Ceri () is a hamlet (''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'') of the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of

Cerveteri Cerveteri () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Italian region of Lazio. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, ...

, in the

Metropolitan City of Rome Metropolitan City of Rome Capital () is an area of local government at the level of metropolitan city in the Lazio region of Italy. It comprises the territory of the city of Rome and 120 other ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in the hinterland of the c ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

(central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

). It occupies a fortified plateau of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

at a short distance from the city of Cerveteri.

History

Inhabited before the 7th century BC, the town's native population changed several times, from

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

to Romans. Numerous tombs from the Etruscan and Roman periods can be found in the area. The town as it looks today was founded in 1236 when the inhabitants of its Caere neighbour abandoned the former to be better protected by rock formations. To this, they gave the name of Caere Novum (simply Ceri, not to be confused with another neighbour, Cerenova), in order to distinguish it from the ancient city, Caere Vetus (today

). In the same period, the castle was constructed for the defence of the town. Ceri

Since the 14th century, Ceri became the property of some of the greatest Italian families: from the Anguillara (of which the greatest exponent was

Renzo da Ceri Renzo da Ceri, true name Lorenzo dell'Anguillara (1475 or 1476 – January 1536) was an Italian condottiero. He was a member of the Anguillara family. Born in Ceri, a small village in Lazio (now part of Cerveteri), he was the son of Giovan ...

) to Cesi, the Borromeo, the

Odescalchi The House of Erba-Odescalchi () and the House of Odescalchi are branches of an Italian noble family formed by the union of the Erba and Odescalchi families. The Odescalchi family was, since the election of Benedetto Odescalchi as Pope Innocent ...

, and ended with the

Torlonia 200px, Coat of arms of the House of Torlonia, part of the History_of_Auvergne.html" ;"title="Italian nobility of French descent, hailing from the region of History of Auvergne">Auvergne The House of Torlonia, the Princes of Civitella-Cesi, is th ...

, who are still owners of a large part of Ceri.

Main sights

The main attraction is the Romanesque Church of the Madonna di Ceri, which stands on an ancient site where Etruscans and Romans venerated the cult of the goddess Vesta. In 1980, during a restoration, frescoes from approximately the 12th century, representing some scenes drawn from

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, were discovered on a wall of the church building.

External links

Town website
{{authority control Frazioni of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Hilltowns in Lazio Cerveteri Roman sites in Lazio Etruscan sites