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Lugnano in Teverina

Coordinates: 42°34′N 12°20′E / 42.567°N 12.333°E / 42.567; 12.333
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Lugnano in Teverina
Comune di Lugnano in Teverina
Coat of arms of Lugnano in Teverina
Location of Lugnano in Teverina
Map
Lugnano in Teverina is located in Italy
Lugnano in Teverina
Lugnano in Teverina
Location of Lugnano in Teverina in Italy
Lugnano in Teverina is located in Umbria
Lugnano in Teverina
Lugnano in Teverina
Lugnano in Teverina (Umbria)
Coordinates: 42°34′N 12°20′E / 42.567°N 12.333°E / 42.567; 12.333
CountryItaly
RegionUmbria
ProvinceTerni (TR)
Government
 • MayorGianluca Filiberti
Area
 • Total
29.83 km2 (11.52 sq mi)
Elevation
419 m (1,375 ft)
Population
 (30 September 2017)[2]
 • Total
1,456
 • Density49/km2 (130/sq mi)
DemonymLugnanesi
Time zoneUTC 1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC 2 (CEST)
Postal code
05020
Dialing code0744
Patron saintAssumption of Mary
Saint dayAugust 15
WebsiteOfficial website
Church of Santa Maria Assunta

Lugnano in Teverina is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region Umbria, located about 60 km south of Perugia and about 25 km west of Terni.

Lugnano in Teverina borders the following municipalities: Alviano, Amelia, Attigliano, Graffignano. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").[3]

Main sights

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The ancient Roman villa at Poggio Gramignano lay in the hills near the Tiber, 7 km from ancient Amelia in Umbrian territory. It was a large luxurious villa rustica with farm-estate attached. It has been partially excavated.[4]

It was built in the late 1st c. BC when it included large room (oecus) with supporting columns and a unique flat-top pyramidal ceiling; the foundations and soil of the hill could not support the great weight leading to collapse of the colonnade and other southern rooms around the early 2nd century AD; in the early 3rd century, walls and support buttresses were built to try to stop further slippage but from this time the villa began to fall into ruin although it was still partially occupied; in the mid 5th century many rooms were reused as a cemetery for at least 47 children up to 3 years old who died perhaps of malaria.

Other sights:

  • Palazzo Pennone
  • Palazzo of the Bufalari Counts
  • Church of Santa Maria Assunta
  • Convent of San Francesco

Necropolis

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Nearby is the site known as the "Children's Necropolis", dating to the mid-5th century AD. The site includes the burial grounds of new-born and aborted fetuses. Some of the burials seem to have been so-called "vampire burials". These burial practices, such as inserting a stone into the mouth of the deceased, have been interpreted as means to prevent the rising of the dead. Modern research has indicated that many of the burials were victims of malaria, a disease whose origins were unknown until the 19th century. Vampire burials may have been practiced in the hope that the spread of disease would be curtailed.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.
  3. ^ "Umbria" (in Italian). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  4. ^ A. Marzano, Country Villas in Roman Central Italy: Reassessing the Evidence, A Tall Order: Writing the Social History of the Ancient World, J. Aubert et al. Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-598-77828-7
  5. ^ Phillips, Kristine (2018-10-15). "Archaeologists find 'vampire burial' site of a child feared capable of rising from the dead". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
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