Feroniae

Feroniae refers to the Sanctuary of Feronia, known in Latin as Fanum Feroniae, an ancient religious complex dedicated to the Italic goddess Feronia. The sanctuary is located near Capena in the Lazio region of Italy, on a hill overlooking the Tiber valley about 25 kilometers north of Rome. Feronia was a goddess of fertility, wild places, and rural prosperity, venerated by several Italic communities; the cult at Feroniae appears in records from the late archaic period and continued into the early imperial era.

The site comprises a temple raised on a podium within an enclosing precinct, with additional altars and a variety of votive offerings recovered through archaeological work. Inscriptions found at the site attest dedications to Feronia by local communities and by freedmen, indicating its importance as a regional religious center that drew pilgrims from across Latium. The sanctuary is frequently cited in studies of Italic religion as an example of a major sanctified space that predates and interacts with Roman cults, illustrating local religious identity and cultic practice in ancient central Italy.

Today, Feroniae is recognized as an archaeological site and protected area. Excavations since the 18th century, along with more systematic investigations in the 20th and 21st centuries, have helped illuminate the layout of the sanctuary and its role in Italic religious life. The site remains a key reference point for scholars studying Feronia and the broader religious landscape of ancient Latium.