Fiore Marchionne, now 50, left Civitella 30 years ago with his hotelier diploma. He started working in restaurants and then in Manchester established a furniture import business, on which he made his fortune.

Bishop of Amiternum from 568 to 597 Cetteo was persecuted by the Lombards and took refuge in Rome. Then he came back to his people, was thrown into the Aterno river with a stone tied to his neck. His body was recovered at the mouth of the river. His relics, for centuries in Chieti, were transferred to Pescara in 1977.

Giacinto Auriti, 77, is enjoying days of glory for his idea of the Simec, a revolutionary currency of "people's property". His idea was featured in the British Daily Mirror and American Wall Street Journal.