My Town
It's a very beautiful city, full of fantastic monuments such as the "Ducal Palace", "The Fortress" on "Mount Petrino" etc ... and there are still many things to discover about the history of this wonderful country. Mondragone is a fairly large city and has both the sea with the beach and also the mountain with the monuments above.The origins of the city , located between the plain of the Volturno and Garigliano , date back to the Quaternary period and the early inhabitants of the area , after the Neolithic period , were the Auruncis . They lived in villages scattered throughout the territory , with no fortifications were easy prey and then the Romans, who overpowered them , and in 296 BC founded the colony of Sinuessa (which, during that period , it became part of the Pentapolis aurunca ), near the hills of Vescia , on the site of the Greek city of Sinope
. The fertility of the soil and the proximity of the sea meant that in a short time the colony was populated , attracting a number of citizens and coming to contain nearly 9000 in the flat area . Starting then from the second century BC began to spread the culture of the vine, in a short time the wine production of Falerno , praised by Virgil in numerous works such as " nectar of the gods" , reached very remarkable results , and the city began to enjoy wide renown . In addition, the proximity of the Via Appia facilitated trade and tourism. In fact, many Roman citizens , politicians, rich merchants, contractors , vied with each other to build villas and vacation homes , as the poet Turpilio , Cicero, Gaius Ofonio Tigellino ( the cruel praetorian prefect ) and , in short, became a center Sinuessa very famous tourist , even for highly curative properties of its spa , suitable , according to tradition, not only to treat infertility in women but also mental illness.
In the first century A.D. the city reached the highest shine for the inauguration of another important road junction , the Domitian Way . But since the end of the second century began the decline , due to a crisis in agriculture . In 375 suffered enormous damages as a result of a catastrophic earthquake , and the survivors , also to find escape from the continuous barbaric invasions, took refuge on the slopes of Mount Petrino , where they built a fortified village and the Rock Petrina .
The invasions continued throughout the Middle Ages and the city exhausted by the countless attacks was reduced to a miserable village , which took the name of Petrinum . At the beginning of the eleventh century made their appearance the Normans who occupied the ancient Roman village Petrinum and widened the fortification of the fortress . The castle was an important military post that is under the Swabians with Anjou . Following will be altered by the Aragonese .
The territory passed into the hands of various local lords , by Marzano , Dukes of Sessa , Antonio Carafa of Stigliano , an adviser to King Ferrante , and in 1461 was elevated to a Duchy . On the death of Nicholas Gusman Carafa , Prince of Stigliano , the estate was sold and purchased in 1691 by the Marquis of Clarafuentes , Don Marcantonio Grillo, to the tune of about 550,000 ducats. The nephew of these , Don Domenico Grillo , was the last Duke of Mondragone until 1806 , when it was abolished feudalism. Domain of Grillo is testimony to the Ducal Palace .
After the French domination of the Kingdom of Naples ( 1815 ) , Mondragone passed into the hands of the Bourbons and remained there until the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy .
During the Second World War the city of Mondragone gave proof of great courage by opposing the German occupation by all means , please note therefore the grim massacre of Cement recently recognized by the President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi with the gold medal for civil valor .There are many speculations about the origin of the name Mondragone. According to one hypothesis, the name comes from the name given to the Rock by the Normans, Rocca Dragon, almost on a voluntary basis to the wife of Count Richard II, the daughter of the Dragon, count of Apulia, called Rocca. A second hypothesis takes its name derived from the similarity of Petrino mountain, overlooking the city, with a dragon. More striking is legendary and the third hypothesis that wants the origin of the name depends on the existence of a dragon that appestava whereabouts and killed anyone in its path. The hypothesis is that more true at the time of the invasion of barbarians, the family of the Dragons were forced to flee the country and seek refuge in the castle on Mount Petrino overlooking the city and from there the name of Monte Dragone that over time has become precisely Mondragone.
. The fertility of the soil and the proximity of the sea meant that in a short time the colony was populated , attracting a number of citizens and coming to contain nearly 9000 in the flat area . Starting then from the second century BC began to spread the culture of the vine, in a short time the wine production of Falerno , praised by Virgil in numerous works such as " nectar of the gods" , reached very remarkable results , and the city began to enjoy wide renown . In addition, the proximity of the Via Appia facilitated trade and tourism. In fact, many Roman citizens , politicians, rich merchants, contractors , vied with each other to build villas and vacation homes , as the poet Turpilio , Cicero, Gaius Ofonio Tigellino ( the cruel praetorian prefect ) and , in short, became a center Sinuessa very famous tourist , even for highly curative properties of its spa , suitable , according to tradition, not only to treat infertility in women but also mental illness.
In the first century A.D. the city reached the highest shine for the inauguration of another important road junction , the Domitian Way . But since the end of the second century began the decline , due to a crisis in agriculture . In 375 suffered enormous damages as a result of a catastrophic earthquake , and the survivors , also to find escape from the continuous barbaric invasions, took refuge on the slopes of Mount Petrino , where they built a fortified village and the Rock Petrina .
The invasions continued throughout the Middle Ages and the city exhausted by the countless attacks was reduced to a miserable village , which took the name of Petrinum . At the beginning of the eleventh century made their appearance the Normans who occupied the ancient Roman village Petrinum and widened the fortification of the fortress . The castle was an important military post that is under the Swabians with Anjou . Following will be altered by the Aragonese .
The territory passed into the hands of various local lords , by Marzano , Dukes of Sessa , Antonio Carafa of Stigliano , an adviser to King Ferrante , and in 1461 was elevated to a Duchy . On the death of Nicholas Gusman Carafa , Prince of Stigliano , the estate was sold and purchased in 1691 by the Marquis of Clarafuentes , Don Marcantonio Grillo, to the tune of about 550,000 ducats. The nephew of these , Don Domenico Grillo , was the last Duke of Mondragone until 1806 , when it was abolished feudalism. Domain of Grillo is testimony to the Ducal Palace .
After the French domination of the Kingdom of Naples ( 1815 ) , Mondragone passed into the hands of the Bourbons and remained there until the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy .
During the Second World War the city of Mondragone gave proof of great courage by opposing the German occupation by all means , please note therefore the grim massacre of Cement recently recognized by the President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi with the gold medal for civil valor .There are many speculations about the origin of the name Mondragone. According to one hypothesis, the name comes from the name given to the Rock by the Normans, Rocca Dragon, almost on a voluntary basis to the wife of Count Richard II, the daughter of the Dragon, count of Apulia, called Rocca. A second hypothesis takes its name derived from the similarity of Petrino mountain, overlooking the city, with a dragon. More striking is legendary and the third hypothesis that wants the origin of the name depends on the existence of a dragon that appestava whereabouts and killed anyone in its path. The hypothesis is that more true at the time of the invasion of barbarians, the family of the Dragons were forced to flee the country and seek refuge in the castle on Mount Petrino overlooking the city and from there the name of Monte Dragone that over time has become precisely Mondragone.
