Velletri

Velletri is an Italian comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring communes are Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio. Its motto is: Est mihi libertas papalis et imperialis.Velletri was an ancient city of the Volsci tribe. It came into conflict with the Romans during the reign of Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, and in the fifth and fourth centuries, during the early Roman Republic. In the Middle Ages it was one of the few “free cities” in Lazio and central Italy. It was the site of two historical battles in 1744 and 1849. It was at the centre of fierce fighting between the Germans and the allies in 1944 after the Anglo-American landing at Anzio during the Second World War.Today, Velletri is home to a circuit court and a prison, in addition to several colleges and high schools. It is the terminus of the Rome-Velletri railway, inaugurated by Pius IX in 1863, and is one of the centers the Via Appia Nuova (modern Appian Way) passes through.