Francavilla Fontana

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian. (August 2014) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Italian article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 2,229 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at [[:it:Francavilla Fontana]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|it|Francavilla Fontana}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Francavilla Fontana
Comune
Comune di Francavilla Fontana
View of a road in the old town
Francavilla within the Province of Brindisi
show Location of Francavilla Fontana Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Francavilla Fontana Location of Francavilla Fontana in Italy Francavilla Fontana Francavilla Fontana (Apulia) Show map of ItalyShow map of ApuliaShow all
Coordinates: 40°32′N 17°35′E / 40.533°N 17.583°E / 40.533; 17.583Coordinates: 40°32′N 17°35′E / 40.533°N 17.583°E / 40.533; 17.583
Country	Italy
Region	Apulia
Province	Brindisi (BR)
Frazioni	Bax Capece
Government
• Mayor	Antonello Denuzzo
Area [1]
• Total	175 km2 (68 sq mi)
Elevation	142 m (466 ft)
Population  (31 December 2017)[3][4]
• Total	36,358
• Density	210/km2 (540/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Francavillesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	72021
Dialing code	0831
Patron saint	Madonna della Fontana
Saint day	September 14
Website	Official website

Francavilla Cathedral.

Francavilla Fontana (Francavillese: Francaìdda [fɾaŋkaˈiɖɖa]) is a town and comune (municipality) in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is also called the town of the "Imperiali", after the Imperiali, a family of feudal lords who ruled the town from the end of 16th century until the 18th century. With a population of 36,358, in 2017,^[3][4] it is the third municipality of its province after Brindisi and Fasano. Its one of the many towns in south Italy where the Greek dialect Griko is spoken.

History[]

The name Francavilla has French-Norman origins: "Franca" (tax-free) and "villa" (town). The specification Fontana ("fountain") alludes to a vision of the Virgin Mary witnessed by Prince Filippo d'Angiò, who hence declaring the town a tax-free haven, according to the local legend.

Geography[]

Francavilla is located in the Altosalento, on the last Murge's hills, and it is equidistant, about 35 kilometres (22 mi), from Taranto and Brindisi. The municipality borders with Ceglie Messapica, Grottaglie, Latiano, Manduria, Oria, San Marzano di San Giuseppe, San Michele Salentino, San Vito dei Normanni, Sava and Villa Castelli.^[5]

Main sights[]

• The massive square Castle (Palazzo Imperiali) of the Imperiali family, to whom, with Oria, it was sold by St. Charles Borromeo in the 16th century for 40,000 ounces of gold, which he distributed in one day to poor and infected with the plague people in Milan.
• Mother Church, built from 1743 over a former Angevine construction.
• Torre dell'Orologio (watchtower), built in 1750.

Transport[]

The town, 18 km east of Taranto-Grottaglie Airport, is served by the SS7 "Appia" highway. The local railway station is a junction point between the lines Taranto–Brindisi, owned by the national company FS, and Martina–Lecce, owned by FSE. It is served by regional and, on the Taranto-Brindisi line, by long-distance trains also.

Sport[]

The local football club is the Virtus Francavilla, that has its home ground in John Paul II Stadium.

People[]

• Ottaviano Andriani (b. 1974), marathon runner
• Cosimo Caliandro (1982–2011), middle distance runner
• Clementina Forleo (b. 1963), judge
• Giuseppe Renato Imperiali (1651–1737), cardinal
• Michele Imperiali Simeana (1736–1782), prince
• Giacomo Leone (b. 1971), long-distance runner

Twin towns[]

• San Giovanni al Natisone, Italy

References[]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Francavilla Fontana". Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 775.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Francavilla Fontana.

• (in Italian) Official website
• "Francavilla Fontana". Brindisi Virtual Tour (in Italian). Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2008.

This Apulia location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t