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Vasto (Abruzzese: lù Uàštë; , ) is a comune on the Adriatic coast of the Province of Chieti, in southern Abruzzo, Italy. During the Middle Ages it was called Guastaymonis, Vasto d'Aimone or Waste d'Aimone.Abruzzo – Bradt Guide, 2nd Edition, 2013, page 268 Fascist Italy called the city Istonio, but it was renamed Vasto in 1944.
Ancient geographers cited the town as located in the territory of the Frentani and apparently under Julius Caesar(Mela ii. 4. § 9; Pliny the Elder iii. 12. s. 17; Ptolemy iii. 1. § 18; Lib. Colon. p. 260; August Wilhelm Zumpt, De Coloniis p. 307. did not obtain the rank of a colonia, but continued to bear the title of a municipium, as we learn from some inscriptions.Orell. Inscr. 2603, 4052; Zumpt, l. c.. Under the Roman Empire, the municipium of Histonium was a flourishing and opulent town, further attested by the existing ruins of an ancient Roman theatre, baths, and other public edifices, besides numerous mosaics, statues, and columns of granite or marble.Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 32.
Among the numerous inscriptions which have been found, one of the most curious records the fact of a young boy named Lucius Valerius Pudens having at thirteen years of age won the prize for Latin poetry in the contest held at Ancient Rome in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.Romanelli, l. c. p. 34; Orell. Inscr. 2603; Mommsen, I. R. N. 5252.) The name of Histonium is still found in the Itineraries of the fourth centuryAntonine Itinerary p. 314; Tabula Peutingeriana. and it probably never ceased to exist on its present site, though ravaged successively by the Goths, the Lombards, the Franks, and the Arabs. Histonium had no natural port, and it is not improbable that in the days of its prosperity it depended on the port at the Punta Penna, where the current harbour that is the and the lighthouse are located, where there is good anchorage, and where Roman remains have also been found, which have been regarded, but probably erroneously, as those of the settlement of Buca.Mommsen, lnscr. Regn. Neap. p. 274, App. p. 30; who has collected and published all the genuine inscriptions found at Histonium.
In the 15th century the city's urban structure was transformed by the condottiero Giacomo Caldora, who had become its lord. The Caldora family built new city walls still seen today, including the Torre Bassano tower in Piazza Rossetti, the Torre Diomede in Vico Storto del Passero, the Torre Diamante in Piazza Verdi and Porta Catena, and with Castello Caldoresco as its primary defensive outpost.
In 1566, Turkish Ottoman naval forces, led by Piyale Pasha, destroyed much of the city by fire, including the Castello Caldoresco, the Church of Santa Margherita and the Palazzo d'Avalos (formerly a home of Vittoria Colonna – close confidante of Michelangelo – now the Musei di Palazzo d'Avalos).
The poet and scholar Gabriele Rossetti was born in Vasto on 28 February 1783. Rossetti's published works include literary criticism, Romantic poetry such as his long poem Il Veggente in Solitudine of 1846, and his autobiography. Gabriele went into political exile in 1821, settling in London, England.
He was the father of well-known pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti and poet Christina Rossetti. Gabriele died on 24 April 1854 and is buried in London's Highgate Cemetery with his wife Frances Polidori.
Despite a devastating landslide (1956) that dragged a significant part of the eastern ridge – now Via Adriatica – into the gorge below, the years following World War II witnessed industrial, urban, and socio-cultural development. The city also discovered its tourist vocation: besides the progressive development of its beaches in Marina di Vasto, Roman-era thermal baths, mosaics, cisterns and remains of an amphitheatre were found and restored.
During the 1970s until the recent days, the town underwent a remarkable change and a fast growth, with several housing, road and other infrastructure projects built to accommodate the emigrating population from the inner areas of Southern Abruzzo, which have made it one of the most populous of the region.
Below the hill on which the town is located, the beach resort town of Marina di Vasto offers a large sandy beach and several hotels and other facilities.
Further north the coast becomes rocky and features interesting pebble and stone beaches and coves, as well as the typical trabocchi, typical wooden fishing machines of the Southern Abruzzo coast. Amongst the natural areas, also featuring a number of sandy and rocky beaches, is the protected natural area of the Riserva Naturale di Punta Aderci, whose beaches were voted in 2014 third of the top 20 beaches in Italy.Legambiente, 2014 http://www.legambiente.it/contenuti/comunicati/le-spiagge-piu-belle-dell-estate-2014-cala-degli-infreschi-camerota-e-la-piu-ap
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