Historical Background: On the hills next to the river Cigno, the village bases its economy on agricUlture. An historical anectode: the village was given in the 15th century to the town of Chieti by the king of Naples. Mentioned for the first time in the 9th century, it was a feud of the Raone di Pulliani. In the following centuries Cugnoli was under the rule of the families Leognani – Fieramosca. Its position in the heart of the countryside endows the landscape with a wonderful shape.Still surrounded by the ruins of the town-walls, it preserves in the church of St. Stefano an art treasur,: an Abruzzo Romanesque work of art : it is a finely decorated ambo of 1166 , many of its elements can be ascribed to the style of the local sculptor Nicodemo, author of the ambos in the churches of St. Maria del Lago e di S. Maria in Val Porclaneta.