Bottled Water of the World

FonteItalia was created on 21 December 1999 to bottle the Filette and San Luca waters, whose springs have a combined flow of over 300 million litres per year. These springs are near the township of Guarcino, in the province of Frosinone, about 12 km from Fiuggi, and they are safeguarded and sheltered by pristine mountains.

Filette is one of the oldest waters in Ciociaria and Lazio. It was already famous in 400 BC, when
troops from Rome, under the command of the consul Spurius Cassius, marched up the Macerosa and Agnello valleys.

After re-establishing their authority the Romans set about utilizing the spring with baths and aqueducts, dedicating it to the Steatopygian Venus, an ancient symbol of the link between women and water. Today an unusual sculpture still depicts the goddess Venus at the source.

The bottling of Filette started in 1894 which makes it one of the oldest bottled waters in the world.

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History
Guarcino, the ancient "Varcenum" of the Ernici tribe, grew up as a refuge for the shepherds of the area and has always been known as "a place with copious water".

In Roman times temples were built in honour of Mars and Apollo which in the Christian era were replaced with churches dedicated to the Madonna and the Archangel St Michael. The isolation of these places attracted many hermits and in his journey from Subiaco to Monte Cassino, St Benedict passed through Guarcino and met the hermits living in the neighbourhood.

St Agnus the Abbott, born in Naples in the year 535, came to the Cosa valley as a hermit. He lived for seven years in a cave in the mountains surrounding the little town, and founded a hospital on the outskirts of Guarcino, which for over seven centuries. He died in 595 at the age of 60. In the 15th century St Agnus was proclaimed Patron Saint of the town. Guarcino still retains its ancient mediaeval form. In the southern part of the old town walls there is a great high-peaked arch which supports the ancient palace of Cardinal Tomassi.

The old town centre is still practically intact with its characteristic mediaeval buildings, portals, mullioned windows and stone walls. One episode linked to the long struggle between the Papacy and the Empire concerns the duel, which took place in 1186 below the walls of Guarcino, between a soldier in the army of Henry VI (son of Frederick the Redbeard) who held the town under siege, and a knight of Guarcino named Malpensa. The latter won the duel with his rival and thus saved the town from being sacked and destroyed. Behind the town rises the Campocatino mountain, whose ski slopes are among the most popular in Lazio.