Colonna | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Colonna | |
 View of Colonna, Lazio | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Colonna  | |
  Colonna Location of Colonna in Italy Show map of Italy Colonna Colonna (Lazio) Show map of Lazio | |
| Coordinates:41°50′N12°45′E / 41.833°N 12.750°E /41.833; 12.750 | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Lazio |
| Metropolitan city | Rome (RM) |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Fausto Giuliani |
| Area | |
• Total | 3.5 km2 (1.4 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 343 m (1,125 ft) |
| Population (31 August 2015)[2] | |
• Total | 4,290 |
| • Density | 1,200/km2 (3,200/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Colonnesi |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 00030 |
| Dialing code | 06 |
| Patron saint | St. Nicholas of Bari |
| Website | Official website |
Colonna is acomune (municipality) in theMetropolitan City of Rome in theItalian region ofLatium, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast ofRome, on theAlban Hills. With a population of some 4,300, it is the smallest of theCastelli Romani.
The territory of Colonna is believed to have included the ancient community ofLabici, located in the area of the moderncomune ofMonte Compatri. Labici was conquered in 418 BC by the Romans under thedictatorQuintus Servilius Priscus Structus Fidenas and razed to the ground. The Labicani then founded Labicum Quintanas near the Tower of the Pasolina near Colonna. The place is noted asAd Quintanas, a station on theVia Labicana, betweenRome andAd Bivium.[3][4]
Labicum Quintanas became an episcopal see in the 4th century. The inhabited area began to decay and disappeared with the Gothic War (535–554).
Colonna is mentioned for the first time in 1047, in a deed ofHenry III, Holy Roman Emperor, a guest at the castle, which had taken its name from a column of the ancient Labicum Quintanense, when he stopped there during his march that with his army to Naples along theVia Casilina.
In 1101 Peter, child ofGregory III,Count of Tusculum, received as inheritance the territory and the Castle of Columna, withMonte Porzio Catone,Monte Compatri and other surrounding possessions. Peter was the founder ofColonna family, which took the name from this property.
In 1298Pope Boniface VIII ordered the destruction of Colonna and its castle as punishment against the Colonna family. With the advent ofPope Clement V (1305) the Colonna family resumed the fief with all of its territories.
In 1662, the Colonna family sold the Castrum Columnae to CardinalLudovico Ludovisi. In 1710 the Ludovisi family sold it to the Rospigliosi-Pallavicini family.
The Rospigliosi-Pallavicini maintained the feudal dominion on Colonna up to 5 June 1848. In 1849 theComune and the Municipality of Colonna was constituted.
The Baronial Palace (Italian:Palazzo Baronale) was built by theColonna family in the 16th century on the site of the Roman castrum on the highest part on the hill. The main façade has an ashlar portal, while the opposite front has a double order of five arcades. The southwest side was modified when the church dedicated toSaint Nicholas was erected in the 18th century by the Pallavicini family.
In the first Sunday of July, the Donkeys' Palio (Italian:Palio degli Asini) is held. The seven quarters of the town compete riding donkeys in medieval dress.
There's a museum at the former train station with vintage railway cars, a collection of photographs of the station's history, and a reconstruction of the stationmaster's office.[5]
The commune is connected to Rome and southern Italy through theVia Casilina. It also has a station on theRome–Cassino railway; the one on theRome–Fiuggi narrow gauge railway is now abandoned, having been replaced by regional bus service operated byCotral.
La Planche, France