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Fossato di Vico is a town and comune of Umbria in the province of Perugia in Italy, 43°18′ N 12°46′ E, at 584 m above sea‑level on the middle slopes of Mount Mutali. The 2003 census figures give it 2460 inhabitants. It lies just off the SS 3 highway, the successor to the ancient Roman Via Flaminia, between Gualdo Tadino (7 km to the south) and Sigillo (6 km north); in Antiquity, a branch of the Via Flaminia may have traversed the town. Jump to: navigation, search Umbria is a mountainous region of central Italy, in the valley of the river Tiber. ...
Perugia (It. ...
The Via Flaminia was a Roman road leading from Rome to Ariminum (Rimini), and was the most important route to the north. ...
Gualdo Tadino, (Latin: Tadinum, later Taginae) an ancient town of Italy, in the province of Perugia in northeastern Umbria, at 43°14N 12°47E, at 536 meters (1759 ft) above sea-level on the lower flanks of Mt. ...
History A rare bronze plaque with a brief inscription to the Dea Cupra in the ancient Umbrian language has been found in the territory of the comune, evidence of pre‑Roman habitation. Roman vestiges have been found as well, but not in quantities nor concentrations such as to warrant conclusively identifying Fossato with the ancient Helvillum, the site of which remains unknown: the other main candidate is Sigillo. The Umbri, also called Umbrians in English, were an ancient Italic tribe. ...
Fossato is known, however, to have been inhabited in the early Middle Ages, when it was the southernmost outpost of the Byzantine corridor, which its name seems to confirm: while fossato, meaning "ditch" in Italian, is not an uncommon placename, it is usually found on small creeks — but Fossato di Vico is on sharply sloping ground with no watercourse in the area, and it has therefore been proposed by local historians that the name is to be derived from Latin (and Byzantine Greek) fossatum, a ditch-fortified defensive work.
Sights and monuments In the plain below, two Roman bridges are extant; both relate to the Via Flaminia.
The town walls date to the late Middle Ages and would be of no particular interest were it not for a covered rampart walk capable of accommodating wide carts: it was designed for supplying the town in case of a siege. A very ruined tower at the top of the town is lovingly preserved as the oldest structure, and is said by some to be Byzantine, but without evidence.
The main churches are S. Sebastiano, the 16th‑century parish church, damaged in the Umbrian earthquake of 1997 but almost immediately restored; S. Pietro, the former parish church, medieval; S. Benedetto, also medieval, with some frescoes; and La Piaggiola, a small votive chapel of uncertain use, but likely belonging to a penitential confraternity: on its walls are to be found the best medieval frescoes in town.
Also in the plain, mention should be made of the shrine of the Madonna della Ghea.
Economy The economic engine of the comune is the frazione of Osteria del Gatto, in the plain below, with several factories (cheese, packaging materials). An unusual aspect of the the town's economy is that the municipal government has taken advantage of the winds sweeping the Cima del Mutali to contract the construction of two windmills for electrical generation; Fossato is a net exporter of electrical energy, and the installation turns a profit used for the operations of local government. In Italy, the commune (comune, plural comuni) is the basic administrative unit of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township. ...
A frazione, in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other subdivisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere: these are the lowest subdivisions of the country. ...
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