Fossato di Vico is a town and ''

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 ...

'' of

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

in the

province of Perugia The Province of Perugia ( it, Provincia di Perugia) is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia. The province covered ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, at 581 m above sea‑level on the middle slopes of Mount Mutali. It lies just off the SS 3 highway, the successor to the ancient Roman

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' ( Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans ha ...

, between

Gualdo Tadino Gualdo Tadino (Latin: ''Tadinum'') is an ancient town of Italy, in the province of Perugia in northeastern Umbria, on the lower flanks of Monte Penna, a mountain of the Apennines. It is NE of Perugia. History Gualdo has a long history and was o ...

(7 km to the south),

Sigillo Sigillo is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 35 km northeast of Perugia. Sigillo borders the following municipalities: Costacciaro, Fabriano, Fossato di Vico, Gubbio. History ...

(6 km north);

Fabriano Fabriano is a town and '' comune'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Fossato di Vico and east of Gubbio (both in Umbri ...

(15 km east) and

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and '' comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

(20 km west) in Antiquity, a branch of the Via Flaminia may have traversed the town. 220px, Fossato di Vico Train Station., left

History

A rare bronze plaque with a brief inscription to the Dea Cupra in the ancient Umbrian language has been found in the territory of the comune, evidence of pre‑Roman habitation. Roman vestiges have been found as well, but not in quantities nor concentrations such as to warrant conclusively identifying Fossato with the ancient ''Helvillum'', the site of which remains unknown: the other main candidate is Sigillo. Fossato is known, however, to have been inhabited in the early Middle Ages, when it was the southernmost outpost of the

Byzantine corridor The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

, which its name seems to confirm: while ''fossato'', meaning "ditch" in Italian, is not an uncommon placename, it is usually found on small creeks — but Fossato di Vico is on sharply sloping ground with no watercourse in the area, and it has therefore been proposed by local historians that the name is to be derived from Latin (and Byzantine Greek) ''fossatum'', a ditch-fortified defensive work. The specification "di Vico" was added to the name in 1862, to remember a noble of the

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto (, ) was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard '' dux'' Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards had invaded Italy in 568 AD and conquered much of it, establishi ...

. Fossato was part of the county of Nocera in the 9th century, and after the Vico it was a possession of the Bulgarelli family, who built the current castle. In 1386 it became a free commune, which was annexed to the Papal States in 1540.

Main sights

In the plain below, two Roman bridges are extant; both relate to the Via Flaminia. The town walls date to the late Middle Ages and would be of no particular interest were it not for a covered rampart walk capable of accommodating wide carts: it was designed for supplying the town in case of a siege. A very ruined tower at the top of the town is lovingly preserved as the oldest structure, and is said by some to be Byzantine, but without evidence. The main churches are ''S. Sebastiano'', the 16th‑century parish church, damaged in the

1997 Umbria and Marche earthquake The 1997 Umbria and Marche earthquake occurred in the regions of Umbria and Marche, central Italy on the morning of September 26. It was preceded by a foreshock almost as strong as the main quake. The foreshock occurred at 02:33 CEST (00:33 UT ...

but almost immediately restored; S. Pietro, the former parish church, medieval; S. Benedetto, also medieval, with some frescoes; and La Piaggiola, a small votive chapel of uncertain use, but likely belonging to a penitential confraternity: on its walls are to be found the best medieval frescoes in town. Also in the plain, mention should be made of the shrine of the Madonna della Ghea.

Economy

The economic engine of the ''

'' is the ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) 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 consolidate terri ...

'' of Osteria del Gatto, in the plain below, with several factories (cheese, packaging materials). An unusual aspect of the town's economy is that the municipal government has taken advantage of the winds sweeping the Cima del Mutali to contract the construction of two windmills for electrical generation; Fossato is a net exporter of electrical energy, and the installation turns a profit used for the operations of local government.

References

External links

Pro Fossato
(the Pro Loco)
La Rumiola
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossato Di Vico Hilltowns in Umbria