Fiuggi ( Central-Northern Latian dialect: ) is a ''

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 ...

'' (municipality) in the

province of Frosinone The Province of Frosinone ( it, Provincia di Frosinone) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy, with 91 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune''; see Comuni of the Province of Frosinone). Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of ...

in the region of

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The town of Fiuggi became famous for its Acqua di Fiuggi (Fiuggi Water) which flows from its natural springs and mountains. The water has been used in Italy since as early as the 14th century and is famous for its purported healing properties.

History

Fiuggi, originally called Anticoli di Campagna, gained fame as early as the 14th century, when

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of b ...

claimed his kidney stones had been healed by the mineral waters from the nearby Fiuggi spring. Two centuries later

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

also extolled the virtues of the water that cured him of what he called "the only kind of stone I couldn't love." Soon ''Acqua di Fiuggi'' was being sent in bottles to all of Europe's royalty. Not until the turn of the 20th century did it become fashionable to make pilgrimages to

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...

s, and it was around this time that the King of Italy renamed Anticoli in honor of its most celebrated attraction - The Fiuggi Water. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Fiuggi and many nearby hill towns were part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. Unlike its neighbors, Anticoli di Campagna provided a source of revenue through the sales of its miraculous waters, and so it was often "bestowed" upon noble families in payment for services rendered. Sometimes these aristocrats didn't bother to visit the town, but they always sent a delegate to make sure none, or few, of the profits stayed in town. These upper-class outsiders slowly covered the original medieval walls with painted plaster similar to that found in present-day Rome, changing the appearance of the town. Today a very active group of local residents is slowly restoring the stone façades in an effort to restore the city to its medieval form.

Acqua di Fiuggi

The Acqua di Fiuggi ("Fiuggi's Water") source runs through ancient volcanic deposits in the Ernici mountains which has an ecosystem that has historically been unaltered by humans. In Europe it is classified as an Oligomineral water, and has been proven to contain certain components of the "humic substance" group which, it is claimed, gives the water its health benefits.

Main sights

Fiuggi is a divided into two parts, the upper and lower. The area where the springs are located is called new Fiuggi, or Fiuggi Fonte at the base of the hill (it was developed during the Middle Ages so it is not all that new). The upper part, or old Fiuggi, is above sea level. The natives call it "Fiuggi Citta". Fiuggi Città is a medieval fortified village, which was around even before Roman times Main attractions include: *Fonte Bonifacio *Fonte Anticolana *Terme di Fiuggi - Spa and Golf center *The tiny church of ''Santa Maria del Colle'' *The church of ''San Biagio'', which even if it was rebuilt in the 17th century, it still preserves some fresco paintings of Giotto's scholars. *The cast iron fountain in ''Piazza Piave'', erected in 1907 to celebrate the arrival of running water in this town that owes its very existence to the abundant springs running below the hill. *The ornate ''Palazzo Falconi'', at the center of the ancient town. To this building it is linked the legend that also Napoleon Bonaparte has slept here. *The former Grand Hotel, now the municipal theatre. *The church of "San Pietro" built on the ruins of the ancient castle. The actual bell tower was one of the tower of the former castle. Fiuggi is home to several spas that incorporate the Fiuggi water as part of their hydrotherapy treatment.

Culture

The town is linked with the legend of the ''stuzze'', in which St. Blaise, in order to save the town from the assault of enemy troop, had fake flames appear on the town, deceiving the invaders and convincing them that the town had been already sacked. The miracle is today celebrated every 2 February when wooden pyramids are burned in the principal square of the town to remember the event.

Dialect

The local dialect is a variant of the

Central Italian Central Italian (Italian: ''dialetti mediani'') refers to Italo-Romance varieties spoken in the so-called ''Area Mediana'', which covers a swathe of the central Italian peninsula. ''Area Mediana'' is also used in a narrower sense to describe the ...

dialect. Specifically, the city is in the

Central-Northern Latian {{short description, Central Italian dialect The Central-Northern Latian dialect (''Laziale centro-settentrionale'') is an Italian dialect belonging to the Central Italian dialects, of which it represents the southern offshoot. Territory It is ...

area.

Twin towns

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

, Germany *

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

, Dominican Republic *

Tarrafal de São Nicolau Tarrafal may refer to several locations in Cape Verde: * Tarrafal, Cape Verde, a town on the island of Santiago * Tarrafal, Cape Verde (municipality), a municipality on the island of Santiago * Tarrafal de São Nicolau, Cape Verde, a town on the is ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

Canistro Canistro is a ''comune'' (municipality) and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. Geography Canistro, located in the Roveto valley, borders to the north with Capistrello and the ''frazione'' of Pescocanale, to ...

, ItalyGemellaggio tra Canistro e Fiuggi
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References

External links

Travel Italy Video - Fiuggi

{{authority control Cities and towns in Lazio