Priverno

Priverno is a town, comune in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy. It was called Piperno until 1927.
It has a station of the Rome-Naples railway mainline. Nearby is the Monti Lepini chain. It was the birthplace of the canonist Reginald of Piperno.

History

Privernum is described by Livy as a flourishing Volscian site, which was conquered and destroyed by the Romans in the late 4th century BC. The Appian Way passed nearby. The town recovered under the Roman rule, but disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, probably destroyed by Saracen attacks.
Researchers studying the concrete used in Privernum concluded that the use of quicklime made ancient Roman concrete more durable than its modern counterpart.
It was later a minor center of the Papal States, to which it belonged until the capture of Rome in 1870.

Main sights

Nearby is the Abbey of Fossanova, which is where the town's patron saint, St. Thomas Aquinas died on 7 March 1274.
Other churches include:

Santa Maria Assunta, consecrated by Pope Lucius II in 1183. It houses a panel of the Madonna d'Agosto and St. Thomas's skull.
San Benedetto, built by the Benedictines from the 7th century AD; it includes 13th and 16th centuries frescoes
San Giovanni Evangelista. It has 13th-15th century frescoes, including stories of St. Catherine, a Madonna with Child
San Tommaso d'Aquino
San Nicola

Lay buildings include the Villa Gallio, a residence of Cardinal Bartolomeo Gallio, the Communal Palace, with the Dolphin Fountain by Giuseppe Olivieri and the Porta San Marco and Porta Posterola, the only remains of the seven gates once giving access to Priverno. Remains of the old Privernum are outside the town, including parts of the walls, baths, three patrician houses and a temple. Here a colossal statue of Tiberius was found in the late 18th century.

Notable people

Alice Urciuolo, screenwriter and author