Cascia () 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 ...
'' (municipality) of the
Italian 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 al ...
in a rather remote area of the mountainous southeastern corner of
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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. It is about 21 km from
Norcia on the road to
Rieti
Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabin ...
in the Lazio (63 km). It is also very close to
Terni
Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...
.
History
The modern territory of Cascia was the home of the
Roman settlement of ''
Carsulae
Carsulae is an archaeological site in the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is located approximately north of San Gemini, a small comune in the province of Terni.
Origins and History
Most historians fix the town's foundation about 220-219 ...
'', destroyed in the 1st century BC by an earthquake. In the Middle Ages it was sacked by the
Byzantines and the
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 ...
, and was later a fief of the
Trinci family. It was occupied by
Papal troops in the 15th century, and thenceforth it was a Papal town until the
unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single s ...
in 1860.
Cascia was the home of
Saint Rita of Cascia
Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti (1381 – 22 May 1457), was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
After Rita's husband died, she joined an Augustinian community of religious sisters, ...
, who was born in the nearby ''
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 territ ...
'' of
Roccaporena in 1381 and died there in 1457. After her canonization in 1900, a large shrine, with the
Basilica of Santa Rita da Cascia, was built in Cascia, which is still an important place of pilgrimage; and the house where she was born may still be visited.
The town also is home to the frescoed 14th-century church of
Sant’Antonio Abate.
''Frazioni''
Atri, Avendita, Buda, Castel San Giovanni, Castel Santa Maria, Cerasola, Chiavano,
Civita, Colforcella, Collegiacone, Colmotino, Coronella,
Fogliano, Logna,
Maltignano, Ocosce, Onelli, Opagna, Poggio Primocaso,
Roccaporena,
San Giorgio, Santa Anatolia, Trognano, Villa San Silvestro, Santa Trinità, Fustagna, Piandoli, Giappiedi, Capanne di Collegiacone, Sciedi, Valdonica, Capanne di Roccaporena, Tazzo, Manigi, Serviglio, Colle Santo Stefano, Puro, Palmaiolo.
References
External links
Umbria.Org - Article about Cascia
''(Incorporates text from Bill Thayer's site, by permission.)''
Cities and towns in Umbria
{{Umbria-geo-stub