Alvito is a town and ''
comune
A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' in central
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, in the
province of Frosinone
The province of Frosinone () is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of and a total population of 493,605 (2016). The province contains 91 ''comuni'' (: ''comune''), listed in the ...
, south of Rome in the
Lazio
Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
. Its territory is included in the
Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park.
History
Alvito was called in antiquity "Albetum", and was later a possession of the Counts of Aquino and the Cantelmo family.
Alvito was the seat of a
Duchy
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition.
There once existed an important differe ...
, created in 1454, on the boundary of the
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...
(later,
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...
). Alvito, together with
Sora, remained faithful to the
Angevine line during the conquest of
Alfonso V of Aragon
Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan language, Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his ...
, being conquered by the Aragonese only in 1496.
Later it was a possession of the
Gallio family.
Main sights
The village is articulated in three district urban nuclei that include: il Castello (fortress), il Peschio, La Valle, contained in long town-walls still well preserved here and there.
The Palazzo Ducale (or Palazzo Gallio, Ducal Palace), built in Renaissance style by
Tolomeo Gallio in the late 16th-early 17th centuries, is located on the main road of La Valle Suburb, constituting the true nucleus of the present village. On the same road are other important buildings (Palazzo Sipari, Palazzo Graziani,
Palazzo Panicali) of the 19th century. A little bit forward, on the left hand, a short small road goes uphill to the Church of S. Teresa, in a baroque style, with a high portal.
The main parish church,
San Simeone (16th century), is located in La Valle near the
Palazzo Sipari. The church has a Romanesque bell tower and an 18th-century interior. From the church, passing through a
Gothic gate, is a stairway leading to the deconsecrated monastery of San Nicolas, a former Franciscan institution. The monastery was nearly destroyed by the earthquake in 1915, restored in 1934: it has maintained the chorus and the inlaid cupboards of the 18th century, ordered by
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...
.
People
Alvito is the place of birth of:
*
Mario Equicola a
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
*
Antonio Fazio, former chairman of
Bank of Italy
The Bank of Italy (Italian language, Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', , informally referred to as ''Bankitalia'') is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Italy within the Eurosystem. It was the Italian central bank from ...
*
Erminio Sipari a
conservationist, founder and first president of
Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo
Twin towns
*
Alvito, Portugal
Gallery
File:Ruderi Castello Alviteo.jpg, Remains of the Alvito's fortress
File:Palazzo_Sipari.jpg, The main street with Palazzo Sipari
References
Cities and towns in Lazio
{{Latium-geo-stub