a pretty populous town in the kingdom of Naples, and in the Terra d'Otranto, with the title of a duchy and a bishop's see. E. Long. 18. 27. N. Lat. 43. 28.

In this little city are 8000 inhabitants. The steeple of its cathedral is built in a very uncommon but showy style of Gothic architecture. Luca Giordano and Solimena have adorned the church with some agreeable paintings. This place was a part of the Balzo estate. The Aquavivas were the next possessors: they are thought to have come from the Marca di Ancona. In 1401, in consideration of their relationship to Pope Boniface IX, Laudiflaus erected their manor of Atri into a dukedom, an honour till then seldom granted to any but princes of the blood royal. Claudius Aquaviva, a famous general of the Jesuits, who died in 1615, was of this family.