Leonessa
Encyclopedia
- Leonessa is also the name of a frazioneFrazioneA frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
of Bassano RomanoBassano RomanoBassano Romano is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo, in northern Lazio ....
.
Leonessa 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 far northeastern part of the Province of Rieti
Province of Rieti
The Province of Rieti is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rieti.It has an area of 2,749 km², and a total population of 153,258 . There are 73 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Rieti.It was founded in 1927.-External links:*...
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...
. Its population in 2008 was around 2,700.
Situated in a small plain at the foot of Mt. Terminillo, one of the highest mountains of the Apennine range, in the winter Leonessa is known mostly as a low-key staging center for the ski slopes of the Terminillo, and in the summer as a weekend vacation town frequented for the most part by Romans
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with local roots.
Historically, the town is known mostly as the birthplace of St. Giuseppe di Leonessa. Until 1927 it was part of the province of L'Aquila
Province of L'Aquila
thumb|left|200px|Map of the province.The Province of L'Aquila is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region...
. Typical food production include the local variety of potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
, known as patata di Leonessa.
Leonessa is twinned with the French town of Gonesse
Gonesse
Gonesse is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The commune lies immediately north of Le Bourget Airport and southwest of Charles de Gaulle International Airport.-History:...
.
Main sights
Leonessa is an art city of primarily medieval aspect, with a historical main square. Churches include:- S. Pietro
- S. Francesco
- Church and sanctuary of S. Giuseppe da Leonessa
- S. Maria del Popolo