San Donato Val di Comino

Sister cities

• Greccio

History

According to scholars, the history of San Donato Val Di Comino dates back to the Romans and the region had been dominated by Romans, Lombards and various noble families and royalties over the centuries. The town is known for its ancient houses and monuments, built on the slopes of the surrounding mountains. Origins of San Donato Val di Comino are Samnite: the town was called Cominium and was devastated by the Romans in 293 BC. The Lombards took over its territory in the 8th century AC. The actual village was born after the Battle of Garigliano in 915: the populations of Cassinate, Beneventano and Itri began to move towards the mountains between Lazio and Abruzzo. This is how the first villages began to spring up, such as Sant'Urbano, from whose disintegration San Donato Val Di Comino was born in 1200, perched around the Church of San Domato. San Donato Val di Comino is a delightful village to visit, not only for its monuments and churches but also because it is the perfect starting point for open-air excursions among the beech forests of Forca d'Acero or for sporting activities such as hang-gliding, paragliding and climbing. During World War 2, San Donato Val Comino was the site of a residential internment policy called confino libero. Unlike the internment camp at Ferramonti in Calabria and deportation camps, towns involved in confino libero had Jews and other prisoners of the fascist state living and "renting" space in villagers' homes or hotel. During the implementation of the racial laws, San Donato Val Comino became the destination for "stateless" Jews (whose ID documentation was no longer valid in occupied Europe) and political dissidents. In San Donato Val Comino more than two dozen people, mostly foreign nationals residing in Florence, were forced to find…