Affile

Affile
Country	Italy
region	Lazio
Metropolitan city	Rome  (RM)
Coordinates	41 ° 53 '  N , 13 ° 6'  E Coordinates: 41 ° 53 '3 "  N , 13 ° 5' 50"  E
height	684  m slm
surface	15 km²
Residents	1,463 (Dec 31, 2019)
Population density	98 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	00021
prefix	0774
ISTAT number	058001
Popular name	Affilani
Patron saint	St. Felicitas
Website	Affile
Affile historic center

Affile is an Italian commune in the metropolitan city of Rome in the Lazio region with 1463 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

geography

Location of Affile in the Province of Rome

Affile is 83 kilometers east of Rome and 12 kilometers south of Subiaco . It is located in the Monti Affilani, named after the place, above the valley of the Aniene . The town center is at an altitude of 684 slm while the modern districts are at a height of approx. 420 slm below the old town. The municipality extends from 361 to 1158  m slm

The community is located in earthquake zone 2 (medium risk).

Affile is a member of the Comunità Montana Valle dell'Aniene .

The neighboring municipalities are, clockwise, Subiaco , Arcinazzo Romano , Roiate , Bellegra and Rocca Santo Stefano .

traffic

• Affile is accessed from Strada Statale 411 Sublacense , which leads from Roviano , on the A24 Strada dei Parchi , towards Alatri .
• The nearest train station, 31 km away, is Colleferro-Segni-Paliano on the Rome – Naples line . The station is also served by the FR6 Rome-Cassino regional train.
• The nearest international airport, Rome Fiumicino, is 94 km away.
• Cotral buses connect Affile with Subiaco, Fiuggi and Frosinone .

history

Affile has been inhabited since prehistoric times. In pre-Roman times it was on the border between the areas of the Aequer and the Herniker . Remnants of the wall in Opus Poligonalis near the church of San Pietro and in the district of La Croce are still preserved from this time. 304 BC The Aequer were subjugated by Rome and Affile became a colony. Pliny mentioned an Affilani colony and Frontinus mentioned it as Afilae Oppidum . The name Affilae or Afilae may derive from the family name Afilanus . Part of an ancient inscription, which is now walled into the facade of the church of Santa Felicità, recalls a Lucius Afilanus . The Roman Afile was a little east of the medieval town. After the end of the Roman Empire, there is no more news from Affile. In the 9th century, however, it was probably affected by the Saracen invasion .

999 was on the personal initiative of Otto III. The church of Sant Angelo supra Cisternam with attached monastery was built into a Roman cistern , and the reconstruction of the place began. A castle in Affile was first mentioned in 1013, which from 1084 belonged to Ildemondo dei Conti, an ancestor of Pope Alexander IV . In the following years he had to defend himself against the claims of the abbots of Santa Scolastica at Subiaco , to which he finally succumbed. Affile finally came to Subiaco in 1176 and remained with the monastery until Benedict XIV ended its secular power. In 1870 Affile became part of the Kingdom of Italy together with the Papal States.

Population development

year	1871	1901	1921	1936	1951	1971	1991	2001	2011
Residents	1,628	1,801	1,885	2.008	2,194	1,644	1,639	1,644	1,564

Source ISTAT

politics

Ercole Viri (neo-fascist citizens' list) was elected mayor in April 2008 with 42.15% of the vote. Despite the scandal surrounding the Graziani mausoleum, he was confirmed in office in the elections on May 26 and 27, 2013 with 61.26% of the vote. His citizen list Insieme provides 4 of the 6 municipal councils. He was re-elected on June 10, 2018.

An investigation by the Tivoli public prosecutor's office for supporting fascism has been ongoing against Viri and two municipal officers since April 2013 .

Graziani mausoleum

On August 11, 2012 in Affile in the Parco di Radimonte, a mausoleum was inaugurated in honor of Rodolfo Graziani , a convicted war criminal of the Mussolini dictatorship, in the presence of citizens and the mayor Ercole Viri, with subsidies from the region and the municipality . This led to international protests. In April 2013, the newly elected President of the Lazio Region Nicola Zingaretti ( PD ) stopped funding the region for the monument. There was no longer any question of reclaiming the money that had already been largely spent or of demolishing it, as his party called for.

Attractions

• The Roman cistern is 3 m by 17 m in size and covered with a barrel vault. The church of Sant Angelo was built into it in 999, but it was dissolved again in the 16th century. Hardly any remains of the church have survived.
• The Church of San Pietro was mentioned by Pope Gregory I as early as the 6th century . The current church dates mainly from the 15th century. Frescoes remind of the stay of Benedict of Nursia in Affile.
• The church of Santa Maria was first mentioned in 1005. Its oldest parts date from the 13th century.
• Santa Felicità is the current parish church of Affile. It holds the relics of Saint Felicitas .

Culinary specialties

The Cesanese di Affile DOC wine is grown only in the neighboring communities of Roiate and Arcinazzo , with the exception of Affile .

A typical pasta specialty is the sagnozzi , a type of thick, hand-cut spaghetti.

People with connections to the community

• Benedict of Nursia (around 480-547) is said to have lived as a hermit in Affile
• Giulio Cesare Graziani (1915–1998), Italian pilot and general, was born in Affile
• Rodolfo Graziani (1882–1955), Italian war criminal, spent the last years of his life in the community
• Salvatore Marsili (1910–1983), Italian Benedictine, Abbot of Finalpia and liturgical scholar, was born in Affile

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
2. ^ Italian civil defense
3. ↑ Edward Herbert Bunbury:  Affilae . In: William Smith : Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London 1854.
4. ↑ Christian Hülsen : Afilae . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 708-708.
5. ↑ Personaggi illustri di Affile : Lucio Affilano ( Memento from December 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ La storia di Affile dalle origini al Medioevo ( Memento of July 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT . Population statistics from the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, as of December 31, 2011.
8. ^ Italian Ministry of the Interior
9. ^ Election page of the Italian Ministry of the Interior
10. ↑ Paolo Brogi, Antonio Mariozzi: Mausoleo Affile, sindaco e due assessori indagati per apologia di fascismo. Corriere della Sera , April 24, 2013, accessed June 29, 2013 . 
11. ↑ Dirk Schlümer: The mausoleum of a disgusting person in: FAZ from August 14, 2012, page 27
12. ↑ Berthold Seewald: Mussolini's viceroy devastated half of Ethiopia. Die Welt , accessed June 1, 2013 . 
13. ↑ Svolta ad Affile, Zingaretti annuncia: "Stop ai Fondi per il mausoleo di Graziani". La Repubblica , April 22, 2013, accessed June 1, 2013 . 
14. ^ Claudius Ziehr: Memorial for a mass murderer. The blog from Rome, June 1, 2013, accessed on August 21, 2019 . 
15. ^ Il Vino - Colline d'Affile. Retrieved August 23, 2019 . 

Web links

Commons : Affile  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Affile on www.comuni-italiani.it (Italian)
• Comunità Montana Valle dell'Aniene (Italian)