Formia is a city 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 ...

'' in the

province of Latina The Province of Latina ( it, Provincia di Latina) is an area of local government at the level of province in the Republic of Italy. It is one of five provinces that form the region of Lazio. The provincial capital is the city of Latina. It is bo ...

, on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

coast of

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

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 ...

. It is located halfway between

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, and lies on the Roman-era

Appian Way The Appian Way ( Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...

. It has a population of 38,095.

Istat The Italian National Institute of Statistics ( it, Istituto nazionale di statistica; Istat) is the main producer of official statistics in Italy. Its activities include the census of population, economic censuses and a number of social, economic ...

2017

History

The so-called Tomb of Cicero, Formia (14358511388)

The city of Formia was originated by the Italic population of the

Aurunci The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC. Identity Aurunci is the na ...

. It appeared for the first time in history in 338 BC, when, during the

Latin Wars Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, it received the

Civitas sine suffragio ''Civitas sine suffragio'' (Latin, "citizenship without the vote") was a level of citizenship in the Roman Republic which granted all the rights of Roman citizenship except the right to vote in popular assemblies. This status was first extended to s ...

, together with the city of

Fondi Fondi ( la, Fundi; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and '' comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady popu ...

. Throughout antiquity, the city of

Caieta In Roman mythology, Caieta ( grc, Καιήτη, ''Cāiēta'') was the wet-nurse of Aeneas. The Roman poet Vergil locates her grave on the bay at Gaeta, to which she also gives her name (''cf.'' Caietae Portus). The poet Ovid, working a generat ...

was also part of the Formian territory. In the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingd ...

era it was called ''Formiae'' (derived from ''Hormia'' or ''Ormiai'', for its excellent landing). It was a renowned resort during the imperial era and

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ...

calls it "the city of the Mamurrae" as the rich and noble

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

family of

Mamurra Mamurra () was a Roman military officer who served under Julius Caesar. Biography Early life Possibly named Marcus Vitruvius Mamurra (if we follow Thielscher's 1969 suggestion based on an inscription in Thibilis), he was an equestrian who orig ...

had stong interests there, including the villa-estate nearby at Gianola which can still be seen.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

also had a villa there and he was assassinated on the Appian Way just outside the town in 43 BC, and his tomb remains a minor tourist destination. The city was also the seat of

St. Erasmus Erasmus of Formia, also known as Saint Elmo (died c. 303), was a Christian saint and martyr. He is venerated as the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. Erasmus or Elmo is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, saintly figures of Christi ...

's martyrdom, by being disemboweled around 303 AD, during the persecutions of Diocletian. St. Erasmus later also became known as Saint Elmo the patron saint of sailors.

Paulinus of Nola Paulinus of Nola (; la, Paulinus Nolanus; also Anglicized as Pauline of Nola; – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman poet, writer, and senator who attained the ranks of suffect consul () and governor of Campania ( ...

and

Therasia Therasia, also known as Thirasía ( el, Θηρασία), is an island in the volcanic island group of Santorini in the Greek Cyclades. It lies north-west of Nea Kameni, a small island formed in recent centuries by volcanic activity and thus marki ...

stopped at Formiae on their journey back to Nola after visiting

, Easter 408. There they read

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

's letter 95 addressed to them. After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

, the city was sacked by barbarians and the population moved to two distinct burghs on the nearby hill, which were under the rule of

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

Charles II of Anjou Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...

built a fortress in the maritime burgh, Mola di Gaeta. The other burgh was known as Castellone, from the castle erected there in the mid-14th century by

Onorato I Caetani Onorato I Caetani ( 1336 – 20 April 1400) was an Italian nobleman, who was the count of Fondi from 1348 and the Great Conestable of the Kingdom of Naples also from 1348. He was also lord of Sermoneta, Bassiano, Marino and also Senator of Rome ...

, count of

. The two villages were united again in 1863 under the name of Formia. The reunited city was badly damaged in 1943–44 in bombing operations and the

Battle of Anzio The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The op ...

Geography

Formia lies on the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

, in southern Lazio, close to the town of

and next to the borders of

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

region. The municipality borders with

Esperia Esperia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about southeast of Frosinone. It is located within the Monti Aurunci Natural Park. History According to some t ...

( FR),

Itri The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; ) is a technology research and development institution in Taiwan. Founded in 1973, ITRI has contributed to moving Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive to innovation-driven. ITRI is hea ...

Minturno Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in the southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris), with a suburb on the opposite bank about from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia cross ...

and Spigno Saturnia. It counts the hamlets (''

frazioni 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 Castellonorato, Gianola-Santo Janni, Marànola, Penitro and Trivio.

Main sights

The most famous monument of Formia is the mausoleum traditionally identified with the

Tomb of Cicero A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

: it is a tower on the old Appian Way, enclosed in a large, funerary precinct. Other sights include: *Tower of Mola *Tower of Castellone *Roman cistern, one of the world's largest. Similar to the structures in Constantinople and in the Domitian's villa of Albano, it dates from the 1st century BC. *Remains of the so-called Roman Villa of

at Gianola, partly destroyed in 1943, including the cisterns of "Maggiore' and of "36 columns", aqueducts, ''

cryptoporticus In Ancient Roman architecture a cryptoporticus (from atin''crypta'' and '' porticus'') is a covered corridor or passageway. The usual English is "cryptoportico". The cryptoportico is a semi-subterranean gallery whose vaulting supports portico st ...

