Nocera Umbra | ||
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Comune | ||
Comune di Nocera Umbra | ||
Aerial view of Nocera Umbra (before 26 September 1997).
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Location of Nocera Umbra in Italy | ||
Coordinates: 43°7′N 12°47′E / 43.117°N 12.783°E | ||
Country | Italy | |
Region | Umbria | |
Province / Metropolitan city | Perugia (PG) | |
Frazioni | see list | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Giovanni Bontempi (since May 16, 2011) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 157 km2 (61 sq mi) | |
Elevation | 520 m (1,710 ft) | |
Population (30 November 2014) | ||
• Total | 5,894 | |
• Density | 38/km2 (97/sq mi) | |
Demonym(s) | Nocerini | |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
Postal code | 06025 | |
Dialing code | 0742 | |
Patron saint | St. Raynald of Nocera | |
Saint day | February 9 | |
Website | Official website |
Nocera Umbra is a town and comune in the province of Perugia, Italy, 15 kilometers north of Foligno, at an altitude of 520 m above sea-level. The comune, covering an area of 157.19 km², is one of the largest in Umbria.
The town of Nocera was founded in the 7th century BC by inhabitants from Camerinum, an Umbrian town, who left their ancestral homeland during a so-called ver sacrum (sacred spring). The name Nocera in the Osco-Umbrian language was Noukria, meaning "New" (town).
The Roman town was not located on the hill - where modern Nocera lies - but in the valley, near the Topino creek.
The town - with the Latin name Nuceria Camellana – came under Roman control between the end of the 4th century and the first decades of the 3rd century BC, and became a Municipium. It soon acquired strategic importance because it lay on a branch of the via Flaminia, the road which linked Rome to the Adriatic, going from Forum Flamini (S. Giovanni Profiamma, near Foligno) to Fanum, on the Picenum. Several remains of the Roman roads are still visible today. From Nuceria the Romans also built another road – the Septempedana - leading to the Roman military outposts of Prolaqueum and Septempeda, on the Adriatic side of the Apennines.
According to Pliny the Elder, Nuceria was inhabited by two tribes, one the Nucerini Favonienses (faithful of Favonia, also named Fauna, a Goddess) and the other Camellani (originating from Camerinum, or possibly makers of camellae, small wooden containers). Strabo records that the town was famous for the production of wooden vases (possibly barrels).