Discover Anagni

Anagni is an ancient town and comune of about 20,600 people in the province of Frosinone, in Lazio, in the hills east-south-east of Rome. It is a historical and artistic centre of the Latin Valley.

It is known as la città dei papi, the city of the popes, for having been the birthplace of several pontiffs — Gregory IX, Alexander IV and Boniface VIII among them — and for long being a papal residence and seat.

Above all, the name of Anagni is tied to Boniface VIII and to the episode known as the schiaffo di Anagni, which took place in the rooms adjoining the cathedral on 7 September 1303.

The town stands on a hill in the middle Latin valley — the valley of the Sacco — at 424 metres above sea level, and still keeps the appearance of a small medieval hill town, with narrow twisting streets and steep lanes, built inside Roman boundary walls.

Its territory is large: 113 square kilometres, making it the second largest comune in the province, crossing the whole Sacco valley from the Ernici mountains, where it reaches 900 metres at Monte Porciano, down to the slopes of the Lepini.

Why is Anagni called the city of the popes? Because it was the birthplace of several pontiffs — Gregory IX, Alexander IV and Boniface VIII among them — and was long a papal residence and seat. In its thirteenth-century splendour it gave the Church four popes.

What was the schiaffo di Anagni? The episode of 7 September 1303, in the rooms adjoining the cathedral, in which Boniface VIII was taken prisoner during the struggle between the Colonna, Philip the Fair of France and the papacy.

How big was Anagni at its height? About fifty thousand inhabitants in the thirteenth century, under the lordship of the Caetani. It has about 20,600 today.

Who were the Hernici? The people whose capital this was. They migrated from the Aniene valley and were descended from the Marsi, their name deriving from the Marsian herna, "stone" — "those who live on the stony hills".

Does their language survive? Only two words: Samentum, a strip of sacrificial skin, and Bututti, a sort of funeral lament.

What is the cathedral built on? The temple of Ceres. The city was a seat of temples and sanctuaries.

Did Roman emperors come here? Yes — many spent their summers in Anagni to escape the heat of Rome, most notably Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Commodus and Caracalla. The large imperial villa nearby at Villa Magna belonged to Marcus Aurelius.

What happened in 306 BC? After the Hernician war, "Anagnia and such others as had borne arms against the Romans were admitted to citizenship without the right to vote", prohibited from holding councils and from intermarrying, and allowed no magistrates except those in charge of religious rites. The city kept its religious autonomy.

What is at Fontana Ranuccio? One of the oldest pieces of evidence for the genus Homo in Italy. Human remains attributed to Homo heidelbergensis have been dated to 407,000 years before the present, though the attribution and date are not entirely settled between accounts.

Is the town still medieval? Yes — it maintains the appearance of a small medieval hill town at 424 metres, with small twisting streets and steep lanes, built inside Roman boundary walls.

What is in the valley below? A large industrial district, which occupies the plain entirely except for the Macchia di Anagni wooded reserve.