Fiuggi Stadium

Fiuggi (Central-Northern Latian dialect: Fiuio) is a comune (municipality) in the province of Frosinone in the region of Lazio in central Italy. The town of Fiuggi became famous for its Acqua di Fiuggi (Fiuggi Water) which flows from its natural springs and mountains. The water has been used in Italy since as early as the 14th century and is famous for its natural healing properties.

History

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 - The Fiuggi Water.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, 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 painted plaster similar to that found in present-day Rome, changing the appearance of the town. Today a very active group of local residents is slowly restoring the stone facades in an effort to restore the city to its medieval form.