Matigge is a village of 1095 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) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, located at 294 m (965 ft) above sea-level on the lower flank of Mt. Puranno, 42°54N 12°44E. 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

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 km (2 mi) to the south.

History and main sights

The origin of the town's name is unknown, but may derive from Latin ''(villa) Matidiae'':

Matidia Minor Mindia Matidia or Vibia Matidia or Matidia Minor (''Minor'' Latin for ''the younger'', 85 – after 161) was a Roman imperial woman in the early second century AD. She was related to several ancient Roman Emperors, as a great-niece to Trajan and ...

. Matidia Minor was a noble Roman woman, a distant cousin and sister-in-law of Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

. This town is also named after Matidia's mother

Salonia Matidia Salonia Matidia (4 July 68 – 23 December 119) was the daughter and only child of Ulpia Marciana and wealthy praetor Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus. Her maternal uncle was the Roman emperor Trajan. Trajan had no children and treated her like ...

and her late maternal grandfather

Praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus (died 78) was a Roman Senator who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century during the reign of Vespasian (r. 69–79). Life Patruinus came from a wealthy family of Vicetia (modern Vicenza, northern Italy ...

. Matidia was known to have had a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

in Umbria and Matidia was a wealthy and socially conscious woman, responsible for one of the grander building schemes in Ostia. Hadrian restored a large chunk of the Umbrian Via Flaminia in AD 123‑124; it is thus an appealing, if unproven, theory, that Hadrian would have had the need for restoring the road personally brought home to him as he travelled it back and forth to his daughter's hypothetical villa. Matigge does in fact boast of Roman remains: traces of small Roman roads, and significant Roman

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...

used in the construction of the attractive Romanesque church of S. Donato. A second small Romanesque church in town is S. Niccolò.

References

*Incorporates text from Bill Thayer's website, by permission.

External links

Matigge
(Bill Thayer's site) {{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Perugia Roman sites of Umbria Cities and towns in Umbria