'' and thermal baths. At the centre of the villa at the highest point of the promontory was a grandiose octagonal building also known as the "Temple of Janus" which was flanked by two wings and two porticoes which sloped down towards the sea. Nearby at Porticciolo Romano are the remains of its fishponds for fish farming. Five busts of male heads were recently excavated dating from the 2nd/3rd century AD. *Many remains of Roman villas along the coast *Roman buildings in the town *Church of ''San Giovanni Battista e Lorenzo'', known from 841. It was almost entirely destroyed during World War II. It houses a panel by

Antoniazzo Romano Antoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili (c. 1430 – c. 1510) was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the latter part of the 15th century. He "made a speciality of re ...

(c. 1490) *Church of "San Michele" *Church of ''San Luca'', known from the 15th century. It has a recently discovered crypt with frescoes of ''Episodes of the New Testament'' and ''Madonna del Latte''. *Renaissance monastery and church of ''Sant'Erasmo''. It was erected on the alleged site of the saint's martyrdom. *Archaeological Museum. *Regional Park of Gianola and Mount of Scauri. *

Formia War Memorial Formia War Memorial (Italian: ''monumento ai caduti di Formia'') is an Italian war memorial erected in 1926 to commemorate the dead of the First World War and earlier conflicts. It stands in the Piazza della Vittoria, in the centre of Formia, a tow ...

, with the large bronze sculpture ''Sacraficio'' by Dora Ohlfsen-Bagge

Sport

Formia is the seat of the National Athletics School of the

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

, founded in 1955. Athletes such as

Pietro Mennea Pietro Paolo Mennea (; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and set a world r ...

and

Giuseppe Gibilisco Giuseppe "Peppe" Gibilisco (; born 5 January 1979) is an Italian coach and former pole vaulter, who won the 2003 World Championships with a personal best of 5.90 m. He followed this with a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. He also compete ...

trained here. Formia is also a hub for cycling events of various types; road cycling and mountain biking All of which gives access to Parks in Gaeta and Formia; Parco Monte Orlando, Parco Regionale Riviera di Ulisse, Parco Naturale dei Monti Aurunci, and Tours to Rome via the Old Highway. Formia also has great water sports to enjoy; windsurfing and sailing.

Transportation

Formia itself is one of the most important transportation hub of southern Lazio. The

Rome–Formia–Naples railway The Rome–Formia–Naples railway—also called the Rome–Naples Direttissima in Italian ("most direct")–is part of the traditional main north-south trunk line of the Italian railway network. It was opened in 1927 as a fast link as an alternat ...

passes through

Formia-Gaeta railway station Formia-Gaeta railway station ( it, Stazione di Formia-Gaeta), previously named Formia railway station ( it, Stazione di Formia, links=no), serves the cities and ''comunes'' of Formia and Gaeta, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Opened in 189 ...

, from which visitors and residents may travel by bus to

, Minturno, Spigno and other local towns. Ferries and hydrofoils connect Formia to

Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina i ...

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to wes ...

and

Ventotene Ventotene (; locally ; la, Pandataria or , from grc, Πανδατερία, Pandatería, or ) is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy. The municipality of ...

Twin towns - sister cities

Formia is twinned with: *

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

, Italy *

Fleury-les-Aubrais Fleury-les-Aubrais () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is a northern suburb of Orléans. As a part of German-occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frank ...

, France, since 2004 *

Gračanica Gračanica () may refer to: Places Bosnia and Herzegovina *Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina Gračanica is a city located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in nor ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Haninge Haninge Municipality (''Haninge kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Handen, a part of the Stockholm urban area. Haninge Municipality was formed in 1971 when ''Västerhaninge'' and ''Öst ...

, Sweden *

Santeramo in Colle Santeramo in Colle ( Santermano: ) is a town in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia, southern Italy. Its current name comes from St Erasmus, martyr of the Diocletian era and patron saint of the city who, according to legend, is resp ...

, Italy

People

Antonio Sicurezza Antonio Sicurezza (February 25, 1905August 29, 1979) was an Italian painter. His work is representative of the Italian figurative art of that period. His artistic production includes still lives, portraits, landscapes, nudes, and altar pieces. ...

, painter *

Vittorio Foa Vittorio Foa (18 September 1910 – 20 October 2008) was an Italian politician, trade unionist, journalist and writer. Biography Foa was born in Turin in 1910 into a middle-class Jewish family. He attended Liceo Classico Massimo d'Azeglio in ...

, politician *

Amadeo Bordiga Amadeo Bordiga (13 June 1889 – 25 July 1970) was an Italian Marxist theorist, revolutionary socialist, founder of the Communist Party of Italy (PCI), member of the Communist International (Comintern) and later a leading figure of the Internat ...

, politician *

Dino Fava Dino Fava Passaro (born 16 March 1977) is an Italian footballer. He plays as a striker for Savoia. Career Fava started his career at Formia in Serie C2. He was signed by S.S.C. Napoli in summer 1996. He was loaned to Acireale of Serie C1 i ...

, professional footballer

References

External links

Formia official websiteSite of the "Tomb of Cicero" in Google Maps
*https://www.instagram.com/ {{authority control Coastal towns in Lazio