Lugnano in Teverina 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 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, located about 60 km south of

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

and about 25 km west of

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

. Lugnano in Teverina borders the following municipalities:

Alviano Alviano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Terni, Umbria, 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 Mediter ...

, Amelia,

Attigliano Attigliano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region Umbria, located about 70 km south of Perugia and about 30 km west of Terni. Attigliano has the lowest elevation of any municipality located in Umbria ...

Graffignano Graffignano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Latium, located about northwest of Rome and about northeast of Viterbo. Graffignano borders the following municipalities: Alviano, Attigliano, Bomarzo, ...

Main sights

The ancient Roman villa at Poggio Gramignano lay in the hills near the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

, 7 km from ancient Ameria in

n territory. It was a large luxurious

villa rustica Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...

with farm-estate attached. It has been partially excavated. It was built in the late 1st c. BC when it included large room (

oecus ''Oecus'' is the Latinized form of Greek ''oikos'', used by Vitruvius for the principal hall or salon in a Roman house, which was used occasionally as a triclinium for banquets. When of great size it became necessary to support its ceiling with c ...

) with supporting columns and a unique flat-top pyramidal ceiling; the foundations and soil of the hill could not support the great weight leading to collapse of the colonnade and other southern rooms around the early 2nd century AD; in the early 3rd century, walls and support buttresses were built to try to stop further slippage but from this time the villa began to fall into ruin although it was still partially occupied; in the mid 5th century many rooms were reused as a cemetery for at least 47 children up to 3 years old who died perhaps of malaria. Other sights: *''Palazzo Pennone'' *Palazzo of the Bufalari Counts *Church of ''Santa Maria Assunta '' *Convent of ''San Francesco ''

Necropolis

Nearby is the site known as the "Children's

Necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

", dating to the mid-5th century AD. The site includes the burial grounds of new-born and aborted fetuses. Some of the burials seem to have been so-called "

vampire burial A vampire burial or anti-vampire burial is a burial performed in a way which was believed to prevent the deceased from revenance in the form of a vampire or to prevent an "actual" vampire from revenance. Traditions, known from the medieval times ...

s". These burial practices, such as inserting a stone into the mouth of the deceased, have been interpreted as means to prevent the rising of the dead. Modern research has indicated that many of the burials were victims of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, a disease whose origins were unknown until the 19th century. Vampire burials may have been practiced in the hope that the spread of disease would be curtailed.

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Umbria Poggio Gramignano {{Umbria-geo-stub