Foligno

Sister cities

• Gemona del Friuli
• Shibukawa
• La Louvière

History

The origins of Foligno are uncertain. The earliest mention appears in two fragments of Cicero's oration in favor of Lucius Varenus, in which the municipium and prefecture of Fulginia are recalled. Appian mentions Fulginiae in connection with the Perusine War, and Pliny includes it among the cities of Umbria; it is also listed in the Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum. The poet Statius praises its fields. Some historians attributed its foundation to the Celto-Ligurians, while others assigned it to the Umbrians, with the name derived from Fulginio or Fulcinio, regarded as its founder. The city developed at a strategic site, at the fork of the Via Flaminia and at the point where the Topino River reaches the valley floor. Its urban layout is characterized by straight, grid-like streets with right-angle intersections, a pattern connected to four surviving Roman bridges on the old bed of the Topino. In the city was taken by the Romans together with Umbria and Etruria. It was raised first to the rank of prefecture and then to that of municipium, becoming one of the 15 Umbrian cities confederated with Rome. When Foligno, together with other Umbrian cities, waged war against Rome, it was sacked and destroyed by the victorious Roman forces under the consul Fabius Maximus. Further destruction followed in when the inhabitants allied themselves with the Senonian Gauls and the Samnites against Rome. In Hannibal, after defeating the Roman army and killing the consul Gaius Flaminius, marched on Foligno on his way to Rome and dismantled and devastated it and its territory after it had resisted. The city was later restored by Scipio Africanus. Gaius Flaminius (consul 187 BC) restored the walls of Foligno and paved the road named after him, the Via Flaminia, which had originally been…

Geography

Foligno is situated in the on the left bank of the Topino, a tributary of the Tiber, at an elevation of above sea level. It lies in a plain, though surrounded to the east and north by hills, with views of the Apennines and Monte Subasio at short distance. The river Menotre runs along the southern side of the walls and irrigates much of the surrounding territory. In 2021, 3,339 people lived in rural dispersed dwellings not assigned to any named locality. At the time, the most populous locality was Foligno proper (44,734). The following localities had no recorded permanent residents: Casone, Sassovivo Abbey, Convento Cappuccini, Convento di San Bartolomeo, Convento Madonna delle Grazie, Località Moano. Near Foligno, in , another city arose, named Forum Flaminii after its founder Gaius Flaminius. Its site corresponded to the present church of San Giovanni Profiamma, about away on the right bank of the Topino. This city is mentioned by Strabo, Pliny, and in the Peutinger Table. Epigraphic and historical evidence indicates that Forum Flaminii was a republic and municipium associated with and dependent on Foligno. Capodacqua lies near the height called Colfornaro and is the birthplace of Saint . , formerly called Statio Fulginas, was a station for passing troops and preserves a castle with tower.