Vejano or Veiano () is a (municipality) 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 ...

, formerly known as

Tuscia Tuscia ( , ) is a historical region of central Italy that comprises part of the territories under Etruscan influence, or Etruria, named so since the Roman conquest. From the Middle Ages, the name was used to refer to three macro-areas: the " ...

, in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region of

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

, located about northwest 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 south 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 ...

on the Mignone river. It is an agricultural village at an altitude of about 400 meters, situated between the hills of

Tolfa Tolfa is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy; it lies to the ENE of Civitavecchia by road. It is the main center in the Monti della Tolfa, an extinct volcanic group between Civitavecchia a ...

and Cimini. The main monument of the village is La Rocca, an imposing castle, excavated in

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 ...

rock, with a triangular shape and fortified walls. Originally called Viano, it changed its name to Veggiano in 1845 and then to Vejano in 1872. The name possibly comes from Veio, the Etruscan city just to the north of Rome that was defeated by the Romans in 396 BC. It is believed to have been inhabited by Etruscans, although there is no clear evidence of this fact. In the Augustan era, Vejano became an important centre as it was situated along the route of the

Via Clodia The Via Clodia was an ancient high road of Italy. Situated between the Via Cassia and the Via Aurelia, it is different from them notably in that the latter was designed primarily for military long-haul, irrespective of settlements they met, but ...

. From 1493 to 1664 Viano was the property of the Santacroce family. It then passed into the hands of the Altieri family. The castle is now owned by Princes of Naples Rampolla, relatives of Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro, Secretary of State of

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

. Other properties were sold by the Altieris at the beginning of the 20th Century, to a university and to private citizens.

Twin towns

Vejano is twinned with: * Santorso, Italy

References

Cities and towns in Lazio {{Latium-geo-stub