The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber ...

remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in

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 ...

, located southeast of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and about north of

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and '' comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Is ...

. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, but the highest point is Maschio delle Faete approximately to the east of Cavo and taller. There are subsidiary

s along the rim of the Alban Hills that contain the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

s Albano and Nemi. The hills are composed of

peperino Peperino is an Italian word describing a brown or grey volcanic tuff, containing fragments of basalt and limestone, with disseminated crystals of augite, mica, magnetite, leucite, and other similar minerals. The name originally referred to the d ...

(lapis albanus), a variety 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 ...

that is useful for construction and provides a mineral-rich substrate for nearby

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

History

The hills, especially around the shores of the lakes, have been popular since prehistoric times. From the 9th to 7th century BC, there were numerous villages (see the legendary

Alba Longa Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latin city in Central Italy, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Rome, in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it w ...

and

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ...

). The area was inhabited by the Latini during the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. The ancient Romans called the hill Albanus Mons. On the summit was the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a s ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

Latiaris, in which the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states th ...

s celebrated the ''

Feriae Latinae The ''Feriae Latinae'' or Latin Festival was an ancient Roman religious festival held in April on the Alban Mount. The date varied, and was determined and announced by the consuls each year when they took office. It was one of the most ancient ...

'', and several generals celebrated victories here during times when they were not accorded regular triumphs in Rome. The foundations and some of the architectural fragments of the temple were still in existence until 1777, when they were used to build the Passionist monastery by Cardinal York, but the ''Via Triumphalis'' leading up to it can still be seen. In Roman times, the area was often used by the rich as a way to escape the heat and crowds of Rome, as it is today as shown by the many

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

s and country houses present.

Towns and cities

The towns and villages in the Alban Hills are known as the Castelli Romani.

Volcanic activity

Examination of deposits have dated the four most recent eruptions to two temporal peaks, around 36,000 and 39,000 years ago. The area exhibits small localised

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

swarms, bradyseism, and release of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

and

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The und ...

into the atmosphere. The uplift and earthquake swarms have been interpreted as caused by a slowly growing spherical

magma chamber A magma chamber is a large pool of liquid rock beneath the surface of the Earth. The molten rock, or magma, in such a chamber is less dense than the surrounding country rock, which produces buoyant forces on the magma that tend to drive it up ...

5-6 kilometres below the surface; some think that it may erupt again; if so, there is risk to

, which is only 25 to 30 km away. There is documentary evidence which may describe an eruption in 114 BC, but the absence of

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

geological deposits has largely discredited it as a volcanic event and instead the account is considered to be a description of a forest fire. The volcano emits large amounts of

which can potentially reach lethal concentrations if it accumulates in depressions in the ground in the absence of wind. The

asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can ...

of 29 cows in September 1999 prompted a detailed survey, which found that concentration of the gas at 1.5 m above the ground in a residential area on the northwestern flank sometimes exceeded the occupational health threshold of 0.5%. Eight sheep were killed in a similar incident in October 2001. ''citing''

People

Writers and artists who have produced work about this area include: * Thomas Ashby, archaeologist, wrote ''The Roman Campagna in Classic Time'' * William Brockedon painter and illustrator of guide-books *

George Gordon Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

in ''

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' is a long narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. The poem was published between 1812 and 1818. Dedicated to " Ianthe", it describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man, who is dis ...

'' * Charles Coleman painter *

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

in ''

Italian Journey ''Italian Journey'' (in the German original: ) is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's report on his travels to Italy from 1786 to 1788 that was published in 1816 & 1817. The book is based on Goethe's diaries and is smoothed in style, lacks the spo ...

'' *

Louis Gurlitt Heinrich Louis Theodor Gurlitt (8 March 1812 – 19 November 1897), also called Louis Gurlitt, was a Danish-German painter of landscapes. His brother was the composer Cornelius Gurlitt, and his son was the architect and art historian also cal ...

, German painter * Jacob Philipp Hackert, German painter * Gavin Hamilton, artist and antiquarian, painter and archaeologist, in Genzano and Lanuvio (18th century) *

James Duffield Harding James Duffield Harding (1798 – 4 December 1863) was a British landscape painter, lithographer and author of drawing manuals. His use of tinted papers and opaque paints in watercolour proved influential. Life Harding was born at Deptford in ...

in ''Tourist in Italy'' *

John Henry Henshall John Henry Henshall, usually known as Henry Henshall (Manchester 1856 – 18 November 1928 Bosham) was a British watercolourist and etcher. Life Henshall was born in Manchester. Leaving school at the age of sixteen, Henry – he preferred hi ...

watercolor painter * Richard Colt Hoare in ''A classical tour through Italy and Sicily'' *

Ellis Cornelia Knight Ellis Cornelia Knight (27 March 1757 - 18 December 1837) was an English gentlewoman, traveller, landscape artist, and writer of novels, verse, journals, and history. She had the acquaintance of many prominent figures in her lifetime, from members ...

, writer and painter in ''Description of Latium'' or ''La Campagna di Roma'' *

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. His principal a ...

painter and lithographer *

William Leighton Leitch William Leighton Leitch (2 Nov 1804 – 25 April 1883) was a master Scottish landscape watercolour painter and illustrator. He was Drawing Master to Queen Victoria for 22 years. He was Vice President of the Royal Institute of Painters in W ...

watercolor painter in

Lanuvio Lanuvio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about southeast of Rome, on the Alban Hills. Lanuvio borders the following municipalities: Aprilia, Ariccia, Genzano di Roma, Vellet ...

* Charles H. Poingdestre painter *

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and mor ...

, painter in Villa Torlonia -

Frascati Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated wit ...

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, ; ), was a 19th-century French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de ...

, writer, in

Albano Laziale Albano Laziale (; it, label= Romanesco, Arbano; la, Albanum) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Latium, central Italy. Rome is distant. It is bounded by other communes of Castel Gandolfo, Rocca di Papa ...

, ''Chroniques italiennes (1836–1839): L'Abbesse de Castro'' *

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...

, RA, British painter *

Georgina E. Troutbeck Georgina may refer to: Names * Georgina (name), a feminine given name Places Australia * Georgina, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland * Georgina Basin, a large sedimentary basin in Australia * Georgina River, a r ...

, ''Rambles in Rome'' - London - ed.

Mills & Boon Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd. It was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher. The company moved towards escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. In 1971, the ...

- 1914 * Richard Voss, German dramatist and novelist *

Clara Louisa Wells Clara Louisa Wells (29 October 1838 – 28 December 1925) was an American writer and inventor. Biography She was born in Maine, studied in Boston and took a degree in science. She had very good knowledge of Latin, Greek, Italian and French. She ...

in ''The Alban Hills'' ed. 1878

Panorama

References

External links

{{Authority control Ancient Roman temples Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy Castelli Romani Mountains of Lazio Volcanoes of Italy Alba Longa Latial culture