Formello


Formello is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome. It is located southwest of the Monti Sabatini, within the Regional Park of Veii. The communal territory is mostly composed by tuff, and is intensively cultivated.

History

The area has been settled since prehistoric times. As an Italian comune, it includes some of the archaeological sites associated with the powerful former Etruscan city of Veii, which rivaled Rome for a time, north of the village of Isola Farnese, south of Formello. Settlement in the region declined after Veii's destruction in 396 BC.
In this area, about 780 AD, with peaceful conditions reestablished, Pope Adrian I assembled a great estate of which this territory formed part, his Domusculta Capracorum, in contrast with the power of the Abbey of Farfa, but it was destroyed by Saracen attacks in the ninth century. The domus' territories included a fundus Formellum, where a settlement developed that was first mentioned in 1027.
In the 11th century it was a possession of the Roman Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, and was probably fortified in the same period. In 1279 it became a fief of the Orsini family, who sold it to the Chigi in 1661.

Main sights

Formello is home to the training grounds and base of Italian Serie A side S.S. Lazio:

Photo gallery