Overview
The past of Guardiaregia is largely shrouded in mystery. Almost all the ancient buildings and historical documents preserved in the village were lost in the earthquake of 1805, which devastated the village with terrifying violence, made vulnerable by its particular position on the slopes of a mountain and in the immediate vicinity of a fault line, in an area perforated by caves and carved by canyons: immediately behind the village, a very deep crack in the ground called Prece. Therefore, almost the entire town is the result of post-earthquake reconstruction, including the Church of San Nicola, built to replace a mediaeval building. It is known that in ancient times this was an area populated by the Samnites and was later a Roman Municipium. In the Middle Ages the town was called Guardia di Campochiaro, having above all the function of a defensive outpost of the nearby Campochiaro, where important Samnite archaeological evidence has been found. It is possible that another ancient settlement was located about 3 kilometres south-west, in the basin now occupied by the artificial basin of the Arcichiaro dam, built on the Quirino river. Between the lake and Guardiaregia stretch the spectacular Quirino gorges, included in the Guardiaregia-Campochiaro WWF Oasis Nature Reserve.
