Nettuno 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 ...
'' of 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 ...
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 ...
region of central Italy, south of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. A resort city and agricultural center on the
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.
Geography
The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...
, it has a population of approximately 50,000.
Economy
It has a touristic harbour hosting about 860 boats and a shopping centre, selling everything for fishing and sailing. There is also a yacht club.
Nettuno is the city of the
D.O.C. wine
Cacchione.
Nettuno has a large base for the Italian Force, whose territory extends to the
Province of Latina
The province of Latina () is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city of Latina. It is bordered by the provinces of Frosinone to the northeast and by the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital to the northwest.
...
, and an Italian Police School, where especially
police dog
A police dog, also known as a K-9 (phonemic abbreviation of canine), is a dog that is trained to assist police and other law enforcement officers. Their duties may include searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, findin ...
s are trained.
Nettuno is one stop south of
Anzio on the local train from Rome and also the last stop of the
FL8 line.
History
According to a theory, the town would be a direct survival of the Roman
Antium
Antium was an Ancient history, ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), then it was the main stronghold of the Volsci people unti ...
, the territory of which almost entirely corresponded to Nettuno and modern
Anzio.
[Paola Brandizzi Vittucci, ''Antium: Anzio e Nettuno in epoca romana'', Roma, Bardi Editore, 2000. ] Giuseppe Tomassetti considered Nettuno the real heir and continuation of the ancient Antiates.
[Giuseppe Tomassetti, ''La Campagna romana antica, medioevale e moderna'', vol. II, Roma, 1910.] In contrast, Beatrice Cacciotti doubted an ancient origin of the town, and postulated a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
origin.
Nettuno was probably the location of the ancient
Volscian port town of Caenon, which was the closest port of the town Antium (which did not have a natural harbour of its own). According to a more recent theory, the town Caenon would be located on a hill more east to Nettuno, and the port (similarly to the old theory above), would have been over the mouth of the river Loricina.
In 469 BC, the town Caenon was
destroyed by the Roman consul
Titus Numicius Priscus.
A medieval castle, the ''castrum Neptuni'', now known as the Borgo Medievale, most likely arose in the 10th or 11th century. According to local tradition, the name ''Neptunus'' would derive from a temple to the Roman god
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...
- the symbol of the town - but it has been hypothesized a derivation from the marshes already present in the area in the
late ancient era, or from a raptor night bird, the ''noctunus''.
Nettuno, which territory practically coincided with that of the Roman Antium,
in the Middle Ages had an agricultural evolution.
Since 1420 it was a
fief
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
of the
Colonna family,
then in the early 16th century passed to the
Borgia nobles, later returned under the control of the Colonna, which kept it until 1594, when passed to the Church. In the 15th and 16th centuries Nettuno was among the major coastal fortified centers in Lazio, of which was considered the important
breadbasket
The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; Calif ...
: to support the walled and turreted Borgo Medievale, between 1501 and 1503 in the Borgia's period, the
Forte Sangallo was built by
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
architect Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, as it was essential to defend the town against attacks from the sea.
[Cenni storici](_blank)
City of Nettuno.
In 1582 the poet
Antonio Ongaro was in Nettuno hosted by the Colonna, and there for the first time he recited his fisherman’s tale entitled ''Alceo''.
In 1903 the writer
Gabriele D'Annunzio was a guest in the town with the actress
Eleonora Duse
Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele D'Annunzio and Henr ...
, and wrote the opera ''
La figlia di Iorio''.
The scholar
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello (; ; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italians, Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his bold and ...
wrote a novel, ''Va bene'', set in Nettuno in 1904.
In 1925 the ''Convenzione di Nettuno'', between Italy and
Jugoslavia, was signed in the town to regulate the conditions of the Italian citizens in Dalmatia.
From 1940 to 1945, Nettuno and nearby Anzio were a single municipality (''comune'') called Nettunia.
On January 22, 1944, Anzio and Nettuno were the theatre of an Allied forces landing and the ensuing
Battle of Anzio, which began with
Operation Shingle
The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with the Allies of World War II, Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, an ...
during
the Second World War. American forces (
5th Army) were surrounded by Germans in the caves of Pozzoli in February 1944 for a week, suffering heavy casualties.
Main sights
Nettuno is a popular tourist destination. Sights include a well-preserved old quarter, the Borgo Medievale, with medieval streets and small squares, and the
Forte Sangallo mentioned above.
Nettuno is also a centre of pilgrimage to the
shrine
A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...
of
Saint Maria Goretti, in which a
crypt
A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...
houses the mortal remains of the saint. The church keeps also a valuable polychromed wooden statue of
Our Lady of Grace, which is honoured by the town with a procession every year on the first Saturday of May. It was originally
Our Lady of Ipswich, although it left
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
after the
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
.
The privately-owned Villa Costaguti-Borghese at Nettuno was built in 1648, has gardens in a landscape park designed about 1840, now protected as a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
. The ''
Borghese Gladiator'' was discovered at Nettuno.
At the north edge of town is the
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, where over 7,800 US soldiers are buried.
Near the eastern border of Nettuno there is
Torre Astura: a fortified coastal tower of medieval origin, which overlooks a point of land; it is built over the ruins of a Roman villa with a fish pond. The area its a pleasant coastal place, also frequented by
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
.
Sport
Nettuno Baseball Club is one of the most important Italian
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
teams, often the winner of the
national championship. Baseball was taught to the local people by American soldiers after their landing in World War II.
Notable people
*
Paolo Segneri
*
Luigi Trafelli, physicist and mathematician
*
Santa Maria Goretti
*
Bruno Conti, football player and manager
*
Pierpaolo Piccioli (born 1967), Italian fashion designer
*
Anna Favella, actress
*
Alessio Romagnoli, football player, grew up in Nettuno
Twin towns – sister cities
Nettuno is
twinned with:
*
Ardee, Ireland
*
Bandol
Bandol (; ) is a commune in Var department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, southeastern France. Bandol and the seat of its eponymous commune, was founded in 1595 and built around a small military fort.
The region, located near the coast ...
, France
*
Traunreut, Germany
*
Wehr, Germany
References
External links
Forte Sangallo City of Nettuno.
*
*
{{Province of Rome
Cities and towns in Lazio
Coastal towns in Lazio
Mediterranean port cities and towns in Italy
Roman sites in Lazio
Archaeological sites in Lazio
Volsci