Isola del Liri (simply known as ''Isola Liri'',

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian s ...

: ) is an Italian town of

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

, Italy, 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 ...

. As its name implies, Isola is situated between two arms of the

Liri The Liri (Latin Liris or Lyris, previously, Clanis; Greek: ) is one of the principal rivers of central Italy, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea a little below Minturno under the name Garigliano. Source and route The Liri's source is in the Mon ...

. The many waterfalls of this river and of the Fibreno are used by factories.

History

Volscan The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

origin, after the fall of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

Isola del Liri was ruled by the Byzantines and then the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

. In the early Middle Ages the town was, alternatively, under the rule of the Byzantines and the

, until it became part of the county of Sora in the

Principality of Capua The Principality of Capua ( la, italic=yes, Principatus Capuae or ''Capue'', it, italic=yes, Principato di Capua) was a Lombard state centred on Capua in Southern Italy, usually ''de facto'' independent, but under the varying suzerainty of Ho ...

. Isola del Liri was the feud of the dell'Isola (de Insulae) family from the 12th century to the 14th century. Members of the family include Roffredo dell'Isola, Abbot of Monte Cassino, Count d'Arce, and Bartholomew dell'Isola who enjoyed the honors in the seat of Capuano Naples. At the end of the 14th century, Isola del Liri was ceded to the Cantelmo family. Later it was part of the

Duchy of Sora The Duchy of Sora was a semi-independent state in Italy, created in 1443 by King Alfonso I of Naples and dissolved in 1796. It occupied the south-eastern part of what is today Lazio, bordering what is now Abruzzo. Its capital was first Sora, an ...

, becoming a ducal seat under the

Boncompagni The Boncompagni is a princely family of the Italian nobility who settled in Bologna around the 14th century, but which was probably originally from Umbria. In 1572 they obtained the papal throne thanks to Ugo Boncompagni, who, with the name of P ...

family. In 1796 it was annexed to 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 ...

. It was once in the old

Terra di Lavoro Terra di Lavoro (Liburia in Latin) is the name of a historical region of Southern Italy. It corresponds roughly to the modern southern Lazio and northern Campania and upper north west and west border area of Molise regions of Italy. In Italian th ...

region of

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, but was transferred to the Lazio during the Fascist period.

Main sights

The town's main sight is the Castello Boncompagni-Viscogliosi, a fortified palace near two waterfalls, Cascata Grande and Cascata del Valcatoio, each about high, and a bridge on river. It is mentioned for the first time in 1100. After the acquisition of the

by the

della Rovere The House of Della Rovere (; literally "of the oak tree") was a noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estat ...

family, it became one of their main residences. It was also housed by their successors as dukes, the

; in the 17th century

Costanza Sforza Costanza is a feminine given name and a surname. It may refer to: People Given name *Costanza d'Avalos, Duchess of Francavilla (1460–1541) * Costanza Bonaccorsi (born 1994), Italian canoeist * Costanza Chiaramonte (1377–1423), Neapolitan nobl ...

turned into a luxurious palace, with biblica frescoes and basreliefs of the duchy's lands, as well as a garden. About north of the town is the church of San Domenico, erected in the 12th century, which is said to mark the site of the villa of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

Culture

Isola del Liri is the seat of the eponymous blues festival since 1988. ''Liri Blues'' is an international festival has been free ever since its first year. Liri Blues is an event that happens every year during a week in July. Concerts are held in the main square (Piazza Boncompagni), in the streets and jam sessions happen late at night. In 1997, for the 10th edition of the festival, the town of Isola del Liri signed a twinning with the city of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

(Louisiana, USA).

Twin towns

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

Main sights

Culture

Twin towns

References

Sources

See also