Priverno is a town, ''

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 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. ...

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 ...

. It was called ''Piperno'' until 1927. It has a station of the Rome-Naples railway mainline. Nearby is the

Monti Lepini 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 ...

chain. It was the birthplace of the canonist

Reginald of Piperno Reginald of Piperno (or Reginald of Priverno) was an Italian Dominican, theologian and companion of Thomas Aquinas. Biography Reginald was born at Piperno about 1230. Since 1927 this town of the Lazio region in central Italy is Priverno. He ...

History

''Privernum'' is described by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

as a flourishing

Volscian Volscian was a Sabellic Italic language, which was spoken by the Volsci and closely related to Oscan and Umbrian. Overview Volscian is attested in an inscription found in Velitrae (Velletri), dating probably from early in the 3rd century BC; i ...

site, which was conquered and destroyed by the

Romans 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 ...

in the late 4th century BC. The

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

passed nearby. The town recovered under the Roman rule, but disappeared after the fall of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, probably destroyed by

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

attacks. Researchers studying the concrete used in Privernum concluded that the use of

quicklime Calcium oxide (formula: Ca O), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term '' lime'' connotes calcium-containin ...

made ancient Roman concrete more durable than its modern counterpart. It was later a minor center of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, to which it belonged until the

capture of Rome The Capture of Rome () occurred on 20 September 1870, as forces of the Kingdom of Italy took control of the city and of the Papal States. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, c ...

in 1870.

Main sights

Nearby is the

Abbey of Fossanova Fossanova Abbey, earlier Fossa Nuova, is a church that was formerly a Cistercian abbey located near the railway station of Priverno in Latina, Italy, about south-east of Rome. History Fossanova is one of the finest examples of early Burgundi ...

, which is where the town's patron saint,

St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, the foremost Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition. A Doctor of the Church, he wa ...

died on 7 March 1274. Other churches include: *''Santa Maria Assunta'' (former Cathedral), consecrated by Pope

Lucius II Pope Lucius II (died 15 February 1145), born Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1144 to his death in 1145. His pontificate was notable for the unrest in Rome associated with ...

in 1183. It houses a panel of the ''Madonna d'Agosto'' and St. Thomas's skull. *'' San Benedetto'', built by the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

from the 7th century AD; it includes 13th and 16th centuries frescoes *''San Giovanni Evangelista'' (c. 9th century, rebuilt in the 13th century). It has 13th-15th century frescoes, including stories of ''St. Catherine'' (14th century), a ''Madonna with Child'' (15th century) *''San Tommaso d'Aquino'' (13th century) *''San Nicola'' (13th century) Lay buildings include the ''Villa Gallio'', a residence of Cardinal

Bartolomeo Gallio Tolomeo Gallio (also spelled Gallo and Galli; 25 September 1527 – 3 or 4 February 1607) was an Italian Cardinal. Biography In the time of Pope Gregory XIII, he acted as papal secretary of state (in office 1572 to 1585), having a key role ...

, the Communal Palace (13th century), with the Dolphin Fountain by Giuseppe Olivieri and the ''Porta San Marco'' and ''Porta Posterola'', the only remains of the seven gates once giving access to Priverno. Remains of the old ''Privernum'' are outside the town, including parts of the walls, baths, three patrician houses and a temple. Here a colossal statue of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

(now in the

Vatican Museum The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

) was found in the late 18th century.

Notable people

Alice Urciuolo Alice Urciuolo (born 1994) is an Italian screenwriter and author. She is best known for co-creating and writing the Amazon Prime Video series ''Prisma''. She also co-wrote the teen drama television series ''Skam Italia'' and the Netflix comedy d ...

(born 1994), screenwriter and author

References

External links

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