Mazzano Romano
Mazzano Romano: Between History and Physical Geography
Mazzano Romano is an Italian municipality in the metropolitan city of Rome Capital in Lazio, with a population of 3,070 inhabitants. The municipal territory is crossed by the Treja river and is located in a D climate zone, with an average of 1,649 GR/G. The history of Mazzano Romano dates back to the early Middle Ages, but the Roman phase of the town is not recognizable and would only be documented by unverifiable reports.
The Origin of the Name
The name Mazzano is thought to derive from the gens "Matia," to which an important cook and agronomist remembered by Apicius belonged.
The History of Mazzano Romano
The development of Mazzano Romano began in the early Middle Ages. Among the lands of the Capracorum domusculta, founded between 774 and 776, there is a fundus Mazanus. Another possible attestation of the same fund comes from a fragmentary inscription, incorporated into the floor of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (now at Palazzo Rinuccini in Florence) and dated around 904, which indicates General Teofilatto as the owner. Mazzano was a fortified site in the tenth century, but of these remains, only perhaps a sort of tower downstream of the Church of San Nicola, now called Palommara, is recognizable. Remains of a tower are visible in the central and higher part of the town, called Montarello.
In 1299, a document from Pope Boniface VIII cites Castrum Mazzani et Sancti Nicolai et Sancti Benedicti. This is the first mention of the cult of Saint Nicholas of Bari in Mazzano Romano. At least since 1327, the church of San Nicola was the meeting place of the assembly of the household heads of Mazzano Romano.
With a notarial act of 1426, the monastery of SS. Andrea and Gregorio leased Mazzano Romano to Everso Anguillara. The important Lazio family, which was also the owner of Calcata and Faleria, demonstrated a clear intention to increase its power in this territory, and the counts Domenico and Orso Anguillara usurped the ownership in the first half of the fifteenth century.
Abbot Gregorio VI appealed to Pope Paul II, and the case lasted until 1475, when Mazzano Romano returned to the Monastery. However, on February 22, 1526, Abbot Hieronimus de Comitibus ended up selling Castrum Mazani to Giovanni Battista Anguillara from Stabia, for the sum of 12,000 gold ducats. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are the most important and recognizable times of the ancient village, which also adopted a statute between 1536-1542.
The history of Mazzano Romano also resides in the figure of Rosina, the heroine of Mazzano. Rosina was the protagonist of the theft of the Pergamino, which occurred on October 22, 1841, in the Vatican Library. Immediately after the theft, Rosina, refusing to follow the coercions of the other companions, decided to stay in the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso, where she intended to prepare for her journey to England, where she would have been safer from any attempt at revenge by the "bella piazza." After embarking from Civitavecchia and arriving in Liverpool, she lived with her husband, definitively abandoning her previous life.
Conclusions
Mazzano Romano is an Italian municipality with a long history. Its history dates back to Roman times, but the Roman phase of the town is not recognizable and would only be documented by unverifiable reports. However, the history of the town was marked by the Early Middle Ages, the interventions of the Anguillara family, and the figure of Rosina, the heroine of Mazzano. Today, the town is a tourist destination rich in history and charm, which still preserves important testimonies of its past.
