Castelforte is a town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

in the province of Latina

Province of Latina

The Province of Latina is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Latina.It has an area of 2,251 km², and a total population of 519,850...

, in the Lazio region of central Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is located at the feet of the Monti Aurunci massif.

History

Castelforte was founded most likely before the year 1000 AD. According to some scholars, it occupies the ruins of the ancient Auruncan

Aurunci

The Aurunci were an Italic population which lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. Of Indo-European origin, their language belonged to the Oscan group...

 town of Vescia, destroyed by the Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 in 340 BC (the commune includes the ruins of the large Terme Vescinae baths, in what is now the frazione of Suio).

The medieval town (Castrum Forte, meaning "Strong Castle") was a typical stronghold (probably built to counter the Saracen

Saracen

Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...

 presence at the Garigliano) with a line of wall and rounded towers; the nearby Suio was defended by a castle. Castrum Forte's population was increased in 1320 when people from Suio moved here to flee malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

.

People from Castelforte formed two companies which fought alongside Fra' Diavolo in resistance against the French Napoleonic troops

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 in 1798-1799. This caused them to besiege and stomrm the town in the latter year. In 1807 Suio, now nearly depopulated, was aggregated to the municipality.

During the battles of Cassino of World War II, Castelforte, part of the German

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 Gustav Line, was heavily bombed by Allied troops (1943-1944). The city suffered hundreds casualties in the event.