Monte San Biagio

Monte San Biagio is a town and comune in the province of Latina, in southern Lazio (Italy). It is located on the slope of a hill part of the Monti Ausoni. Until 1862 it was known as Monticelli.

History and main sights

The Roman presence in Monte San Biagio's territory is testified by the presence of a mausoleum attributed to Emperor Galba, a native of the area, but which probably belonged to Sextus Iulius Frontinus, who had a great villa in the vicinity. The Romans defeated the Samnites here, at the Passo della Portella: in the place a fortified gate was built, which was later used as the border customs of the Kingdom of Naples. Nearby is a watchtower from the period of Pope Sixtus V.

The origins of the modern town date back to the Middle Ages, when a castle was built here (over the Roman ruins), firstly as a stronghold of the Duchy of Gaeta, and later of the Duchy of Fondi. The first document mentioning the Castrum Monticelli, however, dates from 1099, from the archives of Monte Cassino. In the following centuries it was a fief of Fondi, a possession of the dell'Aquila family from 1145. Later it was ruled by the Colonna, the Carafa, the Mansfeld and the Di Sangro, as part of the Kingdom of Naples.

Monte San Biagio (Maratea)

Monte San Biagio is a mountain of Basilicata, Italy.

San Biagio

A number of towns, sites, and churches in Italy are named after Saint Blaise, including:

San Biagio, Montepulciano

San Biagio is a church outside Montepulciano, Tuscany, central Italy.

History

The church, an example of Renaissance Greek cross central plan, was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, who was inspired by the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato, which had been designed years before by his brother Giuliano da Sangallo. The same plan, taken from Filippo Brunelleschi's works, was used for the original design by Bramante and Michelangelo for St. Peter's Basilica, as well as for the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione in Todi, of uncertain paternity.

The late Renaissance building was constructed on the site of a pre-existing Palaeochristian pieve dedicated to St. Mary and subsequently to St. Blaise. In the early 16th century only remains existed of the pieve, including a wall with a fresco of Madonna with Child and St. Francis, from a 14th-century Sienese painter. The project was supported by Pope Leo X, who had studied under Angelo Poliziano, a native of Montepulciano.