Tofo-Sant'Eleuterio is a small village in the

province of Teramo The province of Teramo (; Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: ') is a provinces of Italy, province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Teramo. The province has an area of , a population of 313,029 (2012), and is subdivided into ...

, in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

region of central Italy. It is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...

'' of the ''

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 ...

'' of

Teramo Teramo (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Italia) and the Adriatic coast. Th ...

. The inhabitants are known as ''Tofesi''.

Geography

Tofo-Sant'Eleuterio lies about 10 km from Teramo, at an elevation of 250 m. It has two parts, Villa Tofo higher up, and Sant'Eleuterio below. The former is located on a hill from which one can see in the distance the

Gran Sasso Gran Sasso d'Italia (; ) is a massif in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Its highest peak, Corno Grande , is the highest mountain in the Apennines, and the second-highest mountain in Italy outside the Alps. The mountain lies within Gran Sasso ...

, the highest peak in the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

, as well as another peak, Montagna dei Fiori. According to tradition, Villa Tofo is named after the nearby

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

rocks. The latter village takes its name from its patron, Saint Eleutherius, the thirteenth pope. A church in the town is named in his honor. About one mile from the village is the provincial road ''Fonte a Collina'' ("from the spring to the hill") which from Fiumicino (a village near

San Nicolò a Tordino San Nicolò a Tordino is a frazione in the Province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Frazioni of the Province of Teramo {{Abruzzo-geo-stub ...

in the commune of Teramo) leads to Sant'Onofrio in the commune of

Campli Campli (Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: ') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is located in the natural park known as the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. It is one of I Borgh ...

. The town is adjacent to a ridge of the Fiumicino torrent, a tributary on the left bank of the Tordino river.

History

Historical records dating back to the 14th century document the presence of

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Monastery near Tofo on the banks of the Fiumicino. Few traces of this dwelling remain. Beginning in the early 20th century, Tofo-Sant'Eleuterio entered a period of significant development. During the fascist period an elementary school, which had been housed in a private home, was constructed. A church dedicated to the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

was constructed during the mid 1960s. The church is by no means grandiose and was constructed in large part through the hard labor and economic support of the local citizens. Portions of the building materials were taken from the ruins of a nearby colonial bishopric tribunal dwelling. Mario Cerino, from

Monticelli Monticelli may refer to: Places in Italy ;Municipalities (''comuni'') * Monticelli Brusati, in the Province of Brescia * Monticelli d'Ongina, in the Province of Piacenza * Monticelli Pavese, in the Province of Pavia * Monte San Biagio, in the ...

(another village in the commune of Teramo), donated the land where the church now stands. Surveys, designs andgeneral contracting services were carried out under the auspices of Giovanni Di Felice. In the 1960s the village began to industrialize more heavily.

Notes and references

{{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Teramo Cities and towns in Abruzzo