Lucus Angitiae was an Italic and

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 ...

town and sanctuary with temple of the goddess

Angitia Angitia was a List of Roman deities, goddess among the Marsi, the Paeligni and other Osco-Umbrian languages, Oscan-Umbrian peoples of central Italy. She was associated in antiquity with snake-charmers who claimed her as their ancestor. Roman myth ...

, the ruins of which are located in the

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 ...

Luco dei Marsi Luco dei Marsi is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central-eastern Italy. It is part of the Marsica. The town was probably founded by the Roman Emperor Claudius to house workers in the drying of the ''Lacu ...

in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

region of

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 ...

. The original name of the site was linked to the word ''lux'' (light), from which ''lucus'', or the clearing in the woods, is derived as a traditional name for an ancient sanctuary. Angitia was venerated by the

Marsi The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained in the time of Claudius). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. They originally spoke a l ...

who lived on the shores of Lake Fucino.

History

According to legend, the inhabitants were skilled preparers of antidotes against snake poisons and connoisseurs of the herbs of the surrounding mountains, starting with

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

who was killed by Aeneas in the war between the Italians and the Trojans, as narrated in the Aeneid. Archaeology has shown that the site can be traced to the Bronze Age. During the Iron Age the fortified area developed over 14 hectares, walled with polygonal masonry and with two gates. The acropolis on the overhanging Mount Penna was incorporated in the underlying city-sanctuary during the Samnite wars through city walls which covered an area of about 30 hectares and which were equipped with five gates. The sanctuary dates to the 3rd century BC and is visible today, together with the terracing wall of the sanctuary and the traces of the large Iron Age wall enclosure, the ruins of the three access doors to the temples, the traces of the forum and the artisan quarter. The sanctuary-city is dominated by the acropolis of Monte Penna.

Excavations

The site came to light by chance through public works. Excavations conducted since the early seventies and from 1998 brought to light the two temples, the Italic one consisting of two cellas and the Roman era one which has three rooms. Doric columns, furnaces and burials have also been discovered.Giuseppe Grossi, Marsica: guida storico-archeologica, Luco dei Marsi, Aleph, 2002, SBN IT\ICCU\RMS\1890083 In 2003 research revealed other important finds, in particular in the area called the Sacristy the three fine statues came to light: one, which according to some scholars could be connected to the figure of the goddess Angitia, is in terracotta and from the 3rd century BC; the other two marble statues (one of Venus) are from the 2nd century BC and attributed to Rhodian workshops. Other statues, bas-relief sculptures, small bronzes etc. are exhibited in the Marsica museum of sacred art and kept in the Paludi museum in

Celano Celano is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of L'Aquila, central Italy, east of Rome by rail. Geography Celano rises on the top of a hill in the territory of Marsica, below the mountain range of Sirente. It faces the valley of Fucino, once ...

. Since 2014 the site has been open to visitors.

References

External links

{{coord, 41.9708, N, 13.4607, E, source:wikidata, display=title Roman sites of Abruzzo Luco dei Marsi Roman towns and cities in Abruzzo