Orte is a town, ''

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 ...

'', former Catholic bishopric and Latin

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

in the

province of Viterbo The province of Viterbo () is a Provinces of Italy, 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 Cit ...

, in the central Italian region of

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 ...

, located about north of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and about east of

Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...

Geography

Orte and its significance as a transport hub from above

Orte is situated in the

Tiber Valley The Tiber Valley (Italian: ''Valle del Tevere'') is the largest geographical part of the of the Tiber river included in the Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, and the Lazio regions; it is characterized by river terraces and floodplain areas that e ...

on a high

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 ...

cliff, encircled to North and East from a handle of the Tevere river. It is an important road and rail hub.

History

The

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 ...

inhabited the area from the 6th century BC and called it Hurta, as testified by the findings in a

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

nearby, now preserved in the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

. Two major battles between Etruscans and Romans (310 and 283 BC) were fought nearby on the shores of the Vadimone lake. The Romans were victorious both times. The Romans domination made it the municipality of ''Horta'' (also ''Hortanum''). Under the rule of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

it received numerous

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

. Because of its strategic position, Orte was occupied in succession by the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines and the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. During the late 9th to early 10th century, along with much of central Italy, Orte was also held or threatened by the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the city was never seat of a fief, becoming a free ''

'' under a ''

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

'' (elected magistrature). Later it became part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

. George Dennis visited Orte in the 1840s. He describes it as picturesque, but having scarcely any visible Roman or Etruscan remnants.George Dennis,
The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria
', 1848, Chapter IX.

Ecclesiastical history

Main Sights

* Cathedral of Orte * San Francesco: baroque church * San Silvestro, Orte

Events

*''Sant'Egidio Abate's Day and Ottava of Sant'Egidio'': from 31 August to the second Sunday in September. A Medieval festival with shows, fairs, conventions, seminaries of study, art exhibitions of art and archery competitions (the "Palio", contented by the archers of the Seven Contrade). *''Religious procession of Dead Christ'': every Friday before Easter. A torchlight procession representing early religions orders ("Confraternity").

Transport

Orte railway station Orte railway station () serves the town and ''comune'' of Orte, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Opened in 1865, it forms part of the Florence–Rome railway and the Ancona–Orte railway. The station is currently managed by Rete Ferrovia ...

, opened in 1865, forms part of the

Florence–Rome railway The Florence–Rome railway is part of the traditional main north–south trunk line of the Italian railway network. The line is referred to by Ferrovie dello Stato (the State Railways) as the ''Linea Lenta'' (meaning "slow line", abbreviated '' ...

and the Ancona–Orte railway. It is situated in Piazza Giovanni XXIII, in the locality of Orte Scalo, approximately two kilometres southeast of the town centre.

References

Sources and external links

Orte municipal website

Ottovamedievale.it

; Bibliography - ecclesiastical history * Ferdinando Ughelli, ''Italia sacra'', vol. I, second edition, Venice 1717, coll. 733-743 * Tommaso M. Mamachi, ''De episcopatus hortani antiquitate ad hortanos cives liber singularis, Rome 1759 * Giuseppe Cappelletti, ''Le Chiese d'Italia della loro origine sino ai nostri giorni'', vol. VI, Venice 1847, pp. 23–49 * Louis Duchesne, ''Le sedi episcopali nell'antico ducato di Roma'', in ''Archivio della romana società di storia patria'', Volume XV, Rome 1892, p. 491 * Paul Fridolin Kehr, ''Italia Pontificia'', vol. II, Berlin 1907, pp. 192–194 * Gerhard Schwartz, ''Die Besetzung der Bistümer Reichsitaliens unter den Sächsischen und Salischen Kaisern : mit den Listen der Bischöfe, 951-1122'', Leipzig-Berlin 1913, p. 259 * Francesco Lanzoni, ''Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604)'', vol. I, Faenza 1927, pp. 546–547 * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, pp. 685–686 * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 1, pp. 278–279; vol. 2, pp. XXVI e 166 {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lazio