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{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Fondi
| official_name       = Comune di Fondi
| image_skyline       = CastelloFondi.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = Castle of Fondi.
| image_shield        = Fondi-Stemma.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|41|21|N|13|25|E|region:IT_type:city(36541)|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = {{RegioneIT|sigla=LAZ}}
| province            = {{ProvinciaIT (short form)|sigla=LT}} (LT)
| frazioni            = Cocuruzzo, Curtignano, Fasana, Gegni, Passignano, Querce, Rene, Rio Claro, Salto di Fondi, San Magno, San Raffaele, Sant'Andrea, Sant'Oliva, Selva Vetere, Vardito
| mayor_party         =[[Forza Italia (2013)|Forza Italia]] 
| mayor               = Beniamino Maschietto
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 142
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total    = 39762
| population_as_of    = 30 November 2017
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Fondani
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 8
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
|istat=| saint               = St. Honoratus of Fondi
| day                 = 10 October
| postal_code         = 04022
| area_code           = 0771
| website             = {{official website|http://www.comune.fondi.lt.it/}}
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''Fondi''' ({{langx|la|'''Fundi'''}}; [[Neapolitan language#Distribution|Southern Laziale]]: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''[[comune]]'' in the [[province of Latina]], [[Lazio]], central [[Italy]], halfway between [[Rome]] and [[Naples]]. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800.<ref name="Tuttitalia Popolazione">{{cite web |title=Popolazione Fondi (2001-2017) Grafici su dati ISTAT |url=https://www.tuttitalia.it/lazio/27-fondi/statistiche/popolazione-andamento-demografico/ |website=Tuttitalia.it |access-date=4 July 2018 |language=it-IT}}</ref> The city has experienced steady population growth since the early 2000s, though this has slowed in recent years.<ref name="Tuttitalia Popolazione" />

Before the construction of the highway between the latter cities in the late 1950s, Fondi had been an important settlement on the Roman [[Via Appia]], which was the main connection from Rome to much of southern Italy.

==Geography==
Fondi is the main town of the [[Plain of Fondi]] (''Piana di Fondi'' in [[Italian language|Italian]]), a small plain between the [[Ausoni Mountains|Ausoni]] and [[Aurunci mountains]] and the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]].  The plain includes three lakes and is agriculturally very fertile. Most in evidence are greenhouses for the production of early crops for sale in [[Rome]]. The {{convert|15|km|mi|0|adj=on}} long sandy beach stretches from Sperlonga in the south-east to Terracina in the north-west and lies along the [[Gulf of Gaeta]], with views (when the weather is clear) to the [[Pontine Islands]]. It is marked by a somehow well-preserved, typical Mediterranean [[Dune#Coastal dunes|coastal dune]] landscape.

The territory of Fondi is partially included in the [[Regional Natural Park of Monti Aurunci]].

==History==

Fondi has an ancient history, beginning with early settlements about 1000 BC: later the area was settled by the [[Italic peoples|Italic]] tribes of [[Aurunci]] and, subsequently, [[Volsci]]. According to the legend, it would have been founded by [[Hercules]] in memory of the killing of [[Cacus]].

The first historical reference to Fondi dates to 338 BC, at the time of the [[Latin War]], when its inhabitants (together with those of the nearby [[Formia]]) gained minor [[Ancient Rome|Roman citizenship]] status (''civitas sine suffragio''). After a failed attempt of revolt led by [[Vitruvius Vaccus]] (330 BC), Fondi remained a Roman prefecture; later (188 BC) it received full citizenship, with a government led by 3 [[aedile]]s.

The importance of Fondi lay in its position across the old [[Via Appia]]. Begun in 312 BC, it was for more than two millennia the main roadway from Rome to southern Italy. Today the historical centre and surrounding wall of Fondi still form a square, as in the Roman camp walls, whose [[Decumanus Maximus|decumanus]] was formed by the city tract of the Via Appia.

After the [[Gothic War (535–552)|Gothic War]] and the [[Lombards|Lombard]] conquest of Italy, Fondi remained a dominion of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]]. Later a part of the [[Papal States]], in 846 it was burnt out by the [[Saracens]] coming from their fortress of [[Garigliano]]: they settled there until they were defeated in the [[Battle of Circeus]] of 877, and Fondi was passed to the [[Duchy of Gaeta]].

In 1140 Fondi passed to the [[Dell'Aquila]] family, of [[Normans|Norman]] heritage, and then, in 1299, to the powerful [[Caetani]] barons (in the person of [[Loffredo Caetani]], nephew of [[Pope Boniface VIII]]), who for two centuries made Fondi the centre of their power, and a centre of artistic development as well. Here in 1378 the powerful Count [[Onorato I Caetani]] summoned the [[Papal conclave|conclave]] in which the cardinals elected [[Antipope Clement VII|Clement VII]] against [[Pope Urban VI|Urban VI]] ([[Western Schism]]).

