo" Its territory was fertile, cultivation of both in grain and wine are common, and one district, the Pagus Fabianus, is particularly mentioned by Pliny for the care bestowed on the irrigation of the vineyards.
Middle Ages and Renaissance Traditionally, the beginning of the
Christian age in Sulmona is set in the 3rd century. The city was part of the
diocese of Valva, while a Sulmonese bishop is known from the 5th century. One of the earliest bishops was
Saint Pamphilus (San Panfilo), an Italian pagan convert to Christianity in the 7th century from nearby
Corfinium. He was elected bishop of Valva in 682 and died in 706. He is the
patron saint of Sulmona and is buried in the church dedicated to him, the present
Sulmona Cathedral. Sulmona became a free commune under the
Normans, within the
Kingdom of Sicily. Under
Frederick II an aqueduct was built in the town, one of the most important constructions of the era in the Abruzzo; the emperor made it the capital of a large province, as well the seat of a tribunal and of a fair, which it however lost with the arrival of the
Angevins, becoming part of the
Kingdom of Naples. Despite that, it continued to expand and a new line of walls was added in the 14th century. In the 16th century a flourishing paper industry was started.
Modern age In 1706 the city was nearly razed by an earthquake. While much of the medieval city was destroyed by the earthquake, some remarkable buildings survive such as the Church of Santa Maria della Tomba, the Palazzo Annunziata, the Aqueduct and the Gothic portal on Corso Ovidio. Much of the city was then rebuilt in the prevailing elegant Baroque style of the 18th century. Sulmona experienced an economic boom in the late 19th century, becoming a railway hub given its strategic geographic position between Rome and the Adriatic coast. The anarchist and labour organiser
Carlo Tresca was born there in 1879 and was active in the Italian Railroad Workers' Federation until emigrating to the US in 1904 to escape a prison term. Sulmona's strategic position also made it a target for air raids during
World War II. The railway station, the industrial sections and parts of the old town were damaged, but today they have been mostly restored.
Campo 78 Campo 78 at Sulmona served as a
POW camp in both world wars. During
World War I, it housed Austrian prisoners captured in the
Isonzo and Trentino campaigns; during World War II, it was home to as many as 3,000 British and Commonwealth officers and other ranks captured in North Africa. The camp itself was built on a hillside and consisted of a number of brick barracks surrounded by a high wall. During World War II, conditions in Sulmona for both the officers and the men were indifferent. Accommodation was overcrowded. Normal rations of rice soup and bread were occasionally augmented by fresh fruit and cheese in the summer. Some food parcels from the
International Committee of the Red Cross were distributed occasionally. For recreation, the prisoners laid out a football field, and they also had equipment for cricket and basketball. There was a theatre, a small lending library, at least one band, and a newspaper produced by a group of prisoners. In September 1943, as the Italian government neared collapse, the inmates of Sulmona heard rumours that the evacuation of the camp was imminent. They awoke one morning to discover that their guards had deserted them. On 14 September, German troops arrived to escort the prisoners northwards, to captivity in Germany, but not before hundreds of them had escaped into the hills. One such escapee was the South African author,
Uys Krige, who described his experience in a book titled
The way out. There were two other smaller camps nearby, ''Fontana d'Amore
, which held British officers, and Villa Orsini'', which held very senior Allied officers captured during World War II, including Air Marshal
Owen Tudor Boyd, Major-General Sir
Adrian Carton de Wiart, Brigadier
James Hargest, Lieutenant General Sir
Philip Neame, General Sir
Richard Nugent O'Connor. All were subsequently transferred to Castello di
Vincigliata Campo PG12 near Florence. ==Main sights==