Minturno

Sister cities

• Pilas
• Jyväskylä
• Gallinaro

History

The nearby sanctuary of Marica, with an Italic tuff- volcanic rock temple, was built about 500 BC. Ancient Minturnae was one of the three towns of the Ausones which made war against Rome in 314 BC, in the Second Samnite War, the other two being Ausona (modern Sessa Aurunca) and Vescia. It became a Roman settlement as a fort (Castrum Minturnae) in about 296 BC. The early town grew around the square fort with polygonal stone walls along the river and the contemporary via Appia as a military road. In the 3rd century BC, the town expanded with new tufa walls with towers. The city was radically transformed when it became a colonia under Augustus, who ruled from 27 BC to 14 AD, when the urban tract of the via Appia was enhanced with porticos, temples to Augustus and Julius Caesar were built, and the theatre was rebuilt. The city was further expanded under Hadrian, who ruled from 76 AD to 138 AD, with thermal baths, the macellum, nymphaeum, and an aqueduct. It was destroyed by the Langobards in 590. The city was probably also destroyed in 883 by the Saracens, who in the following years held the surrounding plain. Its low site was increasingly abandoned by the population in favour of that of the modern town of Minturno (known as Traetto or Traietto, from Latin Traiectum, until the 19th century), above sea-level. The Saracens were ousted by the Catholic league after the Battle of Garigliano (915), and Minturnae passed to Gaeta. Two years later, however, it was again ravaged, this time by the Magyars. In 1058, it was partly acquired by the Abbey of Montecassino, but soon after was conquered by the Normans. In the 13th century, it went to Richard V dell'Aquila, duke of Gaeta. Subsequently, it was a Caetani possession, and later assigned by Charles VIII of France to his…

Most-observed species

• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  199
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  155
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  130
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  128
• Italian Sparrow

  Passer italiae (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  109
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  108
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  107
• Great Cormorant/European Shag

  Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  103

Most recent

• M 4.5 — 2026-07-31
  0 km WSW of Torre Caracciolo, Italy
• M 4.4 — 2026-07-24
  5 km WNW of Pizzone, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2026-05-21
  2 km E of Procida, Italy
• M 6 — 2026-03-09
  16 km SSE of Sant'Angelo, Italy
• M 4.1 — 2025-11-18
  16 km ESE of Ventotene, Italy
• M 4.4 — 2025-10-25
  3 km WNW of Summonte, Italy