Vetralla is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Viterbo Viterbo ( it, provincia di Viterbo) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. Geography Viterbo is the most northerly of the provinces of Lazio. It is bordered to the south by the Metropolitan City of Rome ...

, in central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, south of that city, located on a shoulder of Monte Fogliano.

History

Vetralla's dominating fortified position in the heart of Etruscan territories has been continuously occupied since the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

. The Roman site, two kilometers distant, was a posting station on the

Via Cassia The ''Via Cassia'' ("way of Cassius") was an important Roman road striking out of the ''Via Flaminia'' near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii, traversed Etruria. The ''Via Cassia'' passed through ...

; some ruins of walls and paving at S. Maria di Forcassi still mark the Roman

Forum Cassii Forum Cassii was an ancient town of Etruria, in central Italy, situated on the Via Cassia, with the formation of which, from its name, it was certainly connected. It is known to us from the Itineraries, which place it 11 Roman miles beyond Sutrium ...

. The site was depopulated in the later Empire, when a smaller population retreated to the present strategic position commanding the valley, where it remained exposed to attack, in spite of the imposing walls that encircled it. The little fortress had been incorporated into the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

from their historic beginnings with the Lombard king Liutprand's

Donation of Sutri The Donation of Sutri was an agreement reached at Sutri by Liutprand, King of the Lombards and Pope Gregory II in 728. At Sutri, the two reached an agreement by which the city and some hill towns in Latium (like Vetralla) were given to the Pap ...

(728) to

Pope Gregory II Pope Gregory II ( la, Gregorius II; 669 – 11 February 731) was the bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death.

, but the lords of

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...

held it from 1110 to 1134. By 1145,

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III ( la, Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He ...

was installed at Vetralla, safely removed from the violence and party strife of Rome; from here he issued his bull '' Quantum praedecessores'', calling for the Second Crusade. The territory was given extensive woodlands by

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

in 1206, which brought it into fierce contention with the lords of Viterbo who coveted the land. To this day, in the annual ceremonial ''Sposalizio dell'albero'' ("marriage of the tree"), the mayor of Vetralla reaffirms the town's rights of possession on Monte Fogliano. The

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

was entrusted through the centuries to various noble families associated with the Papacy, as lords of Vetralla: first the

Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following: *Angel ...

, then the Di Vico until 1435, when the last lord

Giacomo di Vico Giacomo is an Italian name. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob. People * Giacomo (name), including a list of people with the name Other uses * Giacomo (horse), a race horse, winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby * ''Giácomo'' (film) ...

was forcibly ousted by the cardinal-condottiere

Giovanni Vitelleschi Giovanni Maria Vitelleschi (1396 – 2 April 1440) was an Italian cardinal and condottiere. Biography Vitelleschi was born in Corneto (modern Tarquinia, then part of the Papal States), some kilometers north to Rome. He received a military educ ...

, confined in the fortress of Soriano, then beheaded. Vetralla then passed in rapid succession among a series of Papal nobles: to Cardinal Giovanni Borgia, to Lorenzo Cybo (1529), and to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1534. Uniquely among non-English cities, in 1512 Vetralla received the protection of the English Crown, bestowed upon the town by Henry VIII, and a monument commemorating this event can still be found in the local town hall.

Main sights

*Church of San Pietro *Church of San Francesco *Church of Sant'Angelo *Grotta Porcina *Church of Santa Maria in Forocasii * City and Territory Museum *Rock necropolis of Norchia

Transportation

Vetralle is reached by the SS Cassia national road. The Aurelia bis road connects it to Tarquinia. It has a station on the FR3 Rome- Capranica-

regional railroad.

References

External links

Official website

Tuscia 360 about Vetralla with VR panoramasSITE CITTADIVETRALLA
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lazio

History

Main sights

Transportation

See also

References

External links