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Francavilla Fontana (Francavillese: Francaìdda[fɾaŋkaˈiɖɖa]) is a town and comune (municipality) in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is also called the town of the "Imperiali", after the Imperiali, a family of feudal lords who ruled the town from the end of 16th century until the 18th century. With a population of 36,358, in 2017,[2][3] it is the third municipality of its province after Brindisi and Fasano. Its one of the many towns in south Italy where the Greek dialect Griko is spoken.
History
The name Francavilla has French-Norman origins: "Franca" (tax-free) and "villa" (town). The specification Fontana ("fountain") alludes to a vision of the Virgin Mary witnessed by Prince Filippo d'Angiò, who hence declaring the town a tax-free haven, according to the local legend.
The massive square Castle (Palazzo Imperiali) of the Imperiali family, to whom, with Oria, it was sold by St. Charles Borromeo in the 16th century for 40,000 ounces of gold, which he distributed in one day to poor and plague-infected people in Milan.[5]
Mother Church, built from 1743 over a former Angevine construction.
Francesco Ribezzo (b. 8 May 1875, died Lecce, 19 October 1952), glottologist - the science of tongues or languages; comparative philology, particularly the dialect of F. Fontana