Avezzano ( or ) is a city and comune with a population of 42,491 inhabitants, situated in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila. It is the second most populous province and the sixth in the region. Documented as an existing urban center in the ninth century. The city was destroyed by the earthquake of 1915. It was rebuilt again after the 1944 Allied bombing. The city was decorated with the silver medal for civil merit, an award granted by the Italian Republic.