The Caetani lost Fondi after [[Charles VIII of France]]'s expedition to southern Italy, and it was assigned to the condottiero [[Prospero Colonna]]. Under the [[Colonna family|Colonna]] the city met another period of artistic and cultural splendour, thanks of the court held by [[Giulia Gonzaga]], who lived in Fondi between 1526 and 1534.

In 1534, Fondi was sacked by [[Barbarossa (Ottoman admiral)|Barbarossa]], who was seeking to kidnap the beautiful Giulia and bring her as a gift to his emperor [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman]]. However, she managed to escape, but many other inhabitants were enslaved in the [[Barbary slave trade]].<ref>Peyronel Rambaldi, S. (2021). Giulia Gonzaga: A Gentlewoman in the Italian Reformation. Italien: Viella Libreria Editrice. p. 72-73</ref> Another sack followed in 1594, starting the decline of the city, which had in the meantime passed to the [[House of Carafa|Carafa]] of [[Stigliano]]. In 1720 Fondi was acquired by the [[di Sangro]] family.

In 1818 the declining city, surrounded by malaria-infested marshes  [[malaria]] and [[brigand]]age, lost the bishopric seat existing there since the very early years of Christianity.

After the [[Armistice with Italy|Armistice]] of 8 September 1943, the anti-Fascist novelist [[Alberto Moravia]] and his wife [[Elsa Morante]] took refuge in Fondi; the experience inspired Moravia's book ''[[La Ciociara]]'' ("The Woman from Ciociaria") (1958).

==Economy==

Agriculture in the area around Fondi has always been  favoured by the presence of abundant water sources and by the climatic conditions. The traditional production of [[citrus]] has been recently supplanted by that of [[vegetables]] and [[fruit]] of all kinds.

Fondi is the seat of an important market for agriculture and food products which distribute millions of tons of agricultural products every year.
[[File:PianaDiFondi.jpg|thumb|250px|The Fondi seaside and plain towards Terracina.]]

==Main sights==
Fondi's main sights include:
*The Castle, with a characteristic round tower standing more than {{convert|30|m|ft}}, symbol of the city. The castle was built in the 14th century by Onorato I Caetani over a stretch of ancient Roman walls. In the 16th century it was the seat of Giulia Gonzaga's court of literates and artists. Since 1987 it houses the city's Museum.
*The adjacent ''Palazzo del Principe'' ("Prince's Palace"), constructed in 1466&ndash;77 is attributed to the Catalan architect Matteo Forcimanya. Its portals, the mullioned window, the court and the [[loggia]]to form a synthesis of Catalan-[[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] and [[Angevine Empire|Angevine]] architectures.
*The Cathedral of St. Peter (Duomo, 14th century) is built over a Roman edifice identified as a temple of Jupiter. It houses the sepulchre of Cristoforo Caetani, a marble bishop cathedra and [[Cosmatesque]] pulpit from the 13th century, an ''Annunciation Tryptych'' by [[Cristoforo Scacco]] and ''Majesty with St. Peter and St. Paul'' by [[Antoniazzo Romano]].
*The ''Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta'', preceded by a wide staircase and built in the 15th century by [[Onorato II Caetani]]. It has a Latin cross plant, with an aisle and two naves: main points of interests are a cyborium from 1491 and the venerated statue of the ''Madonna of the Sky''.
*The medieval churches of ''San Domenico'' and ''San Francesco''.
*[[Abbey of San Magno, Fondi]]

==Twin towns - sister cities==
Fondi is twinned with:<ref>{{cite web|title=Gemellaggio Fondi-Dachau|url=https://www.comunedifondi.it/gemellaggio.php|website=comunedifondi.it|publisher=Fondi|language=it|access-date=2019-12-19|archive-date=2019-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219075246/https://www.comunedifondi.it/gemellaggio.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Dachau, Bavaria|Dachau]], Germany

==See also==
*[[Unicusano Fondi Calcio]]
*[[Caetani]]
*[[Giulia Gonzaga]]
*[[Lake Fondi]]

==Sources==
*{{cite journal|first=M. |last=Di Fazio|journal=British Archaeological Reports|location=Oxford |year=2006|title=Fondi ed il suo territorio in età romana. Profilo di storia economica e sociale}}
*{{cite book|first=M.T.|last= Piscitelli Carpino |title=Fondi tra Antichità e Medioevo|location=Naples|year=2002}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Fondi}}
* [http://www.comune.fondi.lt.it/ Official page for the government of Fondi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329020835/https://comune.fondi.lt.it/ |date=2023-03-29 }} {{in lang|it}}
* [http://www.hcfondi.it Handball Club Fondi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129034831/http://www.hcfondi.it/ |date=2020-11-29 }}

{{Province of Latina}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Lazio]]