|
 Fiuggi, originally called Anticoli di Campagna, gained fame as early
as the 14th century, when Pope
Boniface VIII claimed his kidney stones had been healed by the mineral
waters from the nearby Fiuggi spring. Two centuries later Michelangelo
also extolled the virtues of the water that cured him of what he called
"the only kind of stone I couldn't love." Soon Acqua di Fiuggi
was being sent in bottles to all of Europe's royalty. Not until the turn of the
20th Century did it become fashionable to make pilgrimages to spa towns, and it
was around this time that the King of Italy renamed Anticoli in honor of its
most celebrated attraction.
From the 16th to the 19th century, Fiuggi and many nearby hill towns were
part of the Papal States. Unlike its neighbors, Anticoli di Campagna provided a
source of revenue through the sales of its miraculous waters, and so it was
often "bestowed" upon noble families in payment for services rendered.
Sometimes these aristocrats didn't bother to visit the town, but they always
sent a delegate to make sure none or few of the profits stayed in town.
These
upper-class outsiders slowly covered the original medieval walls with the
painted plaster similar to what is found in present day Rome, thus changing
almost the entire appearance of the town. Today a very active group of local
residents is slowly restoring the stone façades in an effort to restore the
city to its medieval form.
In May 6, 1916 the Rome
and Fiuggi Rail Road was opened for service, in 1982 the service was closed.
|
Italy