| Isernia |
Website Links For Isernia |
Information AboutIsernia |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ISERNIA | |
| archaeological sites in italy | |
| ancient mints | |
| samnium | |
| cities and towns in molise | |
|
Isernia, Italy is a town and '' Comune '' (administrative unit) in the southern Italian region of Molise , and the capital of Isernia Province . GEOGRAPHY Situated on a rocky crest rising from 350 m. to 475 m. between the Carpino and the Sorsi rivers, the plan of Isernia still reflects the ancient layout of the Roman town, with a central wide street, the '' Cardo Maximus '', still represented by Corso Marcelli, and side streets at right angles on both sides. It is now the capital city of the province of Isernia. It is at 41°46N, 14°14E and 423 m (1388 ft) above sea level. The ''comune'' has a total area of 68.74 sq. km, and a 2003 population of 21,300. HISTORY Isernia, a very ancient town in the region of Molise, lies on the side of a hill between two rivers: the "sorsi (Sordo)" and the Carpino. Its Roman name Aesernia doubtless reflects its former Samnite toponym, but a connection to an Indoeuropean root which means "water" is tenuous. Without considering the Samnite Wars (IV-III century BC), the town has been destroyed and reconstructed a dozen times. The first person who reduced Isernia to rubble - in 84 B.C. - was Silla , a mortal enemy of the Samnite tribes. In 263 BC Roman Republic established a '' Colonia '' in Isernia, a key communication center between Southern Italy and the inner Appennine Regions. During the Social War against Rome, the Italic League established their capital in Isernia after abandoning their previous capital Corfinio . Isernia was a Roman "municipium" and its inhabitants enjoyed Roman citizenship. The massively constructed podium now unlying the cathedral probably supported the Capitolium. Isernia was destroyed by the Saracens in 800, sacked by Marcovaldo , Count of Molise, in 1199, and set on fire in 1223 by the soldiers of Frederick II . In 1519 it was freed from feudal servitude by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and became a free city. Earthquakes in 847, 1349, 1456 and 1805 caused massive destruction. During the Second World War , Allied bombings in September 1943 destroyed over half the city, killing one-third of the population. Finally the Americans on the morning of 10 September 1943, launched their bombs from B-17 planes over a crowded town on market day causing thousands of deaths. In the following weeks they came back twelve times without ever hitting their targets: the beautiful bridges of Isernia, Cardarelli bridge, towards Roma, and the big Santo Spirito bridge, then built entirely of iron, towards the internal area. All the bridges were vital to the German retreat. Although this town has been object of repeated destruction, Isernia preserves a large number of monuments of fairly good archaelogical interest. At first, we must make clear that the historical center still keeps intact the spare map structure of the Roman cities: in fact it represents the largest raced Marcelli street, around which there is an infinity of alleys and little spares, as for example, "Trento e Trieste" spares. The famous Fraterna Fountain is the main symbol in this town and it was built in the XIII century A.C. : it is made up of living- stone's slabs coming from ruined Roman monuments, while all the rest is a work of local masters, as it was built by the Rampini family in Isernia. We can learn from a tombstone set on a fountain's side that is composed of six arches supported on differently sculptured pieces. Capital city Isernia is the capital city of the province of Isernia, created in 1970 out of part of the province of Campobasso . It is a flourishing center of pasta makers, stone masons, and embroidery crafts. Isernia La Pineta Isernia is also known for the archaeological Excavation located within its borders, at Isernia La Pineta. Isernia La Pineta contains thousands of bones and stone tools covering 24,000 square yards. It was discovered in 1979, by an amateur naturalist noticed a bone sticking out of the side of a cut that had been created by the construction of the Napoli-Vasto Motorway . The site was clearly created by humans, but its purpose is still unknown. The man who lived there was called "Homo Aeserniensis". REFERENCES |
|
|