Sant'Elia Fiumerapido, Province of Frosinone, Lazio Region, Italy

🇮🇹 Sant'Elia Fiumerapido is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, in the Lazio region of central Italy.

The composer Giuseppe Bozzelli was born in Sant'Elia Fiumerapido in 1841. Part of the motion picture, The Devil's Brigade, was filmed there in 1967.

History The name of Sant'Elia is mentioned for the first time in the Chronicon Casinense at the time of the Saracen devastation (866) In Roman times the present Santhelian territory was included in that of the ancient Casinum, as documented by the surviving inscriptions.

In the territory have been found archaeological finds of the pre-Roman and Roman era: polygonal walls of the fourth or third century BC (probably belonging to the ancient city of Amiternum), remains of two Roman bridges, long and well preserved stretches of a Roman aqueduct of the claudia era (first century AD), remains of columns and pediments of Roman villas and

The history of the town is closely linked to that of the nearby Benedictine Monastery of Montecassino: in fact it was founded, on a hill to the left of the course of the Rapid river, by the Abbot Mansone of Montecassino in the year 991 and took its name from a small church dedicated to the Holy Prophet, which existed at the time a little further downstream of

The small church, founded in the eighth century at the time of the abbot Apollinare di Montecassino, suffered, together with the village that was around it, devastation and destruction during the Saracen raids of 866. Rebuilt at the end of the tenth century, it was definitively destroyed during the war between Aragonese and Angevins, in 1495, for the possession of the Kingdom of Naples.

As part of the State of San Germano, the domino of the Abbey of Montecassino, Sant'Elia was interested in the economic as well as political events of the monastery. In particular, it enjoys a special record for having hosted, at least since 1516, a paper mill that has been operational for almost five centuries. The paper mill of Sant'Elia Fiumerapido was managed by Marche paper mills, from 1516, and was flanked, in 1531, by a second paper mill, when Santeliani masters had been formed. The paper complex was operational until the sixties of the twentieth century.

In 1862, by Royal Decree, the specification "sul Rapido" was added to the name Sant'Elia, which was subsequently changed to "Fiumerapido".

On December 8, 1943, Sant'Elia Fiumerapido was made the subject of a furious Allied aerial bombardment. 91% of the country was destroyed and there were 9 civilian casualties, 50 soldiers and 116 wounded.

Monuments and places of interest The historic centre of Sant'Elia is crossed in all its length by via Angelo Santilli from which branch off, towards the top, mazees of alleys and arcades that bypass the thirteenth-century mother church of Santa Maria la Nova. Long stretches of the fence and defense walls of the ancient inhabited centre are still clearly visible with some towers still in good condition or well recognizable.

The access doors to the old 'castellum' were dismantled in the second half of the 19th century. Of the one that was facing south, the vestiges remain recomposed on a lawn of the municipal villa; of the one facing north at the end of via Angelo Santilli, there remains a jamb with capital embedded in a wall of a house; the third, called the Portella, is still intact, facing west and down in front of the church of Santa Maria la Nova.

There are also numerous Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque churches and chapels with frescoes and period paintings: the already named church of Santa Maria la Nova (XIII century), in the historic centre, with Renaissance and Baroque enrichments: remarkable the seventeenth-century organ la canne, work by Cesare Catarinozzi di Affile and the contemporary wooden choir inlaid by the master car of Santa Maria dell'Ulivo, in the olivella district and in Baroque style, enclosing an eighteenth-century canvas painted by the Neapolitan artist Lorenzo de Caro, depicting the visitation of the Madonna to Santa Elisabetta; the now deconsecrated Romanesque church of Ognissanti (XI century) with Byzantine frescoes and of the thirteenth and Finally, the frescoed chapels of Santa Maria degli Angeli (XV century), Madonna del Carmine (XVI century), Santa Maria di Palombara (XIV century) and the two churches of San Michele Arcangelo in Valleluce (X-XI century) and Madonna del Carmine in Portella (XIX century).

Religious architecture • Church of Santa Maria la Nova (XIIII and XVIII centuries) • Sanctuary of Casalucense (19th century) • Church of San Sebastiano (XII century.) • Church of Santa Maria dell'Ulivo (XVII century) • Church of All Saints (XI century) • Chapel of Madonna degli Angeli (XV century with eighteenth-century frescoes) • Church of San Cataldo (X sec.) - ruins • Church of San Pietro (XI century) - archaeological excavations • Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (XI century).

DOC wines The municipal territory is the place of production of some wines regulated by the specification Atina DOC.

Administration In 1927, following the reorganization of the provincial constituencies established by Royal Decree No. 1 of January 2, 1927, by the will of the fascist government, when the province of Frosinone was established, Sant'Elia Fiumerapido passed from the province of Caserta to that of Frosinone.

Other administrative information • It is part of the G.A.L. Valle di Comino. • It is part of the Union of Municipalities of Mainarde.

Volleyball • Assitec Volleyball Sant'Elia.