AQUILA, a fortified city of the kingdom of Naples, and chief of the province Abruzzo Ulteriore Seconda. It is situated on the Aterno, in the vale of Aquila and Pescara, and is well built. Exclusive of the cathedral, it has no fewer than 24 churches, besides numerous monastic houses, while the population does not exceed 12,000 persons. It was founded in 1240, and soon became a very flourishing city; but war, pestilence, and especially the earthquakes of 1688, 1703, and 1706, have conspired to reduce it to its present state. The manufactures are linen and wax, with a considerable trade in saffron grown in the vicinity. It has a royal college, schools, hospitals, and a handsome theatre.