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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 Italian visitors of my web site

In and About Viterbo Orte and Vasanello

Orte is a small town known by almost all Italians, although very few of them have ever been there. This is because in the XIXth century the name of the town was given to the railroad junction where the railway line linking Rome with Florence meets that linking Rome with Ancona and Perugia (via Narni). Almost all trains stopped at this junction and travellers thought that the few buildings outside the station constituted the town of Orte. A popular joke on a motto by Giuseppe Garibaldi O Roma o morte! (either Rome or death!) added to the celebrity of the town: the motto was turned into O Roma o Orte! (either Rome or Orte!); a sign of the disenchantment so widespread in Italy towards bold and rhetorical statements.

Views of Orte and of the Tiber
Views of Orte and of the Tiber

The town of Orte is located a few miles north of the railway junction on an isolated tufa rock overlooking the Tiber, near the point where this river is joined by the River Nera. Water from a large section of the Central Apennines (a mountain range) flows into the Nera. The Romans built a bridge on the Tiber to facilitate trade between Rome and Umbria.
While the Danube is blue, the Tiber is blond (il biondo Tevere) as it carries in suspension minute particles of earth: during the Middle Ages, when the drainage systems put in place by the Romans collapsed, the floods deposited these particles on the lowest areas of the city covering wholly or in part houses and temples.
The history of Orte starts with the Etruscans, but the importance of the town grew during the Roman rule.

Generic coat of arms of the popes; coat of arms of Orte; coat of arms of Clement VII Medici
Orte - generic coat of arms of the popes; coat of arms of Orte; coat of arms of Pope Clement VII Medici

The symbol of Orte is the bridge built by the Romans (almost entirely collapsed in the XVIth century). The relief in the picture above shows it with the two towers which protected it. Orte was one of the first possessions of the pope: a gift of the Longobard kings in the VIIIth century when Rome was still a Byzantine duchy, but the popes were starting to build the Patrimonium Petri (St. Peter's patrimony) the initial name of the papal state.
In December 1527 Pope Clement VII escaped from Castel Sant'Angelo and sought refuge in Orvieto, a few miles north of Orte. A coat of arms of Pope Clement VII was placed on the town hall of Orte in recognition of its loyalty to the pope.

Roman aqueduct and S. Silvestro
Orte - XVIth century aqueduct and S. Silvestro

Orte remained important through the Middle Ages and it retains a very interesting medieval church with a slightly leaning bell tower.

Renaissance window and Renaissance portals of the Aberti palaces
Orte - Renaissance window and Renaissance portals of the Alberti palaces

Five Renaissance palaces of Orte show the same coat of arms. It belongs to the Alberti, a Tuscan family of wool merchants: in the XIVth century they opened a branch of their business in Orte and over time they built five residences, all showing a simple and neat design, typical of Florentine architecture.

Vasanello
Vasanello - S. Maria

Vasanello is a small town, five miles south of Orte, on the road leading to Vignanello and Soriano, with some interesting monuments of its past.
S. Maria has the appearance of a church on its right side and of a small fortress on its left side: a sort of attempt to kill two birds with one stone. The church, in addition to some Roman reliefs and inscriptions, has a fine Renaissance font, shaped as a small temple.

Orsini Castle and S. Silvestro
Vasanello - Orsini Castle and Chiesa del Salvatore

The defence of Vasanello could not be assured by the small fortification next to S. Maria, so the families who ruled over the town (Orsini, Della Rovere and Colonna) built a small fortress at its entrance. It dates back to the XIIth century, but it was largely modified in the XVIth century.
Vasanello was located along a Roman road (Via Amerina) leading through Orte to Umbria. It was with the white stones of that road that the inhabitants of Vasanello erected a very high bell tower which most likely served as watch tower, because Vasanello, unlike the other towns of the area, is not located on a high tufa rock.

Della Rovere coat of arms and Roman funerary relief
Vasanello - Della Rovere coat of arms above the portal of the castle; Roman funerary relief on the bell tower of Chiesa del Salvatore


In and about Viterbo - other pages:
Viterbo
Bagnaia
Bagnoregio
Bomarzo
S. Maria della Querce
S. Martino al Cimino
Tuscania
Vitorchiano

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.