The so-called Tomb of CiceroCistern "Cisternone romano"Cistern "Grotta della Janara"Fresco from Piazza Mattei, 1st c. ADNereid from a villa in FormiaeTheatre entranceThe octagonal tower ofCastellone.The tower of Mola Castle.
Formiae was founded by theItalic population of theAurunci.[4] It was calledFormiae (derived fromHormia orOrmiai, after its excellent landing) by ancient authors.
It appeared for the first time in history in 338 BC when, after theLatin Wars, it received the Roman status ofCivitas sine suffragio as it remained neutral, together with the city ofFondi.[5] Throughout antiquity the city ofCaieta was also part of the Formian territory.[6]
It became a renowned resort during the Republican era for rich Romans to build elaborate villas andHorace called it "the city of the Mamurrae"[7] as the rich and nobleequestrian family ofMamurra had strong interests there, including the villa-estate nearby at Gianola, which can still be seen. The impressive remains of Roman villas still stretch along the coast from the fishponds in the Nuovo Porto to Gaeta.
Cicero had a villa there.[8] He was assassinated on the Appian Way just outside the town in 43 BC[9] and his monumental tomb can also still be seen. The villa attributed to Cicero, now in the Villa Rubino, includes an elaboratenymphaeum and rooms decorated with frescoes and stucco. The hotel Villa Irlanda[10] contains a cryptoporticus with stucco of the monumental villa ofLucius Marcius Philippus (consul 56 BC), stepfather ofAugustus.[11] Villa Caracciolo has a large court surrounded by rooms. Many marble sculptures have been removed from these villas, the majority of which are in the Museo Nazionale in Naples, notably a fine pair of Nereids riding on sea monsters.[12]
Remains of an amphitheatre and theatre can be seen. The enormous underground cistern dug 15 metres below ground was probably the biggest Roman urban cistern in the world until thePiscina Mirabilis was built at the end of the 1st c. BC.[13]
The city was the site ofSt Erasmus's martyrdom around 303 AD, during the persecutions ofDiocletian. St Erasmus later also became known as Saint Elmo, the patron saint of sailors.Paulinus of Nola andTherasia stopped at Formiae on their journey back to Nola after visitingRome at Easter 408. There they readAugustine's letter 95 addressed to them.[15]
After the fall of theWestern Roman Empire the city was sacked by "barbarians" and the population moved to two distinct burghs on the nearby hill, which were under the rule ofGaeta.Charles II of Anjou built a fortress in the maritime burgh, Mola di Gaeta. The other burgh was known as Castellone, from the castle erected there in the mid-14th century byOnorato I Caetani, count ofFondi.
The two villages were united again in 1863 under the name of Formia. The reunited city was badly damaged in 1943–44 in bombing operations and theBattle of Anzio.[16]
The most famous monument of Formia is the mausoleum traditionally identified with theTomb of Cicero: it is a 24-metre-high (79 ft) tower on the old Appian Way, enclosed in a large 83-by-68-metre (272 by 223 ft) funerary precinct.
Other sights include:
Tower of Mola
Tower of Castellone
Roman cistern, one of the world's largest. Similar to the structures in Constantinople and in the Domitian's villa ofAlbano, it dates from the 1st century BC.
Remains of the so-called Roman Villa ofMamurra at Gianola,[18] partly destroyed in 1943, including the cisterns of ‘Maggiore’ and of ‘36 columns’, aqueducts,cryptoporticus and thermal baths. At the centre of the villa at the highest point of the promontory was a grandiose octagonal building also known as the Temple of Janus, which was flanked by two wings and two porticos sloping down towards the sea.[19] Nearby at Porticciolo Romano are the remains of its fishponds.[20] Five busts of male heads dating from the 2nd/3rd century AD have recently been excavated[21]
Church ofSan Giovanni Battista e Lorenzo, known from 841. It was almost entirely destroyed during World War II. It houses a panel byAntoniazzo Romano (c. 1490)
Formia is the seat of the National Athletics School of theItalian National Olympic Committee, founded in 1955. Athletes such asPietro Mennea andGiuseppe Gibilisco trained here. Formia is also a hub for cycling events of various types; road cycling and mountain biking All of which gives access to Parks in Gaeta and Formia; Parco Monte Orlando, Parco Regionale Riviera di Ulisse, Parco Naturale dei Monti Aurunci, and Tours to Rome via the Old Highway. Formia also has great water sports to enjoy; windsurfing and sailing.
Formia itself is one of the most important transport hubs of southern Lazio. TheRome–Formia–Naples railway passes throughFormia-Gaeta railway station, from which visitors and residents may travel by bus toGaeta, Minturno, Spigno and other local towns.
^Nicoletta Cassieri, Primi interventi di scavo archeologico e di conservazione nella villa romana di Gianola, in Formianum, III 1995
^ Michele Stefanile e Fabrizio Pesando, Le ricerche dell’Università di Napoli “L’Orientale” nelle villae maritimae del Lazio meridionale: Gianola, Sperlonga, Gaeta, in Massimo Capulli (ed.) Il patrimonio culturale sommerso. Ricerche e proposte per il futuro dell’archeologia subacquea in Italia. Udine 2019, pp. 69-78
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