Lost among the white alleys of Vieste, between Via Boncompagni and Via Cimaglia, today Chiànca Àmara is a large stone resting on some steps, a place where both tourists and Viestans often pass by distractedly. Before the construction of Torre San Felice, Vieste experienced a dramatic siege, and one of the most terrible episodes unfolded on that stone.

On July 15, 1554, the 70 galleys of the pirate Dragut attacked the city. The Turk arrived preceded by his reputation: he had been the lieutenant of Khayr al-Dīn, known as Barbaròssa, the corsair of Solimàno II, and then a slave of the Genoese for 4 years. Before releasing him upon a generous ransom, Andrea Doria – Prince of Melfi and a key figure in the Republic of Genoa – kept him in chains at the oars of his flagship for years. Dragùt, now free again, became the "unsheathed sword of Islam," the terror of the Mediterranean.

Vieste organized its defense between the Cathedral and the Castle. An heroic resistance began, which had to contend with around a thousand cannon shots fired by the Ottoman fleet. Alone, with the sole assistance of the Lord of Monte Sant'Angelo, Nicolantònio Dèntice, the city did not surrender. However, there were those who wanted to negotiate. Nerbis, the brother of the chamberlain who held the keys to the city, went to Dragùt to seek an agreement that would never come to pass. A great tragedy began. In a position of overwhelming numerical superiority, on July 24, the besiegers entered the city, plundering homes and churches. Thousands of Viestans were taken away as slaves; those who couldn't be sold – women, children, and the elderly – were beheaded at Chiànca Àmara. Finally, there was Nerbis's fate, mercilessly impaled.

Dragut died the following year in Malta during another one of his sieges.