CHIETI E VASTO, ARCHDIOCESE of. — In Abruzzo, C. is the provincial capital. The archdiocese has an area of 2,500 sq. km., 138 parishes, with 215 diocesan priests and 92 religious priests, serving a population of 350,000 inhabitants, all Catholics (1948).
C., ancient Theate, capital of the Marrucini, is situated on a mountain at whose base the Pescara River flows. The first document concerning the diocese is a letter from Pope Giovanni VIII to Teodorico, bishop of Theate, dated 20 November 879. Certainly the episcopal see had already been established there for some time, and despite the silence of the documents it may be traced back to the 4th century. However, the claims concerning the episcopate of a. Giustino martyr, patron of the city, as well as those concerning a list of the earliest bishops, are without foundation. Its jurisdiction extended over Lanciano, Ortona and V.; made illustrious in the 16th century by Bishop Giampietro Carafa (later Paolo IV), it was raised by Clement VII in 1526 to a metropolitan see, with Lanciano, Penne and Atri as suffragans. In 1570 Ortona was made a diocese and subsequently united with Lanciano; V. (Istonio) was then detached in 1853, although it has remained united to it up to the present. C. is immediately subject to the Holy See.
The most illustrious abbey in the territory of C. was S. Salvatore alla Maiella, dating from before the 11th century; it became a possession of the Roman Church and was later held by the Chapter of S. Pietro; it fell into ruin in 1598. Worthy of mention are the abbey of S. Liberatore alla Maiella, with the ruins of its church, a typical Abruzzese Romanesque building of the 11th century, with several surviving frescoes; and S. Pietro di Vallebona of the Celestines, from the 12th century, which stood not far from the present village of Manoppello and was founded by the local counts.
The cathedral of C., built over the earlier one and dedicated to s. Tommaso and s. Giustino, of which the beautiful crypt remains, was rebuilt after the year 1000; the subsequent partial reconstructions followed the original forms. Notable are the church of SS. Pietro e Paolo, erected over a pagan temple, and a respectable group of Gothic churches: S. Agata, S. Antonio and S. Francesco. Among the monumental sacred buildings of V. is the cathedral (S. Giuseppe), rebuilt in 1896 but preserving from the earlier building the portal and the rose window in the façade, dating from the 13th century.
The archives of the Curia contain abundant documents relating to the numerous abbeys, though none date from before the 13th century. Those concerning the Church of Theate are in the Chapter Archive, and various others are in the Municipal Archive. — Vedi Tav. XCIII.
For the history of V.: V. VASTO.