Suio is a ''frazione'' (rural borough) of

Castelforte Castelforte is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located at the feet of the Monti Aurunci massif. History Castelforte was founded most likely before the year 1000 AD. According to some sch ...

, a municipality in southern

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whi ...

, 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 ...

Overview

It is located on the northernmost slopes of the

Monti Aurunci The Monti Aurunci (or Aurunci Mountains) is a mountain range of southern Lazio, in central Italy. It is part of the Antiappennini, a group running from the Apennines chain to the Tyrrhenian Sea, where it forms the promontory of Gaeta. It is boun ...

, near the

Garigliano The Garigliano () is a river in central Italy. It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri"). ...

river, and is composed of two villages: Suio Paese (or Suio Alto), situated on a hill with a medieval castle, and Forma di Suio, at the feet of the castle, in a location where thermal baths exists. The latter were mentioned since ancient times by writers such as

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

and

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...

(Suio was a center of the

Aurunci The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC. Identity Aurunci is the na ...

before the Roman conquest), and were frequented until the late Roman imperial times. Bath tourism became again active after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Part of the Battle of the Garigliano (1503) was fought nearby. Other sights include the 13th century church of Santa Maria in Pensulis, which was perhaps built over a Roman villa, and was originally owned by the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

, and the 15th century church of San Michele Arcangelo, at Suio Alto.

Thermal Baths

The thermal baths are situated along the Garigliano River and are a result of volcanic activity causing natural bubbling springs to occur. During the summer and spring months the hot springs are a common local spot. The baths' water is high in sulfur and mineral deposits from the volcanic activity. These water qualities are thought to have beneficial effects on the skin by the local population, one of the reasons for its popularity.

References

Sources

* {{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Latina Spa towns in Italy Ancient Roman baths in Italy Roman sites in Italy