Formia (ancient Formiae) is a city and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

province of Latina The province of Latina () is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city of Latina. It is bordered by the provinces of Frosinone to the northeast and by the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital to the northwest. ...

, on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is located halfway between

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, and lies on the Roman-era

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...

Mythology

According to the mythology the city was founded by Lamus, son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

, who was the king of the Laestrygones.

History

Formia - Il torrione del Castello di Mola

Formiae was founded by the Italic population of the

Aurunci The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC. Identity Aurunci is the n ...

. It was called ''Formiae'' (derived from ''Hormia'' or ''Ormiai'', after its excellent landing) by ancient authors. It appeared for the first time in history in 338 BC when, after the Latin Wars, it received the Roman status of Civitas sine suffragio as it remained neutral, together with the city of Fondi. Throughout antiquity the city of Caieta was also part of the Formian territory. It became a renowned resort during the Republican era for rich Romans to build elaborate villas and

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

called it "the city of the Mamurrae" as the rich and noble equestrian family of Mamurra had strong interests there, including the villa-estate nearby at Gianola, which can still be seen. The impressive remains of Roman villas still stretch along the coast from the fishponds in the Nuovo Porto to Gaeta.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

had a villa there. He was assassinated on the Appian Way just outside the town in 43 BC and his monumental tomb can also still be seen. The villa attributed to Cicero, now in the Villa Rubino, includes an elaborate '' nymphaeum'' and rooms decorated with frescoes and stucco. The hotel Villa Irlanda contains a cryptoporticus with stucco of the monumental villa of Lucius Marcius Philippus (consul 56 BC), stepfather of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. Villa Caracciolo has a large court surrounded by rooms. Many marble sculptures have been removed from these villas, the majority of which are in the Museo Nazionale in Naples, notably a fine pair of Nereids riding on sea monsters. Remains of an amphitheatre and theatre can be seen. The enormous underground cistern dug 15 metres below ground was probably the biggest Roman urban cistern in the world until the Piscina Mirabilis was built at the end of the 1st c. BC. Sextus Julius Frontinus (40 – 104 AD), “Curator Aquarum” of all the aqueducts of Rome, had a villa in Formiae in which Aelianus met the emperor Nerva. The city was the site of St Erasmus's martyrdom around 303 AD, during the persecutions of

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

. St Erasmus later also became known as Saint Elmo, the patron saint of sailors.

Paulinus of Nola Paulinus of Nola (; ; also Anglicisation, anglicized as Pauline of Nola; – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman Empire, Roman Roman poetry, poet, writer, and Roman senate, senator who attained the ranks of suffect ...

and Therasia stopped at Formiae on their journey back to Nola after visiting

at Easter 408. There they read

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

's letter 95 addressed to them. After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

the city was sacked by "barbarians" and the population moved to two distinct burghs on the nearby hill, which were under the rule of

Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...

. Charles II of Anjou built a fortress in the maritime burgh, Mola di Gaeta. The other burgh was known as Castellone, from the castle erected there in the mid-14th century by Onorato I Caetani, count of Fondi. 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 Battle of Anzio.

Geography

Formia lies on the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

, in southern Lazio, close to the town of

and next to the borders of

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

region. The municipality borders with Esperia ( FR),

, Itri, Minturno and Spigno Saturnia. It includes the hamlets (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'') 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 tower on the old Appian Way, enclosed in a large 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, 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. Nearby at Porticciolo Romano are the remains of its fishponds. Five busts of male heads dating from the 2nd/3rd century AD have recently been excavated *Many remains of Roman villas along the coast *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 () *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 The Italian National Olympic Committee (, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in ItalyWithin Italy, CONI recognizes 48 national ...

, 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

, Minturno, Spigno and other local towns. Ferries and hydrofoils connect Formia to

Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italy, Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina ...

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Although inhabited since the Bronze Age, as a Ancient G ...

and Ventotene.

Twin towns - sister cities

Formia is twinned with: *

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, 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

References

External links

Formia official websiteSite of the "Tomb of Cicero" in Google MapsInstagram
{{authority control Coastal towns in Lazio