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Nettuno

 
 
Nettuno (nāt-tū') , town (1991 pop. 33,827), in Latium, central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is an agricultural center and a seaside resort. With nearby Anzio it was the site of an Allied landing (Jan. 22, 1944) in World War II.


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Wikipedia: Nettuno
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This article is about the Italian town near Rome. "Nettuno" is also Italian for Neptune.
Comune di Nettuno
Picture of Nettuno
Coat of arms of Comune di Nettuno
Municipal coat of arms

Location of Nettuno in Italy
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Lazio
Province Rome
Mayor Alessio Chiavetta since April 27, 2008
Elevation 11 m (36 ft)
Area 71.46 km² (27.6 sq mi)
Population (as of 2007)
 - Total 43,072
 - Density 603/km² (1,562/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates 41°27′27″N 12°39′40″E / 41.4575°N 12.66111°E / 41.4575; 12.66111
Gentilic Nettunesi
Dialing code 06
Postal code 00048
Frazioni Cadolino, Canala, Cioccati, Padiglione, Piscina Cardillo, Pocacqua, Sandalo Di Levante, Tre Cancelli, Zucchetti
Patron Madonna delle Grazie
Website: www.comune.nettuno.roma.it

Nettuno is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, 60 kilometers south of Rome. It is named in honour of the Roman god Neptune. A resort city and agricultural center on the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Mediterranean Sea it has a population of approximately 43,000.

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.

Contents

History and culture

The town was founded by the Saracens in the 9th century. It is a popular tourist destination today, where there are 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 Il Vecchio (Antonio Da Sangallo The Elder).

It is an important center of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Maria Goretti. In the shrine there is a crypt where lie 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.

Nettuno has one of the most important Italian baseball teams, Danesi Nettuno often winner of the Championship. This game was taught to the local people during the Second World War by U.S. soldiers, who landed along the coasts for the Operation Shingle. At the north edge of town is the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, where over 7,800 U.S. soldiers are buried.[1]

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.

A key feature of Nettuno is the "fort" - a medieval wall which goes around an entire neighborhood of stone-paved streets.

In the late 1980s, Nettuno figured prominently as a transit point for Jewish immigrants on their way to Israel or the United States. Since the Soviet Union and Israel did not have diplomatic relations, Italy agreed to serve as a staging ground for Jewish refugees to Israel from the Soviet Union. Upon entering Italy, refugees would file a petition with the Israeli consulate and await approval. Many Jews took advantage of this opportunity to petition the U.S. consulate for asylum to let them enter the United States on religious persecution grounds. Though the majority of Russian Jews settled in Rome and Ladispoli (a small city near Rome), a significant number of them, particularly those from the Ukrainian city of Odessa, chose Nettuno as their temporary home, perhaps due to its magnificent beaches and lively night scene. Other, much more insignificant Italian cities such as Santa Marinella also served as temporary homes, though they offered little beyond "Wheels of Immigration" - a pretzel-like snack as comfort to their visitors.

Famed Residents

Other

In the domain of army, Nettuno has one of the biggest Poligono 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.

Twin towns

References

  1. ^ SICILY-ROME AMERICAN CEMETERY AND MEMORIAL, www.abmc.gov. Accessed 2009-05-25.

External links




 
 
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Copyrights:

Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Nettuno" Read more

 

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