We determine geodetic strain in peninsular Italy by the GPS reoccupation of the first order triangulation network of Italy installed from 1860. The uncertainties in the original measurements (about 3 ppm), and the time span between the two observations, imply that tectonic signals larger than about 0.03 ppm/yr are resolvable. Along the Apenninic belt, where the largest earthquakes are concentrated, the geodetic deformation has a clear and consistent strain pattern between adjacent regions, well above the uncertainties, and shows a pervasive NE-SW extension. Along the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts the geodetic signal is not homogeneous and is comparable with the uncertainty in the original measurements. Seismic deformation, calculated over the same time interval, agrees well with estimated extensional direction, but the magnitudes of geodetic and seismic strain differ suggesting that, in part of the Apennines, significant strain accumulation over the past 130 years may not have been released in earthquakes.