CHIETI

This article appears in Volume V06, Page 133 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CHA-CHR

CHIETI , a city of the Abruzzi, Italy, the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the province of Chieti, and the seat of an archbishop, 140 M. E.N.E. of Rome by rail, and 9 M. W. of Castellammare Adriatico. Pop. (1901) 26,368. It is situated at a height of 1083 ft. above sea-level, 3 M. from the railway station, from which it is reached by an electric tramway. It commands a splendid view of the Apennines on every side except the east, where the Adriatic is seen. It is an active modern town, upon the site of the ancient Teate Marrucinorum (q.v.), with woollen and

cotton

manufactories and other smaller industries. The origin of the see of Chieti dates from the 4th century, S. Justinus being the first bishop. The cathedral has been spoilt by restoration, and the decoration of the exterior is incomplete; the Gothic campanile of 1335 is, however, fine. The cathedral possesses two illuminated missals. Close by is the town

hall

, which contains a small picture gallery, in which, in 1905, was held an important exhibition of ancient Abruzzese art. The de Laurentiis family possesses a private collection of some importance. To the north of Chieti is the octagonal church of S. Maria del Tricaglio, erected in 1317, which is said (without reason) to stand upon the site of a temple of Diana. The order of the Theatines, founded in 1524, takes its name from the city. Under the Lombards Chieti formed part of the duchy of Benevento; it was destroyed by Pippin in 801, but was soon rebuilt and became the seat of a count. The Normans made it the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the Abruzzi.
CHI-FU, CHEFOO, Or YEN-T`AI (as it is called by the natives), a seaport of northern China, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Chih-li, in the province of Shan-tung, near the mouth of the Yi-ho, about 30 M. E. of the city of Teng-chow-fu. It was formerly quite a small place, and had only the rank of an unwalled

village

VILLAGE

; but it was chosen as the port of Teng-chow, opened to foreign trade in 1858 by the treaty of Tientsin, and it is now the residence of a Tao-t'ai, or intendant of circuit, the centre of a gradually increasing commerce, and the seat of a British consulate, a Chinese custom-

house

, and a considerable foreign settlement. The native town is yearly extending, and though most of the inhabitants are small shop-keepers and coolies of the lowest class, the houses are for the most part well and solidly built of stone. The foreign settlement occupies a position between the native town and the sea, which neither affords a convenient access for shipping nor allows space for any great extension of area. Its growth, however, has hitherto been steady and rapid. Various streets have been laid out, a large
hotel erected for the reception of the visitors who resort to the place as a sanatorium in summer, and the religious wants of the community are supplied by a Roman Catholic and a Protestant church. Though the harbour is deep and extensive, and possessed of excellent anchorage, large vessels have to be moored at a considerable distance from the shore. Chi-fu has continued to show fair progress as a place of trade, but the total volume is inconsiderable, having regard to the area it supplies. In 1880 the total exports and imports were valued at 2,724,000, in 1899 they amounted to 4,228,000, and in 1904 to 4,909,908. In 1895 there entered the port 905 vessels representing a tonnage of 835,248 tons, while in 1905 the number of vessels had risen to 1842, representing a tonnage of 1,492,514 tons. The imports are mainly woollen and

cotton

goods, iron and opium, and the exports include bean cake, bean oil, peas, raw silk, straw-braid, walnuts, a coarse kind of vermicelli, vegetables and dried fruits. Communication with the interior is only by roads, which are extremely defective, and nearly all the traffic is by

pack

animals. From its healthy situation and the convenience of its anchorage, Chi-fu has become a favourite rendezvous for the fleets of the European powers in Chinese waters, and consequently it has at times been an important coaling station. It lies in close proximity to Korea, Port Arthur and Wei-hai-Wei, and it shared to some extent in the excitement to which the military and naval operations in these quarters gave rise. The Chi-fu convention was signed here in 1876 by Sir Thomas Wade and Li-Hung-Chang.
CHIGI-ALBANI, the name of a Roman princely family of Sienese extraction descended from the counts of Ardenghesca. The earliest authentic mention of them is in the 13th century, and they first became famous in the person of Agostino Chigi (d. 1520), an immensely rich banker who built the palace and gardens afterwards known as the Farnesina, decorated by Raphael, and was noted for the splendour of his entertainments; Pope Julius II. made him practically his finance minister and gave him the privilege cf quartering his own (Della Rovere) arms with those of the Chigi. Fabio Chigi, on being made pope (Alexander VII.) in 1655, conferred the Roman patriciate on his family, and created his nephew Agostino prince of Farnese and duke of Ariccia, and the emperor

Leopold

LEOPOLD (M.H. Ger. Liupolt; O.H. Ger. Liupald, from hut, Mod. Ger. Leute, " people," and paid, " bold," i.e. " bold for the people ")

I. created the latter Reichsfurst (prince of the Holy Roman Empire) in 1659. In 1712 the family received the dignity of hereditary marshals of the Church and guardians of the conclaves, which gave them a very great importance on the death of every pope. On the marriage in 1735 of another Agostino Chigi (17101769) with Giulia Albani, heiress of the Albani, a Venetian patrician family, said to be of Albanian origin, her name was added to that of Chigi. The family owns large estates at Siena.
See A. von Reumont, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, vol. iii. (Berlin, 1868) ; Almanach de Gotha.

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