San Giovanni Profiamma is a civil parish in the municipality of

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located sou ...

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 ...

, which is also an active bishopric, and is the historical site of the former Roman town and bishopric of Foro Flaminii, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see as Foro Flaminio. It is in the circoscrizione no. 6: San Giovanni Profiamma-Belfiore-Vescia-Capodacqua-Pontecentesimo. The area belonging to the parish extends up to the plain between

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 ...

and the right bank of the

Topino The Topino is a river in Umbria, central Italy. It was known in ancient times as ''Supunna'' by Umbri and later in Latin as ''Tinia'' and is mentioned by Dante Alighieri in the ''Canto'' XI of the ''Paradise''. It is the main tributary of the Ch ...

. San Giovanni Profiamma is at an altitude of 264 m above sea level, 4 km northeast of Foligno and has a population of around 1800.

History

The Roman town of Forum Flaminii, corresponding with modern San Giovanni Profiamma, was founded by

Roman censor The censor (at any time, there were two) was a magistrate in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances. The power of the censor was ab ...

Gaius Flaminius in 220 BCE during the construction of the Roman consular road. The town is attested as bishopric since the third century and believed to have been destroyed in 740 by the invading

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

under King Liutprand, and subsequently incorporated into Foligno. It remains unknown how much of the relatively old

vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vita ...

of the legendary first bishop and

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

Felician of Foligno Felician(us) of Foligno ( it, San Feliciano di Foligno) (c. 160 – c. 250) is the patron saint of Foligno. Biography According to Christian tradition, he was born in ''Forum Flaminii'' (present-day San Giovanni Profiamma), on the Via Flaminia, o ...

is historically accurate. Only two bishops were historically documented : * Bonifatius, attending the council held by

Pope Symmachus Pope Symmachus (died 19 July 514) was the bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 to his death. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by a majority of the Roman clergy. Early life He was born on the Mediterranean isla ...

in 501 or 502 which forbade alienating church property; Bonifacio signed the acts in 51º position, between bishops Venerioso of Spello and Sebastiano of Sora. * Decentius took part in the Roman council of 680, held by

Pope Agatho Pope Agatho (died January 681) served as the bishop of Rome from 27 June 678 until his death. He heard the appeal of Wilfrid of York, who had been displaced from his see by the division of the archdiocese ordered by Theodore of Canterbury. Du ...

to condemn

Monothelitism Monothelitism, or monotheletism (from el, μονοθελητισμός, monothelētismós, doctrine of one will), is a theological doctrine in Christianity, that holds Christ as having only one will. The doctrine is thus contrary to dyothe ...

as heresy, signing between a bishops Floro of

and Giovanni of

Norcia Norcia (), traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia (), is a town and comune in the province of Perugia ( Italy) in southeastern Umbria. Unlike many ancient towns, it is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a ...

. From a papal bulla by

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

in 1138, on the jurisdiction of the (heir) bishops of Foligno, citing ''plebs S. Joannis de Foroflamini cum ecclesiis suis'', Sbaraglia deduces Forum Flaminii's Ancient cathedral would have been dedicated to Saint John.Faloci Pulignani, ''L'Umbria sacra del padre Sbaraglia'', p. 569

Titular see

In 1966 the diocese was nominally restored as the Titular bishopric of Foro Flaminii (Latin) / Forflamme (Curiate Italian), and renamed in 1990 to Forum Flaminii (Latin) / Foro Flaminio (Curiate Italian) / Foroflaminien(sis) (Latin adjective). It has had the following incumbents: * Pietro Gazzoli (1968.02.03 – death 1990.02.17) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Brescia (Italy) (1968.02.03 – retired 1983.08.06) and as emeritus * Angelo Mascheroni (1990.06.09 – ...) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Milano (Milan, Italy) (1990.06.09 – retired 2005.01.10) and as emeritus.

Monuments and places of interest

Church of San Giovanni Battista The Church of Saint John the Baptist, or the Palatine Basilica is a Romanesque

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

cathedral built on the ruins of a 6th-century basilica. The façade is notable for its

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window' ...

and finely carved portal. The interior, with a single nave, features Roman wall murals and a sixth-century sarcophagus. The crypt, with three aisles, contains an eighth century

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can a ...

decorated with early Christian symbols. Originally the seat of a diocese, it survives as a titular see.

Economy and activities

San Giovanni Profiamma is home to the cultivation of

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

s, for the production of high-quality

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

, and also has an extensive industrial area. The town has an annual ''Sagra della Rocciata'' (festival of the Rocciata), celebrating a regional dessert. There is also the annual ''"Giostra della Quintanella"'' (

Joust Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponen ...

of Quintanella) where over 350 children from the eight districts compete in a

Palio Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a '' comune'' against each other. Typically, they are fought in costume and commemorate s ...

: they cycle along a figure-eight track with lances, trying to spear rings connected to a statue. The event is connected with a procession in seventeenth-century costumes and a regional market.

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Ferdinando Ughelli & Nicola Coletti, ''Italia sacra'', vol. X, Venice 1722, col. 101 * Giuseppe Cappelletti, ''Le Chiese d'Italia dalla loro origine sino ai nostri giorni'', Venice 1846, vol. IV, p. 445 * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Verlag Karl W. Hiersemann, Leipzig 1931, p. 727 * Michele Faloci Pulignani, ''L'Umbria sacra del padre Sbaraglia'', in ''Archivio per la storia ecclesiastica dell'Umbria'', I (1913), p. 569 * Francesco Lanzoni, ''Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604)'', vol. I, Faenza 1927, pp. 451–453 * Pietro Burchi, lemma 'Feliciano, protovescovo di Forum Flaminii, Santo Martire', in ''Bibliotheca Sanctorum V'', coll. 597-600

External links

GCatholic
{{coord missing, Italy Foligno Populated places in Umbria