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Visit Rome following 8 XVIIIth century itineraries XVIIIth century Rome in the 10 Books of Giuseppe Vasi - Le Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna The Grand View of Rome by G. Vasi The Environs of Rome: Frascati, Tivoli, Albano and other small towns near Rome A 1781 map of Rome by G. Vasi An 1852 map of Rome by P. Letarouilly Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller in the paintings by Alberto Pisa The 14 historical districts of Rome An abridged history of Rome How to spend a peaceful day in Rome Baroque sculptors and their works The coats of arms of the popes in the monuments of Rome Pages on a specific pope Pages complementing the itineraries and the views by Giuseppe Vasi Walks in the Roman countryside and in other towns of Latium following Ferdinand Gregorovius A Directory of links to the Churches of Rome A Directory of links to the Palaces and Villas of Rome A Directory of links to the Other Monuments of Rome A Directory of Baroque Architects with links to their works A Directory of links to Monuments of Ancient Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Medieval Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Renaissance A Directory of links to Monuments of the Late Renaissance A list of the most noteworthy Roman Families Directories of fountains, obelisks, museums, etc. Books and guides used for developing this web site An illustrated Glossary of Art Terms Venice and the Levant Roman recollections in Florence A list of Italian towns shown in this web site Venetian Fortresses in Greece Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller A list of foreign towns shown in this web site
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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.

To the visitors of my web site

From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana Civitavecchia, Allumiere and Tolfa

Introduction

This itinerary starts from the sea (Civitavecchia) and it ends near the Tiber (Civita Castellana). Most of the towns shown in this and in the following pages have a long history which includes: Etruscan foundation, Roman conquest, medieval development as independent municipalities and finally inclusion in the State of the Church. The location of the towns often follows a common pattern; they were founded on a little hill at the confluence of two streams which provided a natural defence.

Map of the itinerary
Map of the itinerary (in green)

The red roads you see in the map are the three consular roads built by the Romans to link Rome with its northern provinces: Via Aurelia (near Civitavecchia in the map) reached Pisa, Genoa and France; Via Cassia (near Viterbo in the map) reached Florence, Bologna and the Alps; Via Flaminia (near Civita Castellana in the map) reached Rimini and the Adriatic Sea.

Civitavecchia

Civitavecchia means "old town" (civita=town, in old Italian - vecchia=old, by the way read "cch" as "k"). This because in 812 it was destroyed by the Saracens and its inhabitants abandoned it. Several years later they returned and rebuilt their ruined town.

Fortress of Civitavecchia
Fortress of Civitavecchia

Its importance grew at the beginning of the XVIth century when Pope Julius II (who, when he was still a cardinal, had strengthened the defences of Ostia) entrusted Michelangelo with the design of a large fortress to protect the harbour of Civitavecchia. The fortress was completed during the pontificate of Pope Paulus III in the 1530s: the proportions, the facing of the walls with travertine, the decoration, the gigantic papal coats of arms give to the fortress a very harmonious look (for other images of the fortress click here).

Gate and Fountain
Gate and Fountain

With the unification of Italy in the XIXth century Civitavecchia became the main port for reaching Sardinia and because of this it was heavily bombed during World War II. This fact together with a hasty post-war reconstruction led to the isolation of a limited number of monuments in an anonymous modern urban context. The gate and the fountain (by Luigi Vanvitelli) shown above were built after 1740 and they are interesting examples of the first signs of the move from Baroque to Neoclassicism.

Walls and coat of arms of Innocentius XII
Walls and coat of arms of Pope Innocentius XII

In addition to the fortress, Civitavecchia was protected by walls, which are largely lost or diminished in their size because of a higher ground level. They had several papal coats of arms: the coat of arms shown above (Pope Innocentius XII 1691-1700) is now in a sort of depot near the walls. In the background of this page you can see a detail of the walls.

