Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

Ferdinand Gregorovius, a German historian best known for his studies on medieval Rome, spent the summer of 1860 at Genazzano with his friend Johannes Muller, a painter; the two decided to go on a ride across the Volsci Mountains to see the Pontine Marshes. The journey was described in an account (Aus den Bergen der Volsker) written