Ocriticum
Italian archaeological park
Ocriticum was an Italic and Roman town, the ruins of which are located in the comune of Cansano, in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy.
There are the remains of two Italic/Roman temples of Jupiter and Hercules, and a sacellum of Ceres and Venus, as well as remains of the ancient settlement.
The mansio Jovis Larene is also nearby, an important inn stop marked on the Tabula Peutingeriana.
The sacred area
The presence of a large sacred area was decisive for the development of the village of Ocriticum; pilgrims, wayfarers, traders, shepherds stopped there to venerate the divinities. The fervent religious activity led to the multiplication of the cults practiced in the plateau, the monumentalisation and expansion of the sacred buildings and the increase in the fame of the place.
On the Peutingeriana Table (copy of an original Roman military road map) Ocriticum is seven miles from Sulmo and twenty-five from Aufidena on the important route that connected the Peligna Valley with the Sannio Pentro, recognized as the medieval Via Nova still partially passable and recognisable.
The Italic temple
The first temple built in the area dates to the end of the 4th century BC; originally it consisted of a single cell with an almost square base, with an entrance facing South-East (where the Sun rises) around which there was a sacred garden delimited by a perimeter wall erected dry. In a subsequent building phase, an expansion of the enclosure and of the temple building took place, which was provided with a pronaos built with a significantly different technique from the cell.
In the sacred garden, dug into the ground to the west of the building, a votive deposit was found to conserve objects which, due to lack of space, could no longer be housed inside the naos; around 600 votive offerings have been found, datable between the 4th century BC and the 1st century BC, including a bronze statuette of Hercules which lay isolated on the bottom of the deposit: to Hercules, a very widespread divinity in the Peligna area in the late Italic age and Roman, therefore it seems that the temple was dedicated, albeit, probably, not exclusively.
The Roman temple
Around the beginning of the 1st century BC (and therefore now under the dominion of the Romans), there was a further expansion of the sacred area, in which, on a terrace higher than the Italic temple but perfectly aligned with it, another temple building, larger and architecturally sophisticated.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ocriticum” as italian archaeological park. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as italian archaeological park. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3880770. Authority coordinates are 42.003, 13.990. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ocriticum”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ocriticum primary sources, Ocriticum archive and Ocriticum research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ocriticum”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ocriticum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.