| Silvi | |
|---|---|
| — Comune — | |
| Comune di Silvi | |
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Silvi
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Abruzzo |
| Province | Teramo (TE) |
| Frazioni | Pianacce, San Silvestre, Santo Stefano, Silvi Paese, Silvi Marina |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Gaetano Vallescura |
| Area | |
| • Total | 20.6 km2 (8 sq mi) |
| Elevation[1] | 2 m (7 ft) |
| Population (31 December 2006)[2] | |
| • Total | 15,264 |
| • Density | 741/km2 (1,919.1/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Silvaroli |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 64028 Silvi Paese, 64029 Silvi Marina, 64030 San Silvestre |
| Dialing code | 085 |
| Patron saint | Saint Leo |
| Website | Official website |
Silvi is an Italian comune in the province of Teramo, about 15 km north of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It stretches from Silvi Marina, a small seaside resort on the Adriatic Coast, to Silvi Paese up in the hills.
Silvi is a town divided into two parts: Silvi Paese or Alta, the old traditional town on the hill overlooking the sea, and Silvi Marina, a modern seaside resort below the hills. The unique location of Silvi Paese (called Castelbelfiore until the 19th century) led to the town's spindle-shaped layout with single main street, from which a network of narrow streets branch off.
In the 1860s, after the unification of Italy, in central and southern Italy, new railroads that turned inside-out and upside-down the traditional relationship between the coast and the interior. On the Adriatic coast, the only centers of some importance were, at that time, Ortona a Mare and Termoli; the other coastal areas were populated only by poor villages of fishermen and farmers, interrupted continually by the wide mouths of numerous streams and periodically subjected to violent floods. The railroads eventually made the coast towns more important than the hill towns such as in the case of Silvi.
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Silvi is closely tied to Atri’s history, being only a short distance away. In the 13th and 14th centuries Silvi was a main cog of a coastal defense system based on day and night signals through fires and smoke to alert the government in Naples of the frequent landings of Turks and pirates. Through a series of mirrors, fire and smoke signals, these coastal defenses could relay information that could be received in Naples (capital of the Kingdom) in mere hours.
In the 14th century the medieval borough of Castrum Silvi, as it was known, became a fiefdom of the abbey of San Giovanni in Venere (located kilometers away, in what is now the province of Chieti), then passed to the jurisdiction of the Acquaviva family of Atri. At the time Silvi Marina was a small poor port of fishermen. Silvi remained a fiefdom of Atri until the arrival of Napoleon in Italy and who in 1806 abolished feudalism.
By 1863 the building of the coastal railway and the station at the coast helped the development of the "Marina" part of Silvi, which little by little took over the government and administration, thanks mostly to investments in the tourist sector. In 1931 the municipal seat was moved from Silvi Paese to Silvi Marina, which within a few years turned into an important seaside resort, becoming the administrative center of all the territory, from the coast to the surrounding hills.
Fosso Concio, which was known as "Concio della Liquirizia" (from the word "acconciare" which means prepare in Abruzzese dialect) because it was here where the roots of the plant, which grew wild and copiously along the hillsides of the Piomba and the Vomano Rivers, were harvested gives rise to its licorice manufacturing industry - known throughout Italy and Europe - with Saila Liquirizia (now part of LEAF Italia spa) and products of Aurelio Menozzi & De Rosa Company. Licorice root has been popular in the Abruzzo region for centuries.