Sonnino 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 the birthplace of Italian national team footballer Alessandro Altobelli

Alessandro Altobelli

Alessandro Altobelli is a former professional Italian footballer.Nicknamed Spillo for his slender build. Altobelli was one of the most effective Italian forwards of the late 1970s and 1980s...

, and Roman Catholic archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 Velasio de Paolis

Velasio de Paolis

Velasio de Paolis, CS JCD STL is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was president emeritus of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and is Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.-Early life:De Paolis was born in Sonnino, and became a...

.

History

Originating in the late Middle Ages (the name deriving perhaps from the Latin sommum, meaning "top"), Sonnino is mentioned for the firs time in a Papal bulla from 999. It was held first by the De Sompnino, and was acquired by Onorato I Caetani

Onorato I Caetani

Onorato I Caetani was an Italian nobleman, who was the count of Fondi from 1348 and the Great Conestable of the Kingdom of Naples also from 1348...

 in 1369. The castle was inhabited by the Caetani Caetani

Caetani

Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family princely family which played a great part in the history of Pisa and of Rome, principally via their close links to the papacy.-Origins:...

 d'Aragona until they sold it in 1469 to the Colonna

Colonna family

The Colonna family is an Italian noble family; it was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other Church and political leaders...

, who were later followed by the Antonelli and the Talani families.

In July 1819 Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, Secretary of State at the Vatican, ordered Sonnino to be razed to the ground as it had become a notorious haunt of the banditi

Brigandage

Brigandage refers to the life and practice of brigands: highway robbery and plunder, and a brigand is a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery....

 in the Campagna di Roma.

Twin towns

Eysines

Eysines

Eysines is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

, France, since 1997 Kanal ob Soči

Kanal ob Soci

Kanal ob Soči is a town and municipality in Slovenia, established in 1995 by secession from Nova Gorica.The town itself is an important crossing point over the River Soča. The first bridge was built by the Romans. The current bridge was built after World War I. The center of the town was fortified...

, Slovenia, since 2003 Binasco

Binasco

Binasco is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 15 km southwest of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,236 and an area of 3.9 km²....

, Italy, since 2009