Ceccano is a town 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 Frosinone The province of Frosinone () is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of and a total population of 493,605 (2016). The province contains 91 ''comuni'' (: ''comune''), listed in the ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, central

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 ...

, in the Latin Valley.

History

The town had its origins as an ancient

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

an citadel that surrendered to the Romans in 330 BC (424 Ab Urbe Condita).''The History of Rome'', Book II, Theodor Mommsen, (Kessinger Publishing, 2004), p. 112. Its name in ancient times was ''Fabrateria Vetus''. According to tradition, the name was changed into the current one in the early Middle Ages. This was done in honor of one Petronius Ceccanus – father of

Pope Honorius I Pope Honorius I (died 12 October 638) was the bishop of Rome from 27 October 625 to his death on 12 October 638. He was active in spreading Christianity among Anglo-Saxons and attempted to convince the Celts to calculate Easter in the Roman fa ...

. Conquered by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

at the time of King

Aistulf Aistulf (also Ahistulf, Haistulfus, Astolf etc.; , ; died December 756) was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of the Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His reign was characterized by ruthless and ambitious efforts to conquer Roman ...

(c. 750), later it became an important fortress of the Papal territories. In 1218, a monk from nearby Fossanova Abbey compiled the '' Annals of Ceccano''. From 900 to 1450, it was ruled by the local Counts of Ceccano – most likely of German origin; later their territories were assigned to

Rodrigo Borgia Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Kingdom of Valencia, Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death ...

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

and then to the

Colonna family The House of Colonna is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It played a pivotal role in Middle Ages, medieval and Roman Renaissance, Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Pope Martin V, Martin V), 23 cardinals and many ot ...

. From 3 November 1943 and 31 May 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the town suffered 38 air attacks from Allied forces despite having no strategic importance. During one of these air attacks, the Church of ''Santa Maria a Fiume –'' a national monument, was destroyed. Canadian Army war artist Charles Comfort painted the town as it appeared during the Second World War.

Main sights

*Church of '' Santa Maria a Fiume'' (13th century), rebuilt on the original lines after the destruction in World War II *Church of ''San Nicola'' (12th century), including columns with inscriptions in Lombard style. *''Castello dei Conti'', a medieval castle overlooking the Sacco River Valley. During excavations for the construction of the TAV high speed railroad, remains of a large Roman villa have been discovered.

Twin towns

* Plouzané, France *

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

, Mexico

References

Cities and towns in Lazio {{Lazio-geo-stub