Troia (Italy)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Comune di Troia | |
|---|---|
 Municipal coat of arms |
|
| Country |  Italy |
| Region | Puglia |
| Province | Foggia (FG) |
| Mayor | Edoardo Beccia |
| Elevation | 439 m |
| Area | 167.22 km² |
| Population | |
| - Total | 7,462 |
| - Density | 45/km² |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | |
| Gentilic | Troiani |
| Dialing code | 0881 |
| Postal code | 71029 |
| Patron | Sts. Urbanus, Pontianus, Heleuterius, Anastasius and Secondinus |
| - Day | July 17 |
| Website: www.comune.troia.fg.it | |
Troia (Greek: Αῖ̓και, transliterated as Aika or Aikai or Ece; Latin: Aecae or Æcæ; also formerly Troja) is a town and commune in the province of Foggia, Puglia (southern Italy).
[edit] History
According to the legend, Troia (Aecae) was founded by the Greek hero Diomedes, who had destroyed the ancient Troy.
Aecae was mentioned both by Polybius and Livy, during the military operations of Hannibal and Fabius Maximus in Apulia. In common with many other Apulian cities it had joined the Carthaginians after the battle of Cannae, but was recovered by Fabius Maximus in 214 BCE, though not without a regular siege. (Pol. iii. 88; Liv. xxiv. 20.) Pliny also enumerates the Aecani among the inland towns of Apulia (iii. 11); but its position is more clearly determined by the Itineraries, which place it on the Appian Way between Equus Tuticus and Herdonia, at a distance of 18 or 19 miles from the latter city. (Itin. Ant. p. 116; Itin. Hier. p. 610; the Tabula Peutingeriana places it between Equus Tuticus and Luceria, but without giving the distances.) This interval exactly accords with the position of the modern city of Troia, and confirms the statements of several chroniclers of the middle ages, that the latter was founded about the beginning of the eleventh century, on the ruins of the ancient Aecae.
Cluverius erroneously identified Aecae with Accadia, a village in the mountains south of Bovino; but his error was rectified by Holstenius. Troia is an episcopal see, and a place of some consideration; it stands on a hill of moderate elevation, rising above the fertile plain of Puglia, and is 15 km south of Lucera, and 22 southwest of Foggia. (Holsten. Not. in Cluver. p. 271; Romanelli, vol. ii. p. 227; Giustiniani, Diz. Geogr. vol. ix. p. 260.)
The current Troia was founded as a fortified town in Apulia founded in 1018 by Basil Boiannes. It defended the entrance into the Apulian plain from the Normans. Until overshadowed by Foggia, it was an important strategic town in southern Italy, and was several times besieged, notably, by the emperors Henry II and Frederick II.
[edit] Ecclesiastical history
Foggia formed part of the diocese of Troia until 1855, when it was made a diocese by Pius IX, comprising territory of the dioceses of Siponto and Manfredonia. Situated so near the ancient city of Arpi, which had a bishop, Pardus, as early as 314, the Bishops of Troia may be considered as successors of the Bishops of Arpi.
Pope Urban II held a council in Troia in 1093, which was followed by those summoned by Paschal II in 1115 and by Calixtus II in 1120.
In 1907 Foggia was united aeque principaliter with Troia.
[edit] Sources and references
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia. Foggia & Lucera
