Fondi

Fondi is a city in the province of Latina in the Italian region Latium, located about 37,963 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2012). It is located 117 km southeast of Rome, 104 km north- west of Naples and 57 kilometers east of Latina. The ancient name of the city was Fundi.

• 5.1 twin city

Geography

The town of Fondi lies in a valley at the foot of Aurunci mountains and the Ausoni Mountains, which include the valley on three sides. Open the valley is the fourth page in the direction of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The two mountains Monte delle Fate ( 1090 m) and Monte Calvilli (1102 m), feed the numerous springs in the valley so that water shortage in Fondi is a foreign word, which is also supported by the presence of three lakes. This excess water is made ​​mainly from the 17th century until the early 20th century, the draining of swamps that made the Fondi Valley infertile necessary. In this way it is today in Fondi Valley much farmland.

The Lago di Fondi ( Fondi Lake) with a surface area of ​​approximately 3.8 km ² is a good example of a coastal lake. Thanks to the two connections to the sea, the Canale di Santa Anastasia and the Canneto, produce tides of the sea in the Lago di Fondi alternately fresh and salt water. The other two coastal lakes in Fondi Valley are the Lago Lungo and the Lago di S. Puoto.

The coast, about 13 km between Terracina and Sperlonga runs along at Fondi, is famous for its fine sand. For the most part the beach of dunes is limited, which are still preserved, but are more and more built up with hotels and beach bars.

• Fondi is part of the XXII Mountain Community Aurunci e Ausoni
• The territory of Fondi partly belongs to the " Parco Naturale dei Monti Regional Aurunci "

Traffic

The city is located on the historic Roman road Via Appia today Strada Stadale SS 7 In addition, Fondi is with the station Fondi - Sperlonga on the railway line Roma - Formia -Naples.

History

In pre-Roman times, the current territory of Fondi was inhabited by the Aurunkern, later also of the Volscians. From this period there are few information: Only recently one knows the location of the pre-Roman Fondi, a small settlement near the present village Pianara near present-day location of Fondi, but with a city wall imposing fortified.

Is mentioned for the first time in the history Fundi during the Latin War, when its inhabitants were given the limited Roman citizenship ( civitas sine suffragio ). This is dated by Livy to the year 338 BC, by Velleius Paterculus to the year 332 BC. After a failed attempt at rebellion, led by Vitruvius Vaccus (330 BC), fundi remained a Roman prefecture. To 188 BC the city received the full Roman citizenship, and was henceforth led by three aediles.

The importance of Fundi in ancient times was BC, greatly increased by the construction of the Via Appia, Construction 312. This important role Fundi kept in the following centuries. In the Middle Ages this area was in the southern Papal States also important for relations between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples.

The Government of Fondi was in the high Middle Ages until the family dell 'Aquila, of Norman origin, over, in 1299 at the Caetani, make the Fondi for nearly two centuries the center of their rule. In 1378 united Onorato Caetani I. Fondi the conclave that. Clement VII as antipope the legitimate Pope Urban VI chose.

In the following time Fondi first went under Aragonese administration and later to the Roman noble family Colonna, under the special, Fondi experienced an architectural, artistic and cultural splendor under Giulia Gonzaga, who ruled from 1526 to 1534. Finally Fondi still went to the Sangro family.

Economy

The favorable climatic conditions and the sufficient existing irrigation facilities have made possible an intensive agricultural use of the surrounding Fondi. The local economy is strongly oriented towards agriculture: On the production and sale of agricultural products. Fondi is to Paris headquarters of the world's second largest wholesale for agricultural and food products, which sold 1.15 million tons of goods each year approx. The former mainly cultivated citrus were overtaken in recent years by an intensive cultivation of vegetables, early fruit from greenhouses and fruit of all kinds.

Demographics

Source: ISTAT

Policy

In the elections in March 2010 Salvatore De Meo was elected as the new mayor.

Sister City

• Dachau, Germany

Attractions

• The castle, the Baron's Castle, with its characteristic cylindrical tower on a square base, about 31 meters high, is a landmark of the city, and was built in the 14th century by Onorato Caetani I. on a section of the old Roman wall. The crenellated towers and the other characteristic features of a castle have it but Giulia Gonzaga is not spoiled, there to establish their residence and to live there with their flocks of writers and artists. Since 1997 the castle is the seat of the municipal museum.

• The adjacent " Palazzo del Principe " (it. palace of the prince ), built 1466-1477, is probably a work of the Catalan architect Matteo Forcimanya. The portals of the palace, its mullioned windows, its courtyard and its arcades form an interesting synthesis of Angevin and Catalan-Gothic elements.

• The Cathedral of " San Pietro " is in its current appearance in the 14th century, but still has Romanesque aspects from his early period. It houses the grave of Cristoforo Caetani, an Episcopal marble pulpit, the pulpit of kosmateskischen mosaics from the 13th century. A trilogy of the Annunciation of Cristoforo Scacco and a statue of the Madonna with Saint Peter and Saint Paul of Antoniazzo Romano.

• The palace chapel of Santa Maria Assunta, to leading a wide staircase that extends across the entire width of the front is adorned with three portals, whose average is decorated with a half sheet with a rose window. The church, commissioned by Onorato II Caetani was built at the end of the 4th century and stands on a base in the form of a Latin cross with three aisles. Besides its Renaissance altars, there a ciborium, which dates back to 1491 as well as the statue of the Virgin, " Maria del Cielo " are obtained.

• The characteristic historic district of Olmo Perino, " La Giudea " evokes the memory of a long Jewish tradition.

• The thermal baths of the Roman era in today's " Piazza dell ' Unità d'Italia "

• The megalithic wall in today's " Via Guglielmo Marconi " ( Guglielmo -Marconi Road ) district " Porta Roma "

Sons and daughters of the town

• Soterus, Pope from 166-174.
• Giuseppe De Santis (1917 - 1997) was a neorealist director who in Fondi, among others, the films "Non c'è pace tra gli ulivis " (1950) and " Giorni d' Amore " (1954) turned.
• Pasqualino de Santis (1927 - 1996), a cameraman, the Oscar for the film " Romeo e Giulietta " won in 1969 ( " Romeo and Juliet" )
• Domenico Purificato (1915 - 1984), painter
• Felice Chiusano (1922 - 1990), singer, who belongs to the famous in Italy " Quartetto Cetra ".

Anniversaries, festivals, exhibitions, cultural events

Fondi is host to various festivals, including the International Folklore Festival " Città di Fondi ", which takes place in August since 1986, every year, the " Fondi - Art- Festival ", a cultural festival ( in July each year, since 1998) and since 2002 held in July or September FondiFilmFestival.

The city lends since 1974 the " Fondi La Pastora " award for dramatic literature and since 2001 every year in September the National Prize for Painting.

In addition, Fondi organized since 2001 in June agricultural, animal and technology fair " Città di Fondi " and annually a large city market on the occasion of SAKT ' Onorato festival on October 10,