Nettuno

This article is about the Italian town near Rome. For the Italian word for Neptune, see Neptune (disambiguation).
Nettuno
Comune
Città di Nettuno

Panorama of Nettuno

Coat of arms
Nettuno

Location of Nettuno in Italy

Coordinates: 41°27′27″N 12°39′40″E / 41.45750°N 12.66111°E / 41.45750; 12.66111Coordinates: 41°27′27″N 12°39′40″E / 41.45750°N 12.66111°E / 41.45750; 12.66111
Country Italy
Region Lazio
Province / Metropolitan city Rome
Frazioni Acciarella, Cadolino, Canala, Cioccati, Cretarossa, Eschieto, Falasche Nord, Grugnole, Ospedaletto, Padiglione, Piscina Cardillo, Pocacqua, Sandalo Di Levante, Sandalo di Ponente, San Giacomo, Scacciapensieri, Tre Cancelli, Zucchetti
Government
 • Mayor Angelo Casto
Area
 • Total 71.460 km2 (27.591 sq mi)
Elevation 11 m (36 ft)
Population (31 December 2015)
 • Total 49,157
 • Density 690/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Nettunesi
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 00048
Dialing code 06
Patron saint Madonna delle Grazie
Website Official website

Nettuno is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Rome. A resort city and agricultural center on the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Mediterranean Sea it has a population of approximately 46,000.

Its name is perhaps in honour of the Roman god Neptune.

Economy

It has a touristic harbour hosting about 860 boats and a shopping center,selling everything for fishing and sailing. There is also an extensive yacht club.

Nettuno is the city of the D.O.C. wine Cacchione.

Nettuno has one of the biggest bases for the Italian Force, whose territory extends to the Province of Latina, and one of the most important Italian Police Schools, where especially police dogs are trained.

Nettuno is one stop south of Anzio on the local train from Rome.

History

According to a theory, the town would be a direct survival of the Roman Antium, which territory almost entirely corresponded to Nettuno and modern Anzio.[1] Giuseppe Tomassetti considered Nettuno the real heir and continuer settlement of the ancient Antiates.[2] Instead Beatrice Cacciotti doubted about an ancient and not medieval origin of the town.[3]

Indeed, Nettuno and nearby Anzio were the theatre of an Allied forces landing and the ensuing Anzio-Nettuno battle during World War II: the Operation Shingle.[4] American forces (5th Army) were surrounded by Germans in the caves of Pozzoli in February 1944 for a week, suffering heavy casualties.

Main sights

Nettuno is a popular tourist destination. Sights include a well-preserved old quarter, the Borgo Medievale, with mediaeval streets and small squares, and the Forte Sangallo, a castle built in 1503 by Renaissance architect Antonio da Sangallo the Elder.

Nettuno is also a center of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Maria Goretti, in which a crypt houses the mortal remains of the saint. The church keeps also a priceless polychromed wooden statue of Our Lady of Grace, which is honoured by the town with a procession every year the first Saturday of May. It was originally Our Lady of Ipswich, although it left England after the Reformation.

The privately owned Villa Costaguti-Borghese at Nettuno, built 1648, has extensive gardens in a landscape park designed about 1840, now protected as a nature reserve. The Borghese Gladiator was discovered at Nettuno.

At the north edge of town is the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, where over 7,800 U.S. soldiers are buried.[5]

Sport

Nettuno Baseball Club is one of the most important Italian baseball teams, often winner of the national championship. Baseball was taught to the local people by American soldiers after their landing in World War II.

People

Twin towns

References

  1. ↑ Paola Brandizzi Vittucci, Antium: Anzio e Nettuno in epoca romana, Roma, Bardi Editore, 2000. ISBN 88-85699-83-9
  2. ↑ Giuseppe Tomassetti, La Campagna romana antica, medioevale e moderna, vol. II, Roma, 1910
  3. ↑ Beatrice Cacciotti Cacciotti, Testimonianze di culti orientali ad Antium, in B. P. Benetucci (curator), Culti orientali tra scavo e collezionismo, Roma, Artemide, 2008
  4. ↑ Pietro Cappellari, Lo sbarco di Nettunia e la battaglia per Roma 22 gennaio – 4 giugno 1944, Herald Heditore, Roma 2010
  5. ↑ SICILY-ROME AMERICAN CEMETERY AND MEMORIAL Archived October 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.. Accessed 2009-05-25.
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