Cannaiola is a village of 730 inhabitants in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
province of Perugia
The Province of Perugia ( it, Provincia di Perugia) is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia. The province covered al ...
in east central
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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in the floodplain of the
Clitunno River
The Clitunno, in Antiquity the Clitumnus, is a river in Umbria, Italy. The name is of uncertain origin, but it was also borne by the river god. The Clitunno rises from a spring within a dozen metres of the ancient Via Flaminia near the town of ...
; altitude 218 m (715 ft) above sea-level. It is a ''
frazione
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 the ''
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 also ...
'' of
Trevi
The area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) is a collection of justice as well as migration & home affairs policies designed to ensure security, rights and free movement within the European Union (EU). Fields covered include the harmonisati ...
, which lies 3.5 km (about 2 mi) to the east.
History and main sights
The origin of the town's name is, strictly speaking, unknown; but the two most likely possibilities have to do with water: Latin ''canna'', rushes, or Italian ''cannaviola'', canal; an indication of the rôle of water in the town's history.
Cannaiola dates to the 13c when a tributary of the Clitunno, a creek called the Tatarena, was shifted west to its present course and the people who had been living closer to the foot of Trevi's hill, but in an unhealthy location, found a place ready-made for them, a few meters higher than their old homes: the old bed of the Tatarena is now the main street of Cannaiola.
Cannaiola must have been quite small until the 19th or 20th century, since it regularly fails to appear in detailed 17th- and 18th-century maps of the creeks and villages of the plain between Trevi and
Montefalco
Montefalco is a historic small hill town in Umbria, Italy, with a population of 5,581 in August 2017. It has been settled since pre-Roman times, and retains many of its historic buildings. From 1446 to 1861 it was part of the Papal States. Montef ...
. It did have, however, at least two churches that are now vanished: a chapel of S. Niccolò di Bari, demolished in 1869 in spite of its 15c frescoes; and a church of S. Francesco di Paola, which was at La Cuccia near the Maroggia river about 1 km away — although its precise location is now unknown.
Three churches remain: the parish church of St. Michael, since 1988 also known as the Sanctuary of the Bl. Pietro Bonilli, who was its pastor for many years in the late 19th century; and the two much smaller churches of S. Antonio Abate and of S. Fedele di Sigmaringen.
References
*Incorporates text from Bill Thayer's site, by permission.
External links
Bill Thayer's page
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Umbria
Frazioni of the Province of Perugia