Minturno
Encyclopedia
Minturno is a city and comune
in the southern Lazio, Italy
, situated on the north west bank of the Liris (also known as the Garigliano), with a suburb on the opposite bank c. 18 kilometers from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia crossed it by the bridge called Pons Tiretius.
It has a station on the Rome
-Naples
main railway line.
in 314 BC, the other two being called Ausona (modern Sessa Aurunca
) and Vescia
; and the Via Appia was made two years later.
It became a colony in 296 BC.
In 88 BC, Gaius Marius
hid himself in the marshes of Minturnae in his flight from Sulla.
The city was probably destroyed in 883 by the Saracens, who in the following years held the circumstant plain. Its low site was increasingly abandoned by the population in favour of that of the modern town of Minturno (known as Traetto until the 19th century), 140 m above sea-level.
They were ousted by the Catholic league after the Battle of Garigliano
(915), and Minturnae passed to Gaeta
. Two years later, however, it was again ravaged by the Magyars. In 1058 it was partly acquired by the Abbey of Montecassino, but soon later was conquered by the Normans.
In the 13th century it went to Richard V dell'Aquila, duke of Gaeta. Subsequently it was a Caetani possession, and later assigned by Charles VIII of France
to his general Prospero Colonna. It was a Carafa fief until 1806, and was integrated in the newly formed Kingdom of Italy on October 30, 1861.
Minturno was part of the Gustav Line during World War II
, and suffered heavy bombings.
(now almost entirely demolished, but better preserved in the 18th century), a theatre in opus reticulatum
, and an aqueduct in opus reticulatum
, the quoins of which are of various colours arranged in patterns to produce a decorative effect. There are also a statue commonly called of Sepeone (Scipio
), from the Late Empire age, and the remains of a Capitolium, built in Italic-Etruscan style after 191 BC, near the Via Appia.
The Thermae
of Suio, some kilometers outside the city, are known since very ancient times, as they are cited by both Pliny the Elder
and Lucanus
. They are still exploited. The place were the site of a battle
between France
and Spain
in 1503.
Close to the mouth of the river was the sacred grove of the Italic goddess Marica
.
The fraction of Scauri, on the Gulf of Gaeta
, takes its name from the Roman consul
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
, who had a sumptuous villa here. It has some notable ancient watchtowers, including the Torre Saracena, at the mouth of the river Garigliano, erected between 961 and 981, commemorates a victory gained by Pope John X
and his allies over the Saracens in 915 (see battle of Garigliano
). It is built of Roman
materials from Minturnae, including several inscriptions and sculptures.
, Connecticut
, in the United States. A club for Minturnese immigrants, the Minturno Social Club was founded in the West Side of Stamford
in 1939 (and has since moved to the Springdale district) and only made up of members whose families hailed from Minturno, had 120 members in 2007. A Minturnese tradition, the Festa de la Regna ("Festival of Wheat") celebration of harvest day and honoring the Madonna delle Grazie, is still honored in Stamford with an annual procession.
There is also a Minturno social club in the Woodbridge section of Toronto, Canada.
Michael Fedele
, the lieutenant governor of Connecticut
, was born in Minturno in 1955.
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:...
in the southern Lazio, 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...
, situated on the north west bank of the Liris (also known as the Garigliano), with a suburb on the opposite bank c. 18 kilometers from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia crossed it by the bridge called Pons Tiretius.
It has a station on the 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...
-Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
main railway line.
History
The ancient Minturnae was one of the three towns of the Ausoni which made war against RomeRome
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...
in 314 BC, the other two being called Ausona (modern Sessa Aurunca
Sessa Aurunca
Sessa Aurunca is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta. It located on the south west slope of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, 40 km by rail west north west of Caserta and 30 km east of Formia....
) and Vescia
Vescia
Vescia was an ancient Latin city of the Ausones, which was part of the so-called Auruncan Pentapolis and was destroyed by the Romans in 340 BC....
; and the Via Appia was made two years later.
It became a colony in 296 BC.
In 88 BC, Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
hid himself in the marshes of Minturnae in his flight from Sulla.
The city was probably destroyed in 883 by the Saracens, who in the following years held the circumstant plain. Its low site was increasingly abandoned by the population in favour of that of the modern town of Minturno (known as Traetto until the 19th century), 140 m above sea-level.
They were ousted by the Catholic league after the Battle of Garigliano
Battle of Garigliano
The Battle of Garigliano was fought in 915 between the forces of the Christian League and the Saracens. Pope John X personally led the Christian forces into battle.-Background:...
(915), and Minturnae passed to Gaeta
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
. Two years later, however, it was again ravaged by the Magyars. In 1058 it was partly acquired by the Abbey of Montecassino, but soon later was conquered by the Normans.
In the 13th century it went to Richard V dell'Aquila, duke of Gaeta. Subsequently it was a Caetani possession, and later assigned by Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
to his general Prospero Colonna. It was a Carafa fief until 1806, and was integrated in the newly formed Kingdom of Italy on October 30, 1861.
Minturno was part of the Gustav Line during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and suffered heavy bombings.
