Tuscania is a town and
comuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.- Importance and function :...
in the
province of ViterboThe Province of Viterbo is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo.It has an area of 3,612 km², and a total population of 299,830 . There are 60 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Viterbo...
,
Latium RegionLazio , is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo to the east, Campania to the south, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west.- Geography :...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by
AeneasIn Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy, which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid...
' son,
AscaniusIn Greek and Roman mythology, Ascanius was the son of Aeneas and Creusa. After the Trojan War, as the city burned, Aeneas escaped to Latium in Italy, taking his father Anchises and his child Ascanius with him, though Creusa died during the escape. Ascanius later fought in the Italian Wars...
, where he had found twelve dog pups (whence the
EtruscanThe Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna , in Italy...
name
Tus-
Cana,
cana begin similar to Latin
canis for "dog"). Another legend attributes the foundation to one Tusco, son of
HerculesHercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became...
and Araxes.
Evidence of human presence in the area dates from the
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
age, but probably the city proper was built around the 7th century BCE when the
acropolisAcropolis literally means city on the edge . In Greek, Acropolis means "Highest City". For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
on St.
Tuscania is a town and
comuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.- Importance and function :...
in the
province of ViterboThe Province of Viterbo is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo.It has an area of 3,612 km², and a total population of 299,830 . There are 60 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Viterbo...
,
Latium RegionLazio , is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo to the east, Campania to the south, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west.- Geography :...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
Ancient times
According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by
AeneasIn Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy, which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid...
' son,
AscaniusIn Greek and Roman mythology, Ascanius was the son of Aeneas and Creusa. After the Trojan War, as the city burned, Aeneas escaped to Latium in Italy, taking his father Anchises and his child Ascanius with him, though Creusa died during the escape. Ascanius later fought in the Italian Wars...
, where he had found twelve dog pups (whence the
EtruscanThe Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna , in Italy...
name
Tus-
Cana,
cana begin similar to Latin
canis for "dog"). Another legend attributes the foundation to one Tusco, son of
HerculesHercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became...
and Araxes.
Evidence of human presence in the area dates from the
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
age, but probably the city proper was built around the 7th century BCE when the
acropolisAcropolis literally means city on the edge . In Greek, Acropolis means "Highest City". For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
on St. Peter Hill was surrounded by a line of walls. Villages existed in the neighbourhood. In the following years the strategical position granted Tuscania a leader role in the Etruscan world. After the defeat of the coastal cities by the Greeks (4th century BCE), Tuscania became also a maritime trade center through the port of
Regas (next today's
Montalto di CastroMontalto di Castro is a comune in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Latium, located about 90 km northwest of Rome and about 40 km west of Viterbo...
).
There are no record of Tuscania being involved in the battles that led to the Roman conquest of the Etruscan northern Lazio (280 BCE), as the city probably entered into the Roman orbit in a Pacific way. The agricultural development and construction of the
Via ClodiaVia Clodia was an ancient high-road of Italy. Its course, for the first 11 miles, was the same as that of the Via Cassia; it then diverged to the north in a northwest direction and ran on the west side of the Lacus Sabatinus, past Forum Clodii and Blera...
, further boosted the economic situation of the city. It became a
municipiumA municipium belonged to the second-highest class of Roman cities, being inferior in status to the colonia. The first municipium was Tusculum...
in 88 BCE.
Middle Ages
In the 5th century CE Tuscania became one of the first bishopric seat in Italy, maintaining it until 1653.
After the fall of the
Western Roman EmpireThe Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire....
, it fell to the
LombardsThe Lombards were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks...
in 569 or 574. In 781 it became part of the
Papal StatesThe Papal States, State of the Church or Pontifical States were one of the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. In 967-1066 it was a fief of the
AnguillaraAnguillara were a baronal family of Latium, especially powerful in Rome and in the current province of Viterbo during the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance....
family and then of the marquises of Tuscany. In 1081 it was besieged by Emperor
Henry IVHenry IV was King of Germany from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
.
In the following century it became a free
communeCommunes in Europe during the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread...
with authority over a wide territory including numerous castles. The inner struggles within Tuscania led to a loss of prestige, in favour of the nearby
ViterboViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 100 kilometers north of Rome on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and Monti Volsini. The historic center of the city is surrounded by...
, which was elevated as diocese in 1192. In 1222 St.
Francis of AssisiSaint Francis of Assisi was a Catholic deacon and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans....
soujourned to the city. During the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, it was captured by
Frederick II of HohenstaufenFrederick II of Hohenstaufen was Holy Roman Emperor from his papal coronation in 1220 until his death; he was also a pretender to the title of King of the Romans from 1212 and unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, and of Burgundy...
on March 2, 1240, and provided with a line of walls.
A failed military expedition against
Pope Boniface VIIIPope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Caetani, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in a circle of Hell in his Commedia, and King Philip IV of France.- Biography :Caetani was born in 1235 in...
(early 14th century), led to the submission to Rome, with the pejorative name of Tuscanella. In 1348-49 a bubonic plague struck Tuscania very hard. Shortly thereafter, in 1354, Cardinal
Gil Alvarez De AlbornozGil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz was a Spanish cardinal and ecclesiastical leader.-Early years:Albornoz was born at Carrascosa del Campo, early in the 14th century. He was the son of Gil Állvarez de Albornoz and of Doña Teresa de Luna, sister of Jimeno de Luna, archbishop of Toledo and a member...
definitively returned the town to the
Papal StatesThe Papal States, State of the Church or Pontifical States were one of the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. In 1421 it became a county under the condottiero Angelo Broglio da Lavello.
In 1495 it was ravaged by the French troops of King
Charles VIIICharles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
during his march towards the
Kingdom of NaplesThe Kingdom of Naples is the modern day name for a polity which existed on the southern part of the Italian peninsula. Also known contemporaneously, and somewhat confusingly, as the Kingdom of Sicily, this kingdom was founded after the secession of the island of Sicily from the old Kingdom of...
, much thanks to the destruction of the walls ordered by Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi in reply to the continue inner struggles and riots of the citizens. The city lived thenceforth a long decline which lasted until the annexion to the new unified Kingdom of Italy in 1870.
On February 6, 1971 an
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph...
caused 31 deaths. The town has been meticulously restored since, and the historic quarter is substantial, completely surrounded by the medieval city walls that offer excellent views over the surrounding countryside and the church of St Peter.
Main sights
The main monument of the city is the church of Saint Peter (San Pietro in Italian), in Lombard-Romanesque style, begun in the 8th century and renovated in the 11th-12th centuries. The interior has a nave and two aisles divided by low columns and pilasters incorporating half-columns, with antique and mediaeval capitals.
Other sights include:
- The Etruscan Museum, with sarcophagi from nearby tombs, as well as other objects from the tombs.
- The Romanesque Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It has a façade with three finely decorated portals. The interior is on a nave and two aisles, divided by columns with sculpted capitals. The recessed entrance is flanked by a pair of free standing columns intended to evoke the Boaz and Jachin
align="right"| |}Boaz and Jachin, two copper pillars, stood in the porch of Solomon's Temple, the first Temple in Jerusalem .Other versions of the Bible say brass or bronze rather than copper...
of the Temple of Solomon at JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
.
- The Tower of Lavello
- Fontana delle Sette Cannelle a Roman fountain
- Etruscan necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, meaning "city of the dead"...
es, including the Tomb of the Queen and Pian di Mola.
External links