Caramanico Terme is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

and town in the province of Pescara

Province of Pescara

The Province of Pescara is a province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pescara.It has an area of 1,225 km², and a total population of 295,463 . There are 46 comunes in the province. At May 31, 2005, the main communes by population are:For a complete list, see Comunes of...

 in the Abruzzo

Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

 region of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, situated near the confluence of the Orfento and Orta rivers, on a hilltop between the Monte Morrone and the Majella

Majella

The Maiella is a massif in the Central Apennines, in Abruzzo, central Italy, at the boundary between the provinces of Chieti, Pescara and L'Aquila....

 mountains.http://www.abruzzo2000.com/abruzzo/pescara/caramanico.htm

History

The town takes its name from either cara, meaning rock, or from arimannia, a Lombard

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 establishment in the late Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. Then the name Terme was added in 1960 because of the presence of a spa nearby.

The present settlement is recorded since Lombard times. Then it underwent a remarkable development in the 14th-15th centuries, under the D'Aquino family, and in that period many important monuments were built.

In 1706 an earthquake nearby destroyed the town.

Main sights

• Church of S. Maria Maggiore (15th century), with a Gothic exterior and an ogival portal with a depiction of the Coronation of the Virgin (1476). The exterior has also depictions of apostles, pilgrims and singers with 15th century musical instruments. The Assumption Chapel (17th century) has a Baroque interior.
• Romanesque church of St. Tommaso, founded in the 13th century in honor of Thomas of Canterbury. It was built above a 9th century pieve
  Pieve
  In the Middle Ages, a pieve was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended.The Italian word pieve is descended from Latin plebs which, after the expansion of Christianity in Italy, was applied to the community of baptized people...
  
  . It has a nave and two aisles, with different levels. The façade has a rose window
  Rose window
  A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
  
   and single mullioned windows, three portals and four semi-colons from a never built portico. The side portals have with floreal decorations, while the central one has a high-relief of the Twelve Apostles and Christ Enthroned (1118). The interior, with a nave and aisles divided by composite columns (right) and square columns (left). The interior houses also a Corinthian column (known as Colonna santa) which has alleged miraculous properties.
• Archaeological Museum "P. Barrasso"
• Museum of Abruzzo and Italy Fauna