Casalattico                          panorama

La valle Di Comino

see:          

San Andrea

San Andrea

Casalattico

Map of The Villages within the Valle de Comino.  Our village is San Andrea.

                                          Luigi Fusciardi is     6Th from the  left.

1927 inauguration of the Province of Frosinone, representatives from casalattico including my       grandfather Luigi Fuciardi.   for a better photo of these shown here go to        www.edmundspictures.co.uk        My  Grandfather Luigi Fusciardi was a representative of          SanAndrea.

The Province of Frosinone. Italy.    The territory currently comprised within the province of                                    Frosinone is a medley of cultures and civilizations. Among its many resources, most of                                               which unknown, there is a wealth of great people, who were born in this land. They are so                                          great that the definition 'illustrious'   hardly suits them, as they excel among the excellent.                              Thus, in this outline list of great people born in  the province many will unfortunately be missing for                                                 lack of space, since it can only allocate the most     famous and important. Among those                                           who contributed to the history of ancient Rome, we cite four   notable which lead a                                numerous group of soldiers, politicians, philosophers and writers: 

Caius Marius, one of the most controversial and successful Roman consuls,                                           expert of warfare, was born in 156 BC to a humble family of the Roman                                         countryside, the gens Maria belonging to the equestrian order.

Marcus Tullius Cicero was born also at Arpino on January, 3rd 106 BC.                The history of the Roman thinking and politics converges in the life of this excellent mind as              in that of few other thinkers of the past.

Decimus Junius Juvenal, born in 55 BC at Arpino, is one of the major                                         writers of ancient Rome.

Marcus Vipsanio Agrippa, born in 63 BC in Arpino's countryside, was a very                                     famous commander and Octavianus' adviser; its feature are impressed on                                              many coins and a range of statues devoted to him was erected in the most                   prestigious places in Rome. To him goes the credit for the building of the Pantheon. Many are the                       illustrious Ciociarian people in the history of the church: the first Ciociarian Pope who                                 was to become saint is Ormisda. He was born in Frosinone at the end of 4th cent. AD. It was                                           elected Pope on July 20th, 514. He is credited with the reconciliation between the Greek                                                      and the Latin church.

His son Silverio, elected Pope on June 8th, 536, was born at Ceccano.

Innocence III was born at Anagni in 1160 and became pope on January                                              8th, 1198. Gregorius IX, a relative of Innocence III, became pope on March 19th, 1227; he was born at                                        Anagni on September 1st, 1230.

Boniface VIII, the most famous of the Anagni's popes, was born in the                                       Ciociarian town in 1235. He was chosen as a pope on December 24th,                                        1294, and proclaimed the first Jubilee. He has been made immortal by                                        Dante in its work Divine Commedy. Leon XIII was born on March 2nd,                                             1810 at Carpineto, a Ciociarian land in every sense, though not part of                                                the province of Frosinone. His Latin poems are famous. Ciociaria had                                           been also the birthland of one of most important men of the church:

St. Thomas Aquinas, the Doctor Angelicus, son of Landolfo,a local lord,                                                was born at Roccasecca in 1225. Leon XIII in the encyclical 'Aeterni Patris'                 proclaimed him patron saint of all Catholic schools. The 1918 Canon Law Code and the                                         apostolic Constitution 'Deus scientiarum dominus' impose its principles                                            and methods in the formation of priests. A mention,

brief, must be made for Cesare Baronio, the cardinal of Sora who was the                                   favourite pupil of St Filippo Neri. Its 'Annals', extremely important, are kept in a original                                     amanuensis copy in the Vatican Library. The cultural movements of the end of the 16th                                           century see among its great a Ciociarian humanist, born at Veroli, who was an eminent                                            scholar: his name is

Antonio della Valle , better known as Aonio Paleario. Among  scholars and patriots we           recall the most acclaimed of a long list:Luigi Anginoni born at Frosinone on November 9th, 1759 was a                                       magistrate during the Roman Republic. He was the first Italian scholar to promote the                                        federalism; in his work 'Over the order' he advocated a federal Italian unification on the                                              Swiss model. Nicola Ricciotti, was born at Frosinone on June 11th, 1797, became famous                           as a patriot in the whole of Italy. As final act of his fight, he took part to the expedition of the Bandiera                                     brothers.

