Arena existed during the Roman Era, however the town was known as ‘Castrum Arenese’ instead. It was conquered by the Normans during the 11th century and assigned to Ruggero Conclubeth sometime in the 1100’s During this time, it assumed political importance in the mountains shown by the Norman Castle imposing upon the town, still to this day, and still visitable. After much time governing the town, the Conclubeth family passed Arena through marriage to the Acquaviva of Aragona family in 1678. This reign was followed by the Dukes of Atri, who after a war broke out with Austria, sold Arena to the Caracciolo Family during the 18th century. Arena soon had unfair politics towards the population which caused terrible debts to the town with the state treasury. Interesting enough, Arena soon became a center for silk production in the region. During the 19th and 20th Centuries the population steadily rose, eventually hitting its peak during the 1950s, then declining due to post-war immigration out of Europe to countries such as the United States, Australia and Argentina, with the population declining ever since due to various reasons. Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray id:darkgrey value:gray id:sfondo value:rgb id:barra value:rgb ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:2381 bar:1871 from: 0 till:2453 bar:1881 from: 0 till:2448 bar:1901 from: 0 till:2892 bar:1911 from: 0 till:3048 bar:1921 from: 0 till:3282 bar:1931 from: 0 till:3190 bar:1936 from: 0 till:3146 bar:1951 from: 0 till:3565 bar:1961 from: 0 till:3091 bar:1971 from: 0 till:2706 bar:1981 from: 0 till:2338 bar:1991 from: 0 till:2069 bar:2001 from: 0 till:1799 PlotData= bar:1861 at:2381 fontsize:XS text: 2381 shift: bar:1871 at:2453 fontsize:XS text: 2453 shift: bar:1881 at:2448 fontsize:XS text: 2448 shift: bar:1901 at:2892 fontsize:XS text: 2892 shift: bar:1911 at:3048 fontsize:XS text: 3048 shift: bar:1921 at:3282 fontsize:XS text: 3282 shift: bar:1931 at:3190 fontsize:XS text: 3190 shift: bar:1936 at:3146 fontsize:XS text: 3146 shift: bar:1951 at:3565 fontsize:XS text: 3565 shift: bar:1961 at:3091 fontsize:XS text: 3091 shift: bar:1971 at:2706 fontsize:XS text: 2706 shift: bar:1981 at:2338 fontsize:XS text: 2338 shift: bar:1991 at:2069 fontsize:XS text: 2069 shift: bar:2001 at:1799 fontsize:XS text: 1799 shift: TextData= fontsize:S pos: text:Data from ISTAT
