Avezzano is a town and comune in the Abruzzo region, Province of L'Aquila, 70 km east of Rome. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the Marsica area. with modern industries such as a huge Micron semi-conductor plant, and a Telespazio satellite groundstation. In Italy, the comune, (plural comuni) is the basic administrative unit of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality. ... Abruzzo, (also known as Abruzzi, an older obsolete plural denomination) is a region of central Italy, formerly a part of the Abruzzi e Molise region (with Molise). ... LAquila, 42°21 13°24E, at 710 m (2329 feet) above sea-level, is a city and comune of central Italy, on the Aterno river, with 69,131 inhabitants according to 2003 census figures. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,823,807 almost 4,000,000 1... The word micron has at least two possible meanings: A micrometre (American spelling: micrometer, symbol µm), that is, one millionth of a metre. ...

History

There are two common etymologies for the name of the town: from "Ave Jane", an invocation to the Roman God Janus and from "Ad Vetianum" which means a "to the Vetia family", domiciled in the nearby town of Alba Fucens. The first settlements in this area began with the construction works for the lake's drainage ordered by Emperor Claudius in the first century A.D. In the XV century Avezzano was under Gentile Virgilio Orsini, who built the castle in 1490. In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. ... Alba Fucens (mod. ... For other Romans named Claudius see Claudius (gens). ...

Avezzano once lay on the shores of the largest lake in central Italy, Lake Fucino, drained in the late 19th century; after the draining of the Lake, thanks to the wide fields now available for cultivation the area underwent a terrific growth, but was completely destroyed by the possibly worst recorded earthquake in the history of Italy, on the early morning of January 13, 1915: only Casa dei Palazzi and a wing of Castle Orsini were spared. More than 12,000 people died.

The town was then completely rebuilt along straight, parallel streets, with wide green areas and fine villas in the "Liberty" style.