Gavignano is a town in the

Metropolitan City of Rome Metropolitan City of Rome Capital () is an area of local government at the level of metropolitan city in the Lazio region of Italy. It comprises the territory of the city of Rome and 120 other ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in the hinterland of the c ...

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 ...

. Gavignano is approximately 50 km south east of Rome, on a hill in the

Lepini Mountains The Monti Lepini (Italian: Lepini mountains) are a mountain range which belongs to the Anti-Apennines of the Lazio region of central Italy, between the two provinces of Latina and Rome. The range borders to the north with the Colli Albani, to th ...

. The name of the town is believed to be derived from the Roman consul and general

Aulus Gabinius Aulus Gabinius ( – 48 or 47 BC) was a politician and general of the Roman Republic. He had an important career, culminating with a consulship in 58 BC, mainly thanks to the patronage of Pompey. His name is mostly associated with the '' le ...

, a friend of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

and ally of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

. The nearest train station is located in the town of

Colleferro Colleferro (IPA: /kɔllefɛrro/) is a small town with 20 698 inhabitants of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is a residential zone with many different industries and sports structures. It borders the City of ...

. Nearby, within the communal territory, is an archaeological site of a Roman villa from the Republican era, the villa "Rossilli", believed to be a country home of the

Julii The gens Julia was one of the most prominent patrician families of ancient Rome. From the early decades of the Republic, members of this gens served in the highest offices of the Roman state, beginning with Gaius Julius Iulus, consul in 489 ...

family. At Rossilli there is also a historical abbey, built by the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

s in the 12th century.

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

was born there in 1160.

References

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