Benvenuti / Welcome to

Itri

Itri is situated a few kilometres inland, between the nearby towns of Fondi and Formia, and rests in a valley, nestling among the foothills of the Aurunci Mountains. The town of Itri is divided into three sections, the upper, historic, medieval town, the route of the ancient Via Appia and the lower sprawling, more contemporary section. This Roman thoroughfare runs directly through the town and is a testament to the remarkable organisational and engineering ability of the Romans.

Construction of this, the first and most famous of the ancient Roman roads, was commenced in 312 AD by the Appius Claudius Caecus. It was called the "Queen of Roads" (Regina Viarum) and was to be the main means of communication between Rome and the south, first to Capua, and later extended down to Brindisi, with a total length of more than 563 km (350 miles). In effect it was the very first motorway even built. Just outside of Itri original sections of this road can still be seen, paved with smoothly fitting blocks of hard wearing lava.

Cicero, the Roman orator, writer and statesman, was brutally murdered in 43 BC on the Appian Way. He was apprehended whilst trying to flee from his political enemies, and was beheaded and had his hands severed. Cicero’s Tomb, a 24 metre cylindrical tower, is situated on the Via Appia, on the outskirts of Formia.

During the era when young British aristocrats and scholars undertook the cultural “Grand Tour” of Italy, a common itinerary would have included Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples. Thus many great artists and writers would have journeyed along the route of the Via Appia, and Itri may have been a welcoming resting place for weary travellers. Charles Dickens, when travelling through Itri during the 19th century described the castle in his journal as being “like a device in pastry, built up, almost perpendicularly, on a hill, and approached by long steep flights of steps.”

The dominating castle, dates back to the IX century, when the first stage of the fortress was built in 882 AD by Docibile I and it came under the Dukedom of Gaeta until 1073 when it was taken over by the wealthy Dell’Aquila family of Fondi. Strategically positioned high on a hill, it has a commanding view of the surrounding area.