Chieti sits on a ridge above the Pescara River in Abruzzo, with the Maiella and Gran Sasso mountains as a backdrop and the Adriatic Sea just a few kilometres to the east. The panorama alone is worth a stop.
As Theate, the city was founded roughly 500 years before Rome and grew to some 60,000 inhabitants under the Roman Empire. The remains of that era are scattered through the modern city: the Roman theatre, the amphitheatre at La Civitella, the well-preserved Roman temples, and the thermal baths. Later centuries added Gothic and Baroque layers — Chieti Cathedral, dedicated to San Giustino, and the churches along Corso Marrucino are the highlights.
For most visitors the single best reason to come is the Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo, which houses the Warrior of Capestrano — a sixth-century BC stone soldier in an enormous disc-shaped helmet, one of the great early relics of Italian art.