Priverno is a town, ''

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 the province of Latina,

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

, 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 ...

. It was called ''Piperno'' until 1927. It has a station of the Rome-Naples railway mainline. Nearby is the

Monti Lepini The Monti Lepini (Italian: Lepini mountains) are a mountain range which belongs to the Anti-Apennines of the Lazio region of central Italy, between the two provinces of Latina and Rome. The range borders to the north with the Colli Albani, to th ...

chain. It was the birthplace of the canonist

Reginald of Piperno Reginald of Piperno (or Reginald of Priverno) was an Italian Dominican, theologian and companion of St. Thomas Aquinas. Biography Reginald was born at Piperno about 1230. Since 1927 this town of the Lazio region in central Italy is Priverno. H ...

History

''Privernum'' is described by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

as a flourishing

Volscian Volscian was a Sabellic Italic language, which was spoken by the Volsci and closely related to Oscan and Umbrian. Overview Volscian is attested in an inscription found in Velitrae (Velletri), dating probably from early in the 3rd century BC; it ...

site, which was conquered and destroyed by the Romans in the late 4th century BC. The

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is ...

passed nearby. The town recovered under the Roman rule, but disappeared 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 ...

, probably destroyed by

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

attacks. It was later a minor center 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 ...

, to which it belonged until the

capture of Rome The Capture of Rome ( it, Presa di Roma) on 20 September 1870 was the final event of the unification of Italy (''Risorgimento''), marking both the final defeat of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX and the unification of the Italian Peninsula ...

in 1870.

Main sights

Nearby is the

Abbey of Fossanova Fossanova Abbey, earlier Fossa Nuova, is a church that was formerly a Cistercian abbey located near the railway-station of Priverno in Latina, Italy, about south-east of Rome. History Fossanova is one of the finest examples of early Burgundia ...

, which is where the town's patron saint, St. Thomas Aquinas died on 7 March 1274. Other churches include: *''Santa Maria Assunta'' (former Cathedral), consecrated by Pope Lucius II in 1183. It houses a panel of the ''Madonna d'Agosto'' and St. Thomas's skull. *'' San Benedetto'', built by the

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

from the 7th century AD; it includes 13th and 16th centuries frescoes *''San Giovanni Evangelista'' (c. 9th century, rebuilt in the 13th century). It has 13th-15th century frescoes, including stories of ''St. Catherine'' (14th century), a ''Madonna with Child'' (15th century) *''San Tommaso d'Aquino'' (13th century) *''San Nicola'' (13th century) Lay buildings include the ''Villa Gallio'', a residence of Cardinal

Bartolomeo Gallio Tolomeo Gallio (also spelled Gallo and Galli; 25 September 1527 – 3 or 4 February 1607) was an Italian Cardinal. Biography In the time of Pope Gregory XIII, he acted as papal secretary of state (in office 1572 to 1585), having a key role i ...

, the Communal Palace (13th century), with the Dolphin Fountain by

Giuseppe Olivieri Giuseppe Olivieri (28 February 1889 – 22 May 1973) was an Italian racing cyclist. He won stage 1 of the 1920 Giro d'Italia. Career He started his career as a track cyclist in Marseille, where he moved with his family. He accomplished the ...

and the ''Porta San Marco'' and ''Porta Posterola'', the only remains of the seven gates once giving access to Priverno. Remains of the old ''Privernum'' are outside the town, including parts of the walls, baths, three patrician houses and a temple. Here a colossal statue of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

(now in the

Vatican Museum The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

) was found in the late 18th century.

References

External links

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