Affile is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the province of Rome

Province of Rome

The Province of Rome , is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. The province can be viewed as the extended metropolitan area of the city of Rome, although in its more peripheral portions, especially to the north, it comprises towns surrounded by rural landscape.-Geography:The Province of Rome...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Latium

Latium

Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...

, located about 50 km east of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

History

Archaeology has showed the existence of a pre-Roman centre here, on the border of the lands of the Hernici

Hernici

The Hernici were an ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Lago di Fucino and the Sacco River , bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north....

 and the Aequi

Aequi

thumb|300px|Location of the Aequi in central Italy.The Aequi were an ancient people of northeast Latium and the central Appennines of Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long struggle for independence from Rome they were defeated and substantial Roman colonies were...

. In the 1st century AD it is mentioned as oppidum Afile by Frontinus. It was crossed by the Via Sublacense.

In the 10th century a village existed in the former Roman oppidum, centred on the church of St. Peter. In 1013 a castle (castrum) is cited in Affile, which in 1109 was ceded by Pope Paschal II

Pope Paschal II

Pope Paschal II , born Ranierius, was Pope from August 13, 1099, until his death. A monk of the Cluniac order, he was created cardinal priest of the Titulus S...

 to the Abbey of St. Scholastica of Subiaco. Later it was a possession of the Altieri and Braschi

Braschi

Braschi may refer to:*Braschi family, an Italian noble family*Giannina Braschi, American poet*Nicoletta Braschi, Italian actress*Gianluigi Braschi, Italian film producer*Rómulo Antonio Braschi, Argentine Independent Catholic bishop,...

 families.

Main sights

• Roman cistern. In 999 emperor Otto III
  Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
  Otto III , a King of Germany, was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected King in 983 on the death of his father Otto II and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996.-Early reign:...
  
  founded in the site a church, which had however already disappeared in the 16th century.
• Church of St. Peter, known from the early 6th century. The last renovation is from the 15th century.
• Church of St. Mary (known from 1005). It has frescoes from the 13th and 16th-17th centuries.
• Church of Santa Felicita (13th century)
• Castrum, site on a different hill of the originary site of Affile around St. Peter's church. It had once numerous towers, gates and massive walls, of which little traces remain.