Allumiere and Tolfa

Alum, hence Allumiere, is a double sulphate of aluminium and potassium, which is used in paper manufacturing, tanning of hides and dyeing. In the past the limited development of chemistry made the mines of natural alum comparable to gold mines. In 1462 alum was discovered near the town of Tolfa and its mining became a very important source of revenue for the State of the Church.

Palazzo delle Allumiere
Palazzo delle Allumiere

The town of Allumiere was founded to host the miners and the administrative offices, so the main building is not a town hall, but the palace where the administrative activities took place. Usually the State of the Church did not run directly the mines, but gave them to a third party in return for a fee and this was often a way to favour a friend or a relative of the pope. The image above shows also a coat of arms of Pope Pius VI (1775-79) painted on a cupboard and the coat of arms of a cardinal.

Fortress of the Frangipane
Fortress of the Frangipane

Tolfa is dominated by the ruins of a medieval fortress which once belonged to the Frangipane. In 1799 French troops set fire to Tolfa and its fortress as the inhabitants, who, because they also viewed the pope as their employer, opposed a strenuous resistance to the invaders.


From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana - other pages:
Oriolo Romano and Capranica
Sutri, Bassano and Monterosi
Nepi and Castel Sant'Elia
Civita Castellana

Pages on towns of Latium other than Rome In the Duchy of Castro: Farnese, Ischia di Castro, Valentano, Gradoli, Capodimonte, Marta In Maremma: Corneto (Tarquinia), Montalto, Canino A Pilgrim's Way: Via Francigena: Acquapendente, Bolsena, Montefiascone In and about Viterbo: Viterbo, Bagnoregio, S. Martino al Cimino, Tuscania, Bomarzo, S. Maria della Querce, Bagnaia, Orte, Vasanello, Vitorchiano From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana: Civitavecchia, Tolfa, Allumiere, Oriolo Romano, Capranica, Sutri, Bassano, Monterosi, Nepi, Castel d'Elia, Civita Castellana From Bracciano to Viterbo: Manziana, Canale Monterano, Vejano, Barbarano, Blera, Vetralla Around Monte Cimino: Ronciglione, Caprarola, Carbognano, Fabrica, Corchiano, Vignanello, Vallerano, Soriano The Bracciano Lake: Bracciano, Trevignano, Anguillara At the foot of Monte Soratte: S. Oreste, Rignano, Faleria Land of the Romans' wives: Montopoli, Poggio Mirteto, Casperia, Cantalupo, Roccantica Sentinels on the Highway: Fiano Romano, Civitella S. Paolo, Nazzano, Torrita Tiberina, Filacciano, Ponzano Along Via Aurelia: Palidoro, Palo, S. Severa and S. Marinella A Walk to Malborghetto: Prima Porta, Malborghetto Branching off Via Cassia: S. Maria di Galeria, Formello, Isola Farnese To Nomentum and beyond: Mentana, Monterotondo, Palombara A Walk to Ponte di Nona: ancient monuments along Via Prenestina Via Appia Antica A short and delicious digression: Tivoli, Montecompatri, Monte Porzio Catone, Frascati, Grottaferrata, Marino, Castelgandolfo, Albano, Ariccia, Genzano, Velletri, Nemi, Rocca di Papa, Rocca Priora, Civita Lavinia (Lanuvio), Porto, Ostia Where the painters found their models: Anticoli Corrado, Castelmadama, Vicovaro, Arsoli Subiaco The Roman Campagna: Palestrina, Genazzano, Paliano, Anagni The Ernici Mountains: Ferentino, Alatri The Volsci Mountains: Valmontone, Colonna, Segni, Norma, Cori On the Latin Shores: Anzio, Nettuno, Torre Astura On the edge of the marsh: Sermoneta, Sezze, Priverno Circe's Cape: S. Felice, Terracina Veroli Branching off Via Flaminia: Riano, Castelnuovo di Porto, Morlupo, Leprignano (Capena)

Latium was enlarged in the 1920s with territories from the neighbouring regions: the map on the left shows the current borders of Latium; the map on the right has links to pages covering towns of historical Latium: in order to see them you must hover and click on the dots.