The eminent philosopher Antonio Labriola was born at Cassino on                                                      July 2nd ,1843. One of the first Italian marxists, his thinking has been                                            celebrated in the universities of the whole world. A brief mention for some of the most important Ciociarian musicians:

Severino Gazzelloni, born at Roccasecca, is one of the most famous of the 20th century.                     Licio Refice, born at Patrica on February 12th, 1885, is the author of such an acclaimed work as                                          'Margherita da Cortona'. Daniele Paris, born at Frosinone, is one of the major directors of               contemporary music and one of the most renowned composers of music tracks in the 70s. He is also the founder                   of Frosinone Academy of Music. Among the artists we cite only two names as representatives of a range              of eminent people: Giuseppe Cesari, known as the Cavalier d'Arpino, was born at Arpino where many of its                                          works are to be found; he was also called in Rome to fresco, among other things,                                                        also some of the Basilicas.

Umberto Mastroianni, a native of Fontana Liri, is one of the major sculptors at worldwide level of the 20th century.

Remarkably important and a great innovator of the architecture design and the stage designing is Antonio Valente from Sora. In Rome his figure is still acclaimed and expositions of his sketches are organized. As many as eleven university thesis have been made on his work. The cinema world owes much to the Ciociaria. Numerous are the personalities who deserve to be named.

Let us go stright to point without adding any presentation in recalling the figures of Marcello Mastroianni, from Fontana Liri;

Vittorio De Sica

Lord Forte                                   (Casalattico),      MORTALE which                                                           

WHOS WHO  Charles was honoured to have his birth village renamed after him. From Mortale to                   MonForte.

today, Montattico,s district is very well known  since, situated a few kilometres away from Mortale      (renamed Monforte) the place where Lord Forte was born, and where he retires regularly from    his      English  residence.and Antonio Fazio, currently the governor of the Bank of Italy, who was born and                                          lives at Alvito.  the houses were built over the rest of the villa of Pomponio Attico, Cicero’s father in law. Only         around 1059 the Counts of Marsi built the castle called Montattico. 
 Montattico was part  of the Arpino,s  County and successively part of Sora,s  Dukedom  ( Duchy).                    Casalattico territory, essentially montane and rich of extensive           woods, for many  centuries was   mixed up (confused) with the nearby  wider territory of                                Casalvieri, and this until 1811, when , with the ( Commissar=hystorical) Commissioner order,                                                                        

 Art and Mystery
Castles and Fortifications 

Ciociaria is characterized by the presence of numerous castles. During the Middle Ages, the  territory was upset by frequent incursions of enemy forces, in particular the Saracens in the  9th century; but also by endless quarrels among  powerful families, which caused the construction  of the so-called castra, namely fortified centres.
Fumone may be considered a rare example of perfectly conserved medieval structures. Buildings and houses, once towers, developed around the stronghold, which stood in the middle, and are still  enclosed by the ancient original boundary. The castrum was, in the past centuries, a castle of the  Church and a State prison for its enemies. It was a strategic post, since smoke signals, from the principal tower, were made to warn Rome of impending dangers. The castrum of Vico nel Lazio,  called the “Carcassonne” of Ciociaria is also an interesting sight. Nowadays you can still admire  its defensive system, made up of 25 rectangular embattled towers, around 17 metres  high , and  perfectly conserved gateways. It was a strategic point, very well connected with the main roads  Sublacense and Latina.
Overlooking a great part of the Anticolana Valley and the surrounding hills, Torre Cajetani was initially born as an isolated look-out tower. The built-up area developed only afterwards. Bought by Pope Boniface VIII and the Caetani family in 1295, the castrum came back to the Teofilattos, who are still nowadays the owners of the castle. The four-sided  stronghold resting  on  more than a point on the rocks,     develops around the central donjon, reaching the height of around 19 m. Enclosed by fortifications and provided with bulwarks, the castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano belonged to the Earls  d’Aquino. It was not conquered until 1494, when Charles VIII, on his way to take Naples, seriously  damaged it. Two imposing towers, one of which pentagonal and the other squared, are part of the structure                         partially rebuilt in the 16th cent. A remarkable feature  is the chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, traditionally considered as the prison of the Angelicus.
The private castle of Boncompagni-Viscogliosi rises over the waterfall in the centre of Isola del  Liri. The castle of S. Casto in Sora is a Longobard fortified structure (7th cent.). It rises on the  namesake  hill in a strategic position between Abruzzi (Avezzano) and the Liri Valley. Its mighty walls supported by different shaped fortified structures are still visible. In the courtyard there is a large cistern, which was used as a shelter in case of enemy attacks, and a chapel dedicated to the Saints  Casto and Cassio. The walk that one has to take up to the castle is very interesting and is part of many itineraries. The castle of Vicalvi (12th cent.) is a magnificent example of Longobard  Defended by very high walls and square towers, it is clearly visible from afar. Counts d’Aquino also built the castles of Roccasecca and Alvito. Although they are both in ruins, they conserve their Medieval charm. The castle of Alvito was destroyed in the earthquake  of 1349 and rebuilt by the Cantelmos. The battlement in front of the main gate, the imposing portal,  the windows of the large central Hall overlooking the Comino Valley are still visible. Other fortresses in ruins  but worth of visiting are the castles of Esperia and Ausonia. Their great strategical location between  Gaeta and Montecassino was of a tremendous civil and military importance, especially in the period of Norman and Swabian domination.

