Formia
Formia | |
---|---|
Comune di Formia | |
St. Erasmus and St. John | |
Saint day | June 2 and June 24 |
Website | Official website |
Formia (ancient Formiae) is a city and comune in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean coast of Lazio , Italy. It is located halfway between Rome and Naples, and lies on the Roman-era Appian Way. It has a population of 38,095.[3]
Mythology
According to the mythology the city was founded by
History
The city of Formia or Formiae was founded by the
After the fall of the
The two villages were united again in 1863 under the name of Formia. The reunited city was badly damaged in 1943–44 in bombing operations and the
Geography
Formia lies on the Tyrrhenian Sea, in southern Lazio, close to the town of Gaeta and next to the borders of Campania region.
The municipality borders with Esperia (FR), Gaeta, Itri, Minturno and Spigno Saturnia.[11] It includes the hamlets (frazioni) of Castellonorato, Gianola-Santo Janni, Marànola, Penitro and Trivio.
Main sights
The most famous monument of Formia is the mausoleum traditionally identified with the Tomb of Cicero: it is a 24-metre-high (79 ft) tower on the old Appian Way, enclosed in a large 83-by-68-metre (272 by 223 ft) funerary precinct.
Other sights include:
- Tower of Mola
- Tower of Castellone
- Roman cistern, one of the world's largest. Similar to the structures in Constantinople and in the Domitian's villa of Albano, it dates from the 1st century BC.
- Remains of the so-called Roman Villa of Mamurra at Gianola,[12] partly destroyed in 1943, including the cisterns of ‘Maggiore’ and of ‘36 columns’, aqueducts, cryptoporticus and thermal baths. At the centre of the villa at the highest point of the promontory was a grandiose octagonal building also known as the Temple of Janus, which was flanked by two wings and two porticos sloping down towards the sea.[13] Nearby at Porticciolo Romano are the remains of its fishponds.[14] Five busts of male heads dating from the 2nd/3rd century AD have recently been excavated[15]
- Many remains of Roman villas along the coast[16]
- Roman buildings in the town
- Church of San Giovanni Battista e Lorenzo, known from 841. It was almost entirely destroyed during World War II. It houses a panel by Antoniazzo Romano (c. 1490)
- Church of San Michele
- Church of San Luca, known from the 15th century. It has a recently discovered crypt with frescos of Episodes of the New Testament and Madonna del Latte.
- Renaissance monastery and church of Sant'Erasmo. It was erected on the alleged site of the saint's martyrdom.
- Archaeological Museum.
- Regional Park of Gianola and Mount of Scauri.
- Formia War Memorial, with the large bronze sculpture Sacraficio by Dora Ohlfsen-Bagge
Sport
Formia is the seat of the National Athletics School of the Italian National Olympic Committee, founded in 1955. Athletes such as Pietro Mennea and Giuseppe Gibilisco trained here. Formia is also a hub for cycling events of various types; road cycling and mountain biking All of which gives access to Parks in Gaeta and Formia; Parco Monte Orlando, Parco Regionale Riviera di Ulisse, Parco Naturale dei Monti Aurunci, and Tours to Rome via the Old Highway. Formia also has great water sports to enjoy; windsurfing and sailing.
Transportation
Formia itself is one of the most important transport hubs of southern Lazio. The Rome–Formia–Naples railway passes through Formia-Gaeta railway station, from which visitors and residents may travel by bus to Gaeta, Minturno, Spigno and other local towns.
Ferries and hydrofoils connect Formia to Ponza, Ischia and Ventotene.
Twin towns - sister cities
Formia is twinned with:[17]
- Ferrara, Italy
- Fleury-les-Aubrais, France, since 2004
- Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Haninge, Sweden
- Santeramo in Colle, Italy
People
- Antonio Sicurezza, painter
- Vittorio Foa, politician
- Amadeo Bordiga, politician
- Dino Fava, professional footballer
- James V. Monaco, songwriter
See also
- S.S. Formia Calcio
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- Istat2017
- ^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Lamus
- ^ "Formia e la sua storia Formiae - ideato e sviluppato da WebProgens Ass. Culturale". Formiae (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-02-16.
- ^ "La Città di Formia – Sinus Formianus" (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-02-16.
- ^ Cicero, Horace, Martial, Florus.
- ^ Horace, Satires 1.5
- ^ "CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 95 (St. Augustine)". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
- ^ (in Italian) History of Formia Archived 2016-04-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 41192 Formia on OpenStreetMap
- ^ Villa of Mamurra (Formia) https://www.romanoimpero.com/2018/02/villa-di-mamurra-formia.html?hl=en
- ^ Nicoletta Cassieri, Primi interventi di scavo archeologico e di conservazione nella villa romana di Gianola, in Formianum, III 1995
- ^ Michele Stefanile e Fabrizio Pesando, Le ricerche dell’Università di Napoli “L’Orientale” nelle villae maritimae del Lazio meridionale: Gianola, Sperlonga, Gaeta, in Massimo Capulli (ed.) Il patrimonio culturale sommerso. Ricerche e proposte per il futuro dell’archeologia subacquea in Italia. Udine 2019, pp. 69-78
- ^ "Archaeological dig reveals ancient Roman home - English". 15 July 2015.
- ^ "Mayor launches appeal to save Cicero's villa from ruin - English". 21 July 2015.
- ^ "Città gemellate". welcometoformia.it (in Italian). Formia. Retrieved 2019-12-30.