The Ciccarone family, originally from Scerni, arrived in Vasto in the wake of the feudal abolition and the gradual decline of d’Avalos’ holdings.
Francesco Paolo Ciccarone was an ardent supporter of the short-lived Jacobin-inspired Neapolitan Republic and fought in Pescara under Ettore Carafa, who was later executed by King Ferdinand I in Naples. A committed Carbonaro, Francesco Paolo was sentenced to exile on the island of Lipari by King Francis I but was granted amnesty in 1830 by Ferdinand II as a gesture to mark the beginning of his reign.
His son, Silvio Ciccarone, a member of Giovine Italia, transformed the family palace into a meeting place for revolutionary patriots from across the province. From there, the insurgents—among the first in Abruzzo—set out to seize the royal sub-prefecture upon hearing that Garibaldi was advancing toward Naples. Silvio himself was appointed pro-dictator, the title given to Garibaldi’s representatives in local provisional governments.
In the months that followed, Palazzo Ciccarone hosted several prominent figures of the newly unified Italian state. Among them were the Marquis of Villamarina, King Victor Emmanuel II’s envoy to Naples after its annexation; General Alfonso La Marmora, commander of the Piedmontese army and later Prime Minister of Italy; and Ruggero Bonghi, a renowned classical scholar and future Minister of Public Education.
The most frequent guest, however, was Silvio Spaventa, a close friend of Silvio Ciccarone and a leading figure of the Historical Right in Abruzzo. Spaventa later became a minister of the Kingdom of Italy and played a key role in shaping the nation’s administrative justice system.
Silvio’s son, Francesco Ciccarone, served as a parliamentary deputy for three terms between 1904 and 1919. Although he spent much of his life in Rome, he dedicated himself to expanding the library of the family palace in Vasto. He enriched it with rare books and manuscripts, arranging it in a style inspired by the Austrian Habsburg castle library of Miramare in Trieste.
The Ciccarone family’s civic legacy came to an end with Francesco’s son, also named Silvio.
Initially a local Fascist Party secretary and later the podestà (mayor) of Vasto, he approached the advancing Allied forces during the German retreat in an effort to prevent the city’s bombing. During the subsequent Allied occupation, he housed American troops in the family palace.
In the postwar period, Silvio founded the civic association “Il Faro”, which, in coalition with the Italian Communist Party (PCI), formed Vasto’s first center-left administration. As mayor, he oversaw the construction of several key public works that remain essential to the city’s infrastructure today.
