Demonym(s) Nettunesi Local time Friday 8:30 PM | Elevation 11 m (36 ft) Population 48,519 (31 May 2015) | |
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Frazioni Acciarella, Cadolino, Canala, Cioccati, Cretarossa, Eschieto, Falasche Nord, Grugnole, Ospedaletto, Padiglione, Piscina Cardillo, Pocacqua, Sandalo Di Levante, Sandalo di Ponente, San Giacomo, Scacciapensieri, Tre Cancelli, Zucchetti Weather 14°C, Wind NW at 3 km/h, 81% Humidity Points of interest Riserva Naturale Villa Borg, Sicily–Rome American Cemetery, Forte Sangallo, Fountain of Neptune, Castel Sangallo | ||
Nettuno is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Rome. A resort city and agricultural center on the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Mediterranean Sea it has a population of approximately 46,000.
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Map of 00048 Nettuno, Rome, Italy
Its name is perhaps in honour of the Roman god Neptune.
Economy
It has a touristic harbour hosting about 860 boats and a shopping center,selling everything for fishing and sailing. There is also an extensive yacht club.
Nettuno is the city of the D.O.C. wine Cacchione.
Nettuno has one of the biggest bases for the Italian Force, whose territory extends to the Province of Latina, and one of the most important Italian Police Schools, where especially police dogs are trained.
Nettuno is one stop south of Anzio on the local train from Rome.
History
According to a theory, the town would be a direct survival of the Roman Antium, which territory almost entirely corresponded to Nettuno and modern Anzio. Giuseppe Tomassetti considered Nettuno the real heir and continuer settlement of the ancient Antiates. Instead Beatrice Cacciotti doubted about an ancient and not medieval origin of the town.
Indeed, Nettuno and nearby Anzio were the theatre of an Allied forces landing and the ensuing Anzio-Nettuno battle during World War II: the Operation Shingle. American forces (5th Army) were surrounded by Germans in the caves of Pozzoli in February 1944 for a week, suffering heavy casualties.
Main sights
Nettuno is a popular tourist destination. Sights include a well-preserved old quarter, the Borgo Medievale, with mediaeval streets and small squares, and the Forte Sangallo, a castle built in 1503 by Renaissance architect Antonio da Sangallo the Elder.
Nettuno is also a center of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Maria Goretti, in which a crypt houses the mortal remains of the saint. The church keeps also a priceless polychromed wooden statue of Our Lady of Grace, which is honoured by the town with a procession every year the first Saturday of May. It was originally Our Lady of Ipswich, although it left England after the Reformation.
The privately owned Villa Costaguti-Borghese at Nettuno, built 1648, has extensive gardens in a landscape park designed about 1840, now protected as a nature reserve. The Borghese Gladiator was discovered at Nettuno.
At the north edge of town is the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, where over 7,800 U.S. soldiers are buried.
Sport
Nettuno Baseball Club is one of the most important Italian baseball teams, often winner of the national championship. Baseball was taught to the local people by American soldiers after their landing in World War II.