Ceccano Provincia di Frosinone Lazio Italy
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Ceccano

Ceccano is considered the ancient Fabrateria Vetus, a Volscian city, already existing in 330 BC, located along the banks of the Sacco river called by the Romans Trerus or Tolerus. The connection between Ceccano and the ancient Fabrateria is based on ancient inscriptions found between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the municipal area. The change in the name, according to the local historian Michelangelo Sindici , took place in the 7th century in honor of Petronius Ceccano Consul of Campagna, descendant of Emperor Titus and father of Pope Honorius I.

In the Roman Martyrology of 2001, Fabrateria Vetus is mentioned in reference to San Magno, patron saint of Anagni. This obliges us to rewrite the history of the great saint who, up to now, was believed to have been martyred in Fondi. The quote from the Martyrology confirms how correct were the intuitions of Michelangelo Sindici who had, already in 1893, written about ancient martyrologists who connected San Magno to Ceccano. It remains to be clarified whether Fabrateria Vetus was the bishopric, as Sindici supposed, or San Magno was in Fabrateria, when he was killed, for other reasons.

Homeland of San Silverio I Pope (as written by Pope Gregory XVI in the Bull in which he raised the Church of S. Giovanni Battista in Ceccano to a Collegiate Church) which was born in the district of Campo Troiano, today Cantinella, the city was by order of the Pontiff surrounded by defensive walls, still partially visible (thus Michelangelo Sindici in the cited work, who cites numerous ancient sources and numerous historians such as Pierantonio da Trevi, Marrocco and Aretino).

Medieval history
Conquered by the Lombards at the time of Astolfo around 750, the fortress of Ceccano had, in the Middle Ages, a great strategic importance as it was placed on the edge of the possessions of the Church.

Between 900 and 1450 Ceccano was dominated by a powerful family called the Conti de Ceccano of probable Germanic origin, related to the most important families of the Roman nobility.

The Ceccanese county included the territories of Amaseno, Giuliano di Roma, Prossedi, Pisterzo, Villa Santo Stefano, Carpineto, Patrica, Morolo, Supino, Maenza, Ninfa, Monte Cacume, Monteacuto, up to Terracina for a period. The de Ceccano counts also boasted partial possessions in Frosinone, Ceprano and Alatri.

In 915 the Ceccanesi had a very important role in the battle of the Garigliano, when the allied troops of the Pope defeated the Saracens who were threatening Rome.

The counts de Ceccano were among the protagonists of the historical events of the southern area of ​​the Papal State until the second half of the fifteenth century, when the family died out and the possessions of the old county were assigned by Pope Alexander VI to the little Rodrigo Borgia and, later , were a fief of the Colonna family.

Already in the 10th century the Ceccanese county was held in high regard in the curia. Count Amato is cited as a powerful benefactor of the Abbey of Montecassino and, later, (1099) Gregorio de Ceccano was one of the most powerful cardinals of the Church of the time, while Count Gregorio, namesake of the first, influential person, escorted with the his men, in 1104, Pope Pasquale II on his journey to the Sorano.

In 1168 the Ceccanesi inflicted a severe defeat on the papal troops led by the archbishop of Mainz, Corrado, who sided with Pope Alexander III after the Emperor Federigo Barbarossa had replaced him with Cristiano.

Among the illustrious men of the de Ceccano family, who in their history boast important characters in the Order of the Knights of Malta, in addition to six cardinals, it is worth mentioning Cardinal Annibaldo, a very powerful figure of the Church of the fourteenth century, who was sent by the pope during the Avignonese captivity. in Rome to open the Jubilee of 1350.

Former archbishop of Naples, an excellent diplomat, the Pope often sent him on a mission to settle important disputes between the sovereigns of Europe. He was the protagonist of an attempt at mediation between England and France during the Hundred Years War, in a conflict that will be decisive for the history of humanity. Despite the difficulties, Annibaldo managed to obtain a, albeit brief, respite. Sent to Hungary he was the mediator of an agreement between the sovereign of that country and the queen of Naples. He was also entrusted with the task of solving the "problem" of Cola di Rienzo.

Before Annibaldo, who had contact with Francesco Petrarca and with Giotto, to whom he commissioned works for the church of S. Maria in Fiume, Ceccano had given birth to other illustrious personalities.

One cannot fail to mention Cardinal Stefano, former abbot at the Abbey of Fossanova, chamberlain of Pope Innocent III, a friend of Saint Dominic of Guzmán who worked a miracle in favor of Napoleone de Ceccano, nephew of Cardinal Stefano himself. This is how Father Pierantonio da Trevi describes the event:
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Known in ancient times as: Fabrateria Vetus
Periods/Settlements: hellenistic-republican, roman

Distance between:

Rome to Ceccano 49 Miles / 79 Kms
Milan to Ceccano 341 Miles / 549 Kms
Venice to Ceccano 273 Miles / 440 Kms


Postal Code 03023


Population 2020

Total: 23102
Total Men: 11314
Total Women: 11314

tourist attraction Nearby

Castello dei Conti di Ceccano
Castel Sindici