Forlimpopoli (; ) 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 Forlì-Cesena
The Province of Forlì-Cesena () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capitals are the cities of Forlì and Cesena. The province has a population of 394,273 as of 2016 over an area of . It contains 30 '' comuni'' (: ''comu ...
, north-eastern
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 on the ''
Via Emilia'' between
Cesena
Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...
and
Forlì
Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...
.
History
The name of Forlimpopoli derives from the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
''Forum Popilii'',
most likely connected to the consul
Publius Popillius Laenas, who founded it in 132 BC. The area has been inhabited since
Palaeolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
times, as proved by recent archaeological discoveries. Later it was settled by the
Umbri
The Umbri were an Italic peoples, Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the Regio VI Umbria, ancient Umbria.
Most ancient Umbrian cities were sett ...
and the
Gauls
The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...
from the ''
Pianura Padana''. In the 1st century BC Forum Popili become a ''
municipium
In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...
'', and flourished due to its location near the important port of
Classis (for which it provided
amphorae
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...
for wine transport), as well as its own agricultural production.
It started to decay in the 3rd century AD, and, as in the High Middle Ages the area became marshy, its agricultural output fell drastically. In this period it was part of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
Exarchate of Ravenna
The Exarchate of Ravenna (; ), also known as the Exarchate of Italy, was an administrative district of the Byzantine Empire comprising, between the 6th and 8th centuries, the territories under the jurisdiction of the exarch of Italy (''exarchus ...
and had its first Catholic bishop in the 5th century; over his sepulchre, outside the town, a Benedictine monastery was founded. In the 7th century Forlimpopoli was ravaged by the
Lombard king
Grimoald; in the following century it fell under
Papal
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...
rule. Later the city started to grow again with the foundation of another burgh, the ''Civitas Nova'', and with the communal autonomy.
In the 13th century it became a fief of the
Ordelaffi family from Forlì. Their expansion was momentarily halted by the Papal reconquest by Cardinal
Gil de Albornoz who, in 1361, ordered the destruction of Forlimpopoli due to its loyalty to the Ordelaffi. A chronicle from ten years later states that the town no longer existed, the bishopric having been moved to
Bertinoro
Bertinoro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Forlì-Cesena, in the Italy, Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. It is located on hill Mount Cesubeo, in Romagna, a few kilometers from the ''Via Aemilia, Via Emilia''.
History
There ...
, and the cathedral having been replaced by a fortress, the current ''Rocca''. A few years later
Sinibaldo Ordelaffi, now in peaceful terms with the Popes, had the town rebuilt with the construction of a line of walls. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was a possession of several families, including the Riario and
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...
. In 1535 it was returned to the Papal States, who assigned it in turn as a fief to the Zampeschi family, followed by the
Savelli and the Cardinal Capponi. Direct Papal authority was restored after the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
.
Main sights
An imposing and very well-preserved castle from the 16th century lies in the centre of the town. It houses the local government, the archeological museum, a theatre and the music school.
Outside the town is the Sanctuary of ''Santa Maria delle Grazie di Fornò'', one of the most notable circular plan churches in Italy (late 15th century). It features two works by
Agostino di Duccio
Agostino di Duccio (1418 – ) was an early Renaissance Italian sculptor.
Born in Florence, he worked in Prato with Donatello and Michelozzo, who influenced him greatly. In 1441, he was accused of stealing precious materials from a Florent ...
. The basilica of ''San Rufillo'' was originally built in the 6th century but it is now a more recent reconstruction; it is home to two canvases by
Luca Longhi
Luca Longhi (14 January 1507 – August 12, 1580) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance art, Renaissance or Mannerism, Mannerist period, active in and near Ravenna, where he mainly produced religious paintings and portraits.
Biograph ...
and
Francesco Menzocchi, and the tomb of
Brunoro II Zampeschi, lord of Forlimpopoli.
The church of the ''Servi'' (mid-15th century) has a painting by
Marco Palmezzano
Marco Palmezzano (1460–1539) was an Italian painter and architect, belonging to the Forlì painting school, who painted in a style recalling earlier Northern Renaissance models. He was mostly active near Forlì.
Biography
Palmezzano was ...
.
Culture
The "Scuola di Musica Popolare di Forlimpopoli" was founded by the commune of Forlimpopoli and is now carried by an association of teachers and students. The main focus of teaching is the traditional folk music of the region. The music school has a supra-regional importance. In cooperation with the academy
Fürsteneck Castle in Germany and the Eric Sahlström Institutet in Sweden it developed th
"European Nyckelharpa Training"
Twinned cities
*
Villeneuve-Loubet
Villeneuve-Loubet (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It lies between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes, at the mouth of the river Loup, ten kilometres west of ...
, France
*
Traun, Austria
Notable people
*
Andrea Dovizioso, Italian
MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
rider
*
Pellegrino Artusi, author of one of the earliest cookery book
*
Marco Uccellini
Marco Uccellini ( Forlimpopoli, Forlì 1603 or 1610 - 10 December 1680) was an Italian Baroque violinist and composer. His output of mainly secular music for solo violin is considered to have been important in the rise of independent instrumental c ...
, Baroque violinist and composer
*
Vincenzo Balzani
Vincenzo Balzani (born 15 November 1936 in Forlimpopoli, Italy) is an Italian chemist, now emeritus professor at the University of Bologna.
Career
He has spent most of his professional life at the "Giacomo Ciamician" Department of Chemistry ...
, chemist
*
Daniel Hackett
Daniel Lorenzo Hackett (born December 19, 1987) is an American-Italian professional basketball player for Virtus Bologna of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he can play at both the point guard and shooting gu ...
, American-Italian basketball player who currently plays for
Brose Bamberg
Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...
See also
*
Forum Popilii – the bishopric, now a
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna