Pescorocchiano

Its origins?

In the current municipal territory of Pescorocchiano stood the ancient Nersae, which was the town of the Equicoli before becoming a Roman municipium. According to the poet Virgil, Nersae had a protohistoric origin, confirmed by the pre-protohistoric settlement in the cave of Val de’ Varri, located between the homonymous town and Nesce, inhabited unceasingly from the Copper Age until the Middle Bronze Age (16th-14th century BC). Bowls, cups, plates and large vases for food were found there, together with a polished green stone hatchet and other objects in flint and metal, all visible in the Cicolano Archaeological Museum located in Corvaro. With the foundation of the municipium, in the late-Republican era, the site became of great importance, in particular at the time when the Res publica Aequiculorum was born. The Forum of the village of Nersae was located just outside Civitella, at the Casale di San Silvestro, in an artificial esplanade where many altars, columns and marble capitals have been brought to light, together with some cisterns, many epigraphs (today visible between Nesce and Pescorocchiano) and remains of walls. In 1183 Pescorocchiano appears among the small funds of the area, under the barony of Gentile Vetulo, following the subdivision of the earldome made by William II. The Giustizierato d'Abruzzo was divided into two parts, separated by the Pescara River, by Charles I of Anjou in 1273. In 1418 the center was owned by the Mareri family, specifically Niccolò Mareri, but also by the Orsini and the Colonna while, in 1511, it was included among the properties that Charles V gave to Antimo Savelli as a thank for the services he had received from him. Finally, in 1808, Pescorocchiano became part of the district of Borgocollefegato (today's Borgorose), until the new province of Abruzzo Ulterior Secondo was divided into three districts. The territory was included in the Abruzzo region until 1927, when it was added to the new province of Rieti.