Alatri

Sister cities

• Alife
• Pietrelcina
• Perugia
• Saint-Lumine-de-Clisson
• Gétigné
• Gorges
• Uniejów
• Clisson
• Dirfys Municipal Unit
• Ness Ziona

History

The area of the modern city was settled as early as the 2nd millennium BC. Aletrium was a town of the Hernici and continued in this position throughout the imperial period. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city decayed, the only respected authority being represented by the Christian bishop. During the reign of Theodoric the Great (5th century AD) the patrician Liberius promoted the construction of a monastic community, one of the most ancient in the West, where in 528 St. Benedict sojourned briefly. In 543, during the Gothic Wars, Alatri was sacked and destroyed by Totila's troops. In the 12th century the city became an important stronghold of the popes when they were obliged to leave the then unsafe Rome. In the following century it became a free commune, although under the authority of the bishops and the pope, governed by consuls until 1241, when a podestà was introduced. In the following centuries it flourished economically and expanded, conquering Collepardo, Guarcino, Trivigliano, Vico and Frosinone, though often hampered by inner strife. In the 15th century Alatri started to lose its freedom, due to the involvement of Ladislaus of Naples and Pope Martin V. After the short seigniory of Filippo Maria Visconti in 1434, the city had to accept papal suzerainty. Struggles with the neighbouring communes continued, and in 1556 it was occupied by Spanish soldiers. During the Roman Republic, it remained loyal to the pope. During the Napoleonic occupation (1809–1814) numerous members of the papal administration, as well as bishop Giuseppe della Casa, were deported to France. It became part of Italy in 1870. During World War II it suffered heavy destruction and human victims.

Most-observed species

• Asian tiger mosquito, Forest day mosquito

  Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) · Insecta
  216
• Stinking Hellebore

  Helleborus foetidus L. · Magnoliopsida
  90
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  66
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  61
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  54
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  51
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  47
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  45

Most recent

• M 4.4 — 2026-07-24
  5 km WNW of Pizzone, Italy
• M 2.7 — 2025-05-08
  1 km NNE of Montecompatri, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2024-12-09
  3 km SSE of Formia, Italy
• M 3.1 — 2020-05-11
  7 km NNW of Rome, Italy
• M 4.6 — 2019-11-07
  2 km SW of Villavallelonga, Italy
• M 3.4 — 2019-06-23
  1 km WSW of Gallicano nel Lazio, Italy