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Velletri is an Italian town of 52,841 inhabitants. It is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio (Latium) - Italy. It is bounded by other communes of Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio. Its motto is: Est mihi libertas papalis et imperialis.
It was an ancient city of the Volsci tribe, and its status was influential in the time of King Ancus Marcius, enough to be on a par with Rome and has been the site of two historical battles in 1744 and 1849. It is the headquarters of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni, and was in the Middle Ages one of the few “free cities” in Lazio and central Italy. Today, Velletri is home to a circuit court and a prison, in addition to several colleges and high schools. It is the terminus of the Rome-Velletri railway, inaugurated by Pius IX in 1863, and the city is one of the centers through which the Via Appia Nuova passes through.
The territory of Velletri stretches between two distinct areas. The northern part is situated on the southern foothills of the Colli Albani range and was geologically formed about 150,000 years ago, after the collapse of the Volcano Laziale caldera. The southern boundry forms around Agro Pontino, whose reclamation started at the time of Pope Pius VI and was accomplished during the Mussolini regime. According to the classification given by the Geological Survey of Italy, much of the territory consists of ground-type LPS, or paleosols, the rest is mainly composed of soils lp, lapilli, argillificate, Mafic, and leucite analcimizzata.
Mount Artemisio overshadows Velletri
* Seismic classification: Zone 2 (medium-high seismicity)
The Oreste Nardini Civic Archeological Museum of Velletri, contains noteworthy works with material going from protohistoric to the medieval period. The existence of a Roman amphitheatre in Velitrae is attested to by a curve in area adjacent to the Town Hall as well as in an inscription found in the 1565.[22] In 1784, within the framework of the Church of the St. Francis, was found the bronze sheets of Velletri. All the material is preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Outside the village, in San Cesareo was identified the site of the Villa degli Ottavi, sub-urban residence of the gens Octavia and Octavian Augustus, and the only Roman villa on Velletri land. Carefully excavated, they have found evidence: a cistern of three naves with the dimensions 15.05 x 13.20m; unique of its kind for the use of pointed arches, and a mosaic; The area currently is private. Another Roman cistern exists in Capanna Murata, and is named Cisterna di Centocolonne. It was discovered in 1982 along the ancient route of the Appian Way.[23]
[edit] Natural Areas
The main urban green area is the Ginnetti Garden Hall Street Gardens, whose surface was once occupied by Ginnetti Orti (Villa Ginnetti). There are other green areas: Gardens of St. Mary, recently restored, in the provincial suburbs with Neptune, having a skating rink, fountains and a bar and Muratori Park.
Museums
* Oreste Nardini Civic Archaeological Museum, contains some substantial works, like the Sarcophagus of Velletri, and Sarcophagus of the labors of Hercules. The museum is divided into two routes:
o Archaeological Route containing the heart of the collection, the Sarcophagus of the Labors of Hercules, dating to the second century and discovered in 1955, the Orontes plate of the fourth century, and the terracotta Volsci, discovered in 1910.
o Geopaleontological and Prehistory of the Alban Hills, opened in 2005, is an journey into the prehistory of the Colli Albani, divided into five sections:
+ Geology; a spectacular "fire pipe" leads the visitor into an environment that reproduces a volcanic eruption;
+ Paleontology, fossils are exposed and explains the fossilization;
+ Anthropology; development is analyzed from the first men;
+ Prehistory through the development of man before the discovery of fire;
+ Protohistory; analyzes the life of man before writing.
* Diocesan Museum, in the cloister of the cathedral contains works of art, especially important for their uniqueness. Among these is the XI - XII century's precious reliquary Crux Veliterna gold filigree and enamel works by Gentile da Fabriano, Lorenzo Bicci, Antoniazzo Romano, Giovan Battista Rositi, Francesco da Siena, Giuliano Finelli, Sebastiano Conca. The Cross or Crux Veliterna is a gold filigree(i.e. a cross containing a relic of a fragment of the Holy Cross), precious stones and cloisonne enamels placed on a footing of silver and gilded bronze. On the front, a fragment of enkolpion depicting Christ crucified, while towards the Agnus Dei is surrounded by anthropomorphic symbols of the Evangelists. The Cross, which contains a fragment of the True Cross, was donated by Frederick II of Swabia to Pope Alexander IV, who donated it in turn to the Veliterna Cathedral. The Madonna and Child by Gentile da Fabriano is the only work the artist made during his Roman period (September 1426 - September 1427).
Tourism
Velletri was one of the stops on the Grand Tour d'Italie: a mandatory stop between Rome and Naples, which attracts many travelers to its museum collections and its natural beauty and architecture. |