Roman remains
The Roman ruins consist of an amphitheatreAmphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
(now almost entirely demolished, but better preserved in the 18th century), a theatre in opus reticulatum
Opus reticulatum
Opus reticulatum is a form of brickwork used in ancient Roman architecture. It consists of diamond-shaped bricks of tuff placed around a core of opus caementicium...
, and an aqueduct in opus reticulatum
Opus reticulatum
Opus reticulatum is a form of brickwork used in ancient Roman architecture. It consists of diamond-shaped bricks of tuff placed around a core of opus caementicium...
, the quoins of which are of various colours arranged in patterns to produce a decorative effect. There are also a statue commonly called of Sepeone (Scipio
Scipio
-Classical:* Scipio, a representation of the Cornelii Scipiones, branch of the illustrious Cornelii family from Ancient Rome.* Scipio Africanus, Roman general who defeated Hannibal at Zama, the final battle of the Second Punic War....
), from the Late Empire age, and the remains of a Capitolium, built in Italic-Etruscan style after 191 BC, near the Via Appia.
The Thermae
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
of Suio, some kilometers outside the city, are known since very ancient times, as they are cited by both Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
and Lucanus
Lucanus
Lucanus may refer to:*Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Roman poet*Lucanus , genus of beetles...
. They are still exploited. The place were the site of a battle
Battle of Garigliano (1503)
The Battle of Garigliano was fought on December 29, 1503 between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquis of Saluzzo.-Preliminary phase:...
between France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1503.
Close to the mouth of the river was the sacred grove of the Italic goddess Marica
Marica
In Roman mythology, Marica was a nymph, the mother of Latinus. Latinus was fathered by Faunus, who was also occasionally referred to as the son of Marica. The sacred forest near Minturnae was dedicated to Marica. A lake nearby was also named after her....
.
Other sights
- The Baronal Castle (C. 9th century) housed famous figures such as St. Thomas Aquinas, Isabella Colonna and Giulia GonzagaGiulia GonzagaGiulia Gonzaga was an Italian noblewoman of the Renaissance.-Biography:Giulia was born in Gazzuolo in 1512. In 1526 she was married to count Vespasiano Colonna , count of Fondi and duke of Traetto...
- The church of St. Francis, built around 1360 by Roffredo III Caetani, nephew of Pope Boniface VIIIPope Boniface VIIIPope 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...
- The church of Annunziata (c. 1300), damaged by the TurkTurkic peoplesThe Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
s pirates in 1552, by the French-Polish troops in 1799 and by a fire in 1888. In 1930 a restoration removed all the Baroque additions and showed the presence of ancient frescoes. - The church of St. Peter (11th-12th centuries). The façade is preceded by a staircase and a porch with 4 arcades (14th century). The interior has a nave and two aisles divided by tall columns with ogival arcs. The right aisle houses the notable Baroque Sacrament Chapel (1587), decorated with polychrome marbles. Other artpcieces include a candelabre (1264) with mosaic decoration, and the Pergagum, with antique columns and 13th century mosaics. It has a three-floor belfry.
Gulf of Gaeta
The Gulf of Gaeta is a body of water on the west coast of Italy and part of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is bounded by Cape Circeo in the north, Ischia and the Gulf of Naples in the south, and the Pontine Islands in the west....
, takes its name from the Roman consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a Roman consul in 115 BC and considered one of the most talented and influential politicians of the Republic....
, who had a sumptuous villa here. It has some notable ancient watchtowers, including the Torre Saracena, at the mouth of the river Garigliano, erected between 961 and 981, commemorates a victory gained by Pope John X
Pope John X
Pope John X, Pope from March 914 to May 928, was deacon at Bologna when he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome, through whose influence he was elevated first to the see of Bologna and then to the archbishopric of...
and his allies over the Saracens in 915 (see battle of Garigliano
Battle of Garigliano
The Battle of Garigliano was fought in 915 between the forces of the Christian League and the Saracens. Pope John X personally led the Christian forces into battle.-Background:...
). It is built of Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
materials from Minturnae, including several inscriptions and sculptures.
Emigrants
In the early 20th century, many residents of Minturno and the villages around it emigrated to StamfordStamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, in the United States. A club for Minturnese immigrants, the Minturno Social Club was founded in the West Side of Stamford
West Side of Stamford
The West Side of Stamford, Connecticut, also known as Richmond Hill, is one of the oldest sections in the state of Connecticut. It is located north of the Waterside neighborhood, west of Downtown and east of Greenwich, Connecticut...
in 1939 (and has since moved to the Springdale district) and only made up of members whose families hailed from Minturno, had 120 members in 2007. A Minturnese tradition, the Festa de la Regna ("Festival of Wheat") celebration of harvest day and honoring the Madonna delle Grazie, is still honored in Stamford with an annual procession.
There is also a Minturno social club in the Woodbridge section of Toronto, Canada.
Michael Fedele
Michael Fedele
Michael Fedele is an Italian-American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 107thThe State of Connecticut recognizes Michael Fedele as the 107th Lieutenant Governor, using a standard that had counted Colonial period lieutenants as well as counting lieutenants who had...
, the lieutenant governor of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, was born in Minturno in 1955.