Itri - History

History

The first direct documentary record of Itri dates to 914, but settlements in the neighbourhood existed from prehistoric times, as proved by findings from the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages.

According to legend, Itri's origins appear to coincide with the destruction of Amyclae, a maritime city founded by the twin sons of Zeus, Castor and Pollux, whose Spartan followers clashed with Aeneas. It certainly originated from a Greek colony, which likely came from the coast at about 20 km north of Fondi. Amyclae was founded between Lake Fondi and the Terracina coast, on the limits of murky waters of the swamps present at the time. The quiet Amyclaeans were struck by the cursed and numerous forces of the swamp, unstoppable beings such as the monstrous serpent with nine heads, the Lernaean Hydra, which attacked from the swamps with poisonous venom, and whose heads would re-grow as quickly as Hercules could slice them off with his sword. The city of Amyclae was soon annihilated. The few survivors abandoned the city and relocated a few kilometers south to the area now known as Itri. These first inhabitants of Itri adopted the emblems of the "Signum Salutis", a serpent, as their symbol of power, and "Amycleus", the dog's head, as their symbol of fidelity. Itri in fact was most likely a town of the Aurunci, later conquered and assimilated by the Romans.

The name Itri derives from the Latin word iter, meaning "route" or "way", appropriate since the city lies where the old Roman Via Appia, built in 312 BC, crosses the Monti Aurunci by way of a narrow pass, the Gola di Sant'Andrea, called by Charles Dickens a "noble mountain pass". An alternative hypothesis on the origin of the town's name suggest it derived from the cult of the Eastern God Mithra, as there is a large subterranean temple dedicated to him a few hundred meters south of the town. Still another suggestion is that it derives from the Greek for snake "hydra", pronounced in some dialects as "itra". In Roman times Itri would have been no more than a post station, a role it continued in until well into the nineteenth century; in Bourbon times Itri was the 12th of 18 posting stations going south from Rome to Naples.

In the Middle Ages the population grew, and three lines of walls were built to protect the people living around the castle. Itri was part of the duchy of Gaeta and was a possession of the Dell'Aquila family, dukes of Fondi. In modern times Itri was part of the Kingdom of Naples.

Due to its location on the Gola di Sant'Andrea, Itri has historically been the scene of much military activity and a number of important battles. Perhaps the most famous occurred in 1503 when Consalvo of Cordova defeated the French army under the command of the Duke of Nemours, an action known as the Battle of the Garigliano.

During World War II, Allied bombing destroyed 75% of the city edifices.