Colonna is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) in the

Metropolitan City of Rome Metropolitan City of Rome Capital ( it, Città metropolitana di Roma Capitale) is an area of local government at the level of metropolitan city in the Lazio region of the Republic of Italy. It comprises the territory of the city of Rome and 120 ...

in the Italian region

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...

, located about southeast of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, on the

Alban Hills The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, but the hi ...

. With a population of some 4,300, it is the smallest of the

Castelli Romani The so-called Roman Castles (''Castelli Romani'' in Italian) are a group of '' comunes'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome. They are located a short distance south-east of the city of Rome, at the feet of the Alban Hills, in the territory corres ...

History

Ancient era

The territory of Colonna is believed to have included the ancient community of Labici, located in the area of the modern

Monte Compatri Monte Compatri () is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about southeast of Rome on the Alban Hills. It is one of the Castelli Romani. History Monte Compatri has been identified w ...

. Labici was conquered in 418 BC by the Romans under the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...

Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus Fidenas Quintus Servilius Priscus Fidenas (prior to 463 BC390 BC) was a political figure and military leader in the Roman Republic who served as dictator in 435 BC and in 418 BC. Family Servilius belonged to the large and influential Servilia gens and t ...

and razed to the ground. The Labicani then founded Labicum Quintanas near the Tower of the Pasolina near Colonna. The place is noted as Ad Quintanas, a station on the Via Labicana, between

and Ad Bivium.

Middle Ages

''Labicum Quintanas'' became an episcopal see in the 4th century. The inhabited area began to decay and disappeared with the Gothic War (535–554). Colonna is mentioned for the first time in 1047, in a deed of

Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III (28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was raised ...

, a guest at the castle, which had taken its name from a column of the ancient Labicum Quintanense, when he stopped there during his march that with his army to Naples along the Via Casilina. In 1101 Peter, child of Gregory III,

Count of Tusculum The counts of Tusculum, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and an antipope during the 11th century came fr ...

, received as inheritance the territory and the Castle of Columna, with Monte Porzio Catone,

and other surrounding possessions. Peter was the founder of

Colonna family The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope ( Martin V) and many other church and politi ...

, which took the name from this property. In 1298

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...

ordered the destruction of Colonna and its castle as punishment against the Colonna family. With the advent of

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

(1305) the Colonna family resumed the fief with all of its territories.

Modern age

In 1662, the Colonna family sold the '' Castrum Columnae '' to Cardinal

Ludovico Ludovisi Ludovico Ludovisi (22 or 27 October 1595 – 18 November 1632) was an Italian cardinal and statesman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an art connoisseur who formed a famous collection of antiquities, housed at the Villa Ludovisi in Rome. B ...

. In 1710 the Ludovisi family sold it to the Rospigliosi-Pallavicini family. The Rospigliosi-Pallavicini maintained the feudal dominion on Colonna up to 5 June 1848. In 1849 the

Comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

and the Municipality of Colonna was constituted.

Main sights

The Baronial Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Baronale'') was built by the

in the 16th century on the site of the Roman '' castrum '' on the highest part on the hill. The main façade has an ashlar portal, while the opposite front has a double order of five arcades. The southwest side was modified when the church dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Dem ...

was erected in the 18th century by the Pallavicini family.

Culture

In the first Sunday of July, the Donkeys' Palio (Italian: ''Palio degli Asini'') is held. The seven quarters of the town compete riding donkeys in medieval dress. There's a museum at the former train station with vintage railway cars, a collection of photographs of the station's history, and a reconstruction of the stationmaster's office.

Transportation

The commune is connected to Rome and southern Italy through the Via Casilina. It also has a station on the Rome–Cassino railway; the one on the Rome–Fiuggi narrow gauge railway is now abandoned, having been replaced by regional bus service operated by Cotral.

Twin towns

* La Planche, France

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colonna Cities and towns in Lazio Castelli Romani