The territory of Sant’Apollinare, was inhabited since pre-Roman times as they were found near it, near the ancient Roman road (the frentana) of the Italic tombs. As for the name although it is not known with precision the era in which it came out, has very ancient origins before the year one thousand, probably the eighth century after Christ. By the work of some Byzantine group descended from Ravenna to defend the Byzantine Ortona that is nearby. The first document that speaks of it is a diploma of 1047 with which the Emperor Henry III confirmed to the Abbot of San Giovanni in Venere the possession of the church of Sant'Apollinare. The castle dates back to this period (11th -12th century), located at the eastern end of the town and still preserves some traces of medieval structures. Other documents show that the town, after being employed by the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere, was owned as a fief by various families, including the Caprara di Guardiagrele, the Caldora di Vasto.

In 1423 the Queen Giovanna 2nd granted full immunity of collection to the citizens of Sant'Apollinare, because both the village and the castle had been destroyed following the wars fought in that territory between the Angevins and the Aragonese. Following the dispersion of the population, towards half of the fifteenth century some Albanians came to populate Sant'Apollinare, followers of the famous condottiere Giorgio Castriota called Scanderbeg, who fled their lands due to the Turks' advance and other people of Schiavon origin coming from Dalmatia. In the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, Sant'Apollinare was a fiefdom of the city of Lanciano and some powerful families of lancianesi. Le certain news relating to the existence of the church of San Pietro, with various altars dedicated to the Madonna, to Santa Elisabetta, Sant 'Apollinare, San Antonio, date back to the seventeenth century. The same time is also the church of San Rocco, located on the edge of the town, and erected following the pestilence that raged in the area in the second half of the sixteenth century. Always on horseback of the 16th and 17th centuries the castle came to lose its defensive nature and was re-adapted to the baronial palace, according to the administrative requirements of the feud. The fief of Sant'Apollinare subsequently passed from the Cotugno family of Toledo to the Benedetti and then to those of the Onofri di Ortona and Borga di San Vito. From the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, Sant'Apollinare became famous for its musical bands and even if not with the luster of the past we continue the musical traditions.

Sant’Apollinare, which was administered as an independent municipality, was aggregated in the Napoleonic era to the town of San Vito, but has always retained characteristics of the town in itself, with economic and social autonomous structures. During the Second World War the country was the scene of several battles for the conquest of the city of Ortona by the allied troops and was the headquarters of the first division of infantry and the first Canadian armored brigade commanded by General Chris Vokes. Having had a few buildings destroyed, after the war the Santapollinaresi being a large part of them farmers and being the village placed on a hill between the river Moro and the Feltrino torrent only three kilometers from the sea, they dedicated themselves to the planting of grapes for table grapes and even today the table grapes of Sant’Apollinare remain one of the merits of the small town.