Sonnino is a town and ''

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 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

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

region of 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 is the birthplace of Italian national team footballer

Alessandro Altobelli Alessandro Altobelli (; born 28 November 1955) is a former professional Italian footballer who played as a forward, and who won the 1982 World Cup with Italy. Nicknamed ''Spillo'' ("Needle") for his slender build, Altobelli was a prolific goal ...

, and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Velasio de Paolis.

History

Originating in the Early Middle Ages (the name deriving perhaps from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''sommum'', meaning "top"), Sonnino is mentioned for the first time in a Papal bull from 999. It was held first by the De Sompnino, and was acquired by

Onorato I Caetani Onorato I Caetani ( 1336 – 20 April 1400) was an Italian nobleman, who was the count of Fondi from 1348 and the Great Conestable of the Kingdom of Naples also from 1348. He was also lord of Sermoneta, Bassiano, Marino and also Senator of Rome f ...

in 1369. The castle was inhabited by the

Caetani The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family, originally from the city of Gaeta, connected by some to the lineage of the lords of the Duchy of Gaeta, as well as to the patrician Gaetani of the Republic of Pisa. It play ...

d'Aragona until they sold it in 1469 to the

Colonna The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and politic ...

, who were later followed by the Antonelli and the Talani families. In July 1819 Cardinal

Ercole Consalvi Ercole Consalvi (8 June 1757 – 24 January 1824) was a deacon and cardinal of the Catholic Church, who served twice as Cardinal Secretary of State for the Papal States and who played a crucial role in the post-Napoleonic reassertion of the le ...

, Secretary of State at the Vatican, ordered Sonnino to be razed to the ground as it had become a notorious haunt of the banditi in the Campagna di Roma.

Twin towns

Eysines Eysines (; oc, Aisinas) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. Population Notable people linked to the commune * Julien Courbet, born 7 February 1965, French journalist, television presenter and producer * Jean-Cl ...

, France, since 1997 *

Kanal ob Soči Kanal ( or ; it, Canale, german: Kanalburg), frequently referred to as Kanal ob Soči ("Kanal on the Soča"; or ; it, Canale d'Isonzo), is a settlement mostly on the left bank of the Soča River in the Slovene Littoral, the traditional regi ...

, Slovenia, since 2003 *

Binasco Binasco ( lmo, Binasch ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southwest of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,236 and an area of .All demographics and other stat ...

, Italy, since 2009

References

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