CORI

Latin Cora, town, Latina provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy, on the lower slopes of the Lepini Mountains, 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Rome. Traditionally of Latin foundation, it played an active part in Rome's early wars with the Volsci and Aurunci peoples, but the site lost much of its importance when bypassed by the Appian Way (a Roman road built in 312 BC) 6 miles (10 km) to the southwest. In the 15th century, under the influence of the Roman Catholic church, it enjoyed a further period of prosperity, but it had declined by the end of the 18th. On the summit of the upper town stands the small Doric temple of the god Hercules (8980 BC). Below, terraced down the hillside, are three concentric lines of fortification walls of cyclopean masonry (large irregular stone blocks), built almost certainly on a single occasion, although containing work of three distinct qualities and dates, of which the latest may be attributed to the years following the final recapture of the place by Rome from the Volsci about 330 BC. There is also a single-arched Roman bridge. The church of Santa Oliva has an elegant two-story cloister (146680). Cori is an agricultural centre. Pop. (1989 est.) mun., 10,345.