Montattico, a village of some importance at the top of a mountain.  Pomponius Atticus was a roman        multimillionaire who used his money to win friends and influence, this included the great roman                               writer and statesman cicero.  They were not related.  2000 years ago Rome would get very hot and               smelly in summer and Pomponius Atticus would retire to one of his many villas of which Montattico was one.  He had got his name Atticus from the period he had been governor of the greek province of Attica where he                                  amassed his millons.  He brought back Greek slaves and many Montattacesi have greek looks and                    names eg Macari = makarios.  Padre Edmondo of blessed memory after whom you were named discovered an                        ancient stone in the hillside just above the Camposanto (cemetery) and about fifty feet under Mortale.                                    He climbed up to it and took a rubbings of the inscription.  It was in Latin and in Greek.   It describes                                 how Pomponius Atticus had built a road up the mountain at his own expense.  This road is believed                           to have run roughly from San Lazzaro to the Lesche along the mountain to Santa Caterina and up to                             where the stone is and towards Montattico.

St Benedict.
He was born in the territory of Norcia, in 480, and he attended his high-school studies in Rome,                                          from where he escaped following his desire of an ascetic perfection, and he withdrew living as an                                  hermit in a cave: the Subiacoo's "Speco". In that mounts he established 12 little monasteries.                                          Today we can visit the one of Santa Scolastica and the one of St. Benedetto (the Holy Speco).                                      Saint Benedict moved with some disciples to Montecassino about 529. A foundation designated to be                                         "the metropolis of the western monasticism". On this mount, upon the remains of the pagan tempie dedicated to Jupiter and Apollo, he built the little St. Martino's oratorial and, on the peak, another one dedicated                                  to St. Giovanni Battista: the one that, enlarged and embellished during the following centuries,                                  became the sumptuous basilica of Cassino, essential landmark for spirituality and point of cultural irradiation for our peninsula, with its writing and miniatures-schools. In the Museum-Picture Gallery is possible to                                        admire archaeological reperts, pictures of the Naples' 600th and 700th school, beautiful miniature                            's codes and precious holy objects. The Church, faith-fully re-built in baroque style after the                                      bombardment in the '44, has in the inside a spectacular profusion of polychromatic marbles.
One of the most ancient Benedictine cloister monastery in our zone is the one of St. Andrea                                          Apostolo in Arpino. Besides the possibility of knowing the typical enclosed nun's day, you can                                         admire a medieval specimen of painted cross, which represent the "Christus triumphas"
The trip bring us to Casamari’s Abbey, in the close Veroli, that, built on the initiative of a                                            Benedictine community, then passed to the Cistercians, the "gothic's missionaries": this new                           style became very successful in Lazio, thanks to its wonderful constructions in Fossanova and Casamari.