Matteo and Graziano

This is a picture of my cousins Matteo(San Francisco) and Graziano(Sonnino). Matteo visited Sonnino for the first time last spring. He hit it just right and was in town for Le Torce. I believe they're standing in front of the home where my great-grandmother grew up.

SLEEPING VILLAGERS FROM SONNINO: An Unpublished Terracotta by Bartolomeo Pinelli.: Michael Preston Worley: Books

I'd like to thank Sandra, a reader whose family is from Sonnino, for forwarding this on. It looks like a book about Sonnino. It's one that I haven't seen before. Has anybody heard of it?

Amazon.com: SLEEPING VILLAGERS FROM SONNINO: An Unpublished Terracotta by Bartolomeo Pinelli.: Michael Preston Worley: Books

Sonnino olive oil for sale on Amazon.com

Apparently you can buy olive oil made in Sonnino on Amazon.com. Each time I go my family is kind enough to send me back with liters of amazing oil. A little taste of the home country in Boston. Has anybody triewd this brand?

Click on the link to view the Amazon.com web page.

Amazon.com: Cetrone Aromatic Orange Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 8.8oz.: Gourmet Food

Donna di Sonnino print

I found this print online. It's called "Donna di Sonnino" and it's from Italy. Anybody know where it's from? Here's what the website that is selling says:

Donna di Sonnino.
ITALY)
US$65.00

Rome. No date. Ca. 1830?

Engraving, handcolored, image platemark approximately 11 x 7 1/2 inches on sheet 14 x 10 inches. Overall light toning to paper, a small tear in upper left and middle right margins (well outside of image area), a bright and clean image on light cream colored paper.

Sonnino - Outlaw Capital

A fellow countryman from Sonnino, David, sent this interesting link along about Sonnino. He wrote:

"Thought you might find interesting this account of Sonnino’s most famous son, Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli.From all historic accounts, in the 18th and 19th Century, Sonnino was the outlaw capital of Italy."

David is doing some very interesting writing about the history of the Italian community, including Sonninese, in Syracuse. Hopefully we can get him to post some of this finds! Click on the link below to read the article.

http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/4/3/8/14381/14381.htm

A little Sonnino History: Sonnio's boundry lands

Sonnino – Museum of the boundary lands

Founded in 2004 and started in 2005, its development is still in progress.
The Museum of the boundary lands collects the signs of the anthropologic deeds of the boundaries of Sonnino.

The whole history of Sonnino is, in fact, impregnated of “boundaries”: from the century old conflicts with Priverno, to the brigands in the free zone between the Papal State and the Kingdom of Naples. And each year, the boundaries are passed along by the night procession, the Feast of the Torches, which has become the symbol of the community.

Sonnino, a small town castled on the Musoni mounts, is placed on the southern extreme pieces of land of the Ciociaria, which, up to the ‘30ties, belonged to Frosinone and that once was the extreme limit of the State of the Church (the “Marittima”).

Finally, the boundary in the exhibition is represented as the arrival point of the community process and, at the same time, point of escape in order to get in relation with the external world.

Dinner at Nicola and Adele's

This is a photo my cousin Matteo from San Francisco who visited Sonnino with his wife Kai took. They were having dinner at our great-uncle/aunt Nicola and Adele's home. Anybody want to guess what was on the menu? Maybe I'll give a prize for the person who guesses correctly.

Market day in Sonnino

Every Saturday these big trucks role into Sonnino for a movable market. You can buy clothes, housewares, fruits, vegetables and pretty much anything else you can think of. It's quite a sight on the narrow main street in town.

Reggae a Sonnino

Here's a link to a video of a couple of kids playing Bob Marley on piazza in Sonnino. I found it when I was looking around Youtube. It's funny more than anything. Click on the link below to watch the video.

reggae a sonnino

Sonnino's own Robin Hood?

Sonnino’s Robin Hood

Sonnino is a small town in the province of Latina. It can be reached in different ways, from Rome or Naples: it is enough to get on the Appia or the Mediana, the SS 148. Also by means of the highway A1, exit Frosinone, direction Priverno. It is 40 km far from Latina and 25 from Terracina and Sabaudia.

Built on the peak of the St. Angelo hill, Sonnino, in Latin Sumninum, was founded probably towards the end of the IX century by the people of Priverno, who escaped from the destruction of their town.

Towards the end of the XVIII century, Sonnino had a bad reputation owing to smuggling, to brigandage and to brigands.

Among these latter, there was Antonio Gasbarrone: our Robin Hood!

Beyond its real history, the reputation of Gasbarone overcame the boundaries of Italy even before his death and a lasting myth arose his figure and made him become one of most famous bandits of history.

The ability to run away and avoid being caught and to aim the criminal action often in defence of the poorer fuelled the legend on this “gentleman bandit”, whose figure was in synchrony with the social rebel spirit of Sonnino.


*I found this on an Italian website about the Latina region

The impact of mining on Sonnino?

This is a picture I took from the back side of Sonnino. It's the area you reach if you continue up the mountain past the village. Though you can't see them, to the left if Terracina and to the right is Rocca Gorga. I'm not sure what is being mined across the valley but I have seen larger chunks of the mountain disappear each time. The tan sections are are areas being mined. Hopefully, this sort of mining won't effect Sonnino.

The D'Angelis Butchers of Sonnino!

Here is a picture of my family taken this past April. From left to right we have my great uncle Italo, my aunt Susan from California, my great uncle Nicola and my cousin Alberto. They run three butcher shops in Sonnino!

Book about Sonnino...Including dialect

This is a great book that my Uncle Nicole and Aunt Adele gave to me the last time I was in Sonnino. It has poetry written about Sonnino, and most importantly, it has a glossary in the back that has Italian/Sonnino dialect translations. It was written by a man named Gaspare Ventre. If anybody would like more information please email me at caseyc@gmail.com

Sounds of Sonnino: Jone

Here is audio of my great uncle Nicola saying "Jone". Jone is Sonninese for "Oh God" or "Oy Vey". I recorded him saying a number of Sonninese words and hopefully I'll get to posting them soon.

Double-click the play button and enjoy...it takes a few moments before the talking starts.

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Today's picture of Sonnino, Italy

Bed and Breakfast in Sonnino, Italy

I've posted before about places to stay around Sonnino (look in the old post or email me if interested, but this appears to be a relatively new Bed and Breakfast. It looks like it's even in the upper part of town. Here's the link:


Bed and Breakfast Sonnino - Inns and Guest House in Sonnino




Sonnino, Italy

Children from Sonnino folk dancing

This is a link to a website that has children from Sonnino doing traditional folk dances. You can view the video by clicking on the image on the Right side of the page.
Musiche del Lazio

Google Blog Search...find posts about Sonnino

Google blog search is a great way to find out if there are people posting information, pictures, stories, etc. about Sonnino online. I've found some great pictures and travel logs using it. I've included the link below. When you search, my Sonnino blog is the fourth entry down.

Google Blog Search

The Sonninese dialect

The last time I was in Sonnino my great uncle Nicola and cousin Luciano gave me book that has an Italian/Sonninese glossary. I plan to post the the translations on the blog...starting today with words that begin with the letter A. I've included a picture of took looking down on Sonnino scalo at dusk.





Sonnino, Italy

Sonnino has an Italian Wikipedia page

Here is the link to the Wikipedia page on Sonnino. It was in Italian so I used the automatic translator. For those that don't know about Wikipedia, it is an online encyclopedia whose content is generated by users. That means it's not always accurate.

Translated version of http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnino