Fiuggi
Encyclopedia
Fiuggi is a comune
(municipality) in the province of Frosinone
in the region of Lazio in central Italy
.
claimed his kidney stones had been healed by the mineral waters from the nearby Fiuggi spring. Two centuries later Michelangelo
also extolled the virtues of the water that cured him of what he called "the only kind of stone I couldn't love." Soon Acqua di Fiuggi was being sent in bottles to all of Europe's royalty. Not until the turn of the 20th Century did it become fashionable to make pilgrimages to spa towns
, and it was around this time that the King of Italy renamed Anticoli in honor of its most celebrated attraction.
From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Fiuggi and many nearby hill towns were part of the Papal States
. Unlike its neighbors, Anticoli di Campagna provided a source of revenue through the sales of its miraculous waters, and so it was often "bestowed" upon noble families in payment for services rendered. Sometimes these aristocrats didn't bother to visit the town, but they always sent a delegate to make sure none, or few, of the profits stayed in town. These upper-class outsiders slowly covered the original medieval walls with painted plaster similar to that found in present day Rome, changing the appearance of the town. Today a very active group of local residents is slowly restoring the stone façades in an effort to restore the city to its medieval form.
On May 6, 1916 the Rome–Fiuggi Railway was opened for service; the service was closed in 1982.
, called Fiuggi Terme.
Main attractions include:
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 Frosinone
Province of Frosinone
The Province of Frosinone is a province in the Lazio region of Italy, with 91 comuni . Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of 3,244 km², and a total population of 489,042 .The Province was established by Royal Decree on 6 December 1926 with territories belonging to Lazio...
in the region of Lazio in central Italy
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...
.
History
Fiuggi, originally called Anticoli di Campagna, gained fame as early as the 14th century, when Pope Boniface VIIIPope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
claimed his kidney stones had been healed by the mineral waters from the nearby Fiuggi spring. Two centuries later Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
also extolled the virtues of the water that cured him of what he called "the only kind of stone I couldn't love." Soon Acqua di Fiuggi was being sent in bottles to all of Europe's royalty. Not until the turn of the 20th Century did it become fashionable to make pilgrimages to spa towns
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
, and it was around this time that the King of Italy renamed Anticoli in honor of its most celebrated attraction.
From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Fiuggi and many nearby hill towns were part of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. Unlike its neighbors, Anticoli di Campagna provided a source of revenue through the sales of its miraculous waters, and so it was often "bestowed" upon noble families in payment for services rendered. Sometimes these aristocrats didn't bother to visit the town, but they always sent a delegate to make sure none, or few, of the profits stayed in town. These upper-class outsiders slowly covered the original medieval walls with painted plaster similar to that found in present day Rome, changing the appearance of the town. Today a very active group of local residents is slowly restoring the stone façades in an effort to restore the city to its medieval form.
On May 6, 1916 the Rome–Fiuggi Railway was opened for service; the service was closed in 1982.
Main sights
Today Fiuggi is a classic Italian hill town, beginning with its layout as two separate towns. Blanketing the slopes at 2500 feet (762 m) above sea level is the medieval old town, called Fiuggi Città. At its feet is the 20th-century spa townSpa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
, called Fiuggi Terme.
Main attractions include:
- The tiny church of Santa Maria del Colle
- The church of San Biagio, which was entirely rebuilt in the 17th century.
- The cast iron fountain in Piazza Piave, erected in 1907 to celebrate the arrival of running water in this town that owes its very existence to the abundant springs running below the hill.
- The ornate Palazzo Falconi, at the center of the ancient town.
- The former Grand Hotel, now the municipal theatre.