Maenza 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 Latina The Province of Latina ( it, Provincia di Latina) is an area of local government at the level of province in the Republic of Italy. It is one of five provinces that form the region of Lazio. The provincial capital is the city of Latina. It is bor ...

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 ...

region

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

, located about southeast of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and about east of

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

. It is home to a castle, originally built as a watchtower in the 12th-13th centuries, and enlarged in the 16th century. In an effort to bring in new residents, it is selling abandoned houses for €1 if buyers commit to renovations. Maenza borders the following municipalities: Carpineto Romano,

Giuliano di Roma Giuliano di Roma (Central-Northern Latian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about southwest of Frosinone. Blessed Maria Caterina Troiani Maria Cateri ...

Priverno Priverno is a town, ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy. It was called ''Piperno'' until 1927. It has a station of the Rome-Naples railway mainline. Nearby is the Monti Lepini chain. It was the birthplace of the canonist Regi ...

Prossedi Prossedi (locally ''Prussedi'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Latina in the Italy, Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about east of Latina, Lazio, Latina. Prossedi borders the following municipalities: ...

, Roccagorga,

Supino Supino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about west of Frosinone. Supino borders the following municipalities: Carpineto Romano, Ferentino, Frosinone, Giu ...

History

When the ancient

Volsci 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 ...

city of ''Privernum'' (Ita:

) was destroyed by Saracen raids in the 9th Century A.D., the city’s population was dispersed and merged with groups of Germanic peoples who had entered Italy at the fall of the Western Roman Empire. These new integrated populations would not fit within the walls of the old city of Priverno, so they populated a number of new towns, of which Maenza was one. The names of many of the leading aristocratic families show the influence of the Germanic newcomers to the area. For most of its history, like dozens of towns in central Italy, Maenza alternated between being under the feudal lords of strong aristocratic families and being a 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 ...

. The town lost its status as 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 ...

'' in 1928 (being attached to Priverno instead), but its status as a ''comune'' was restored in 1947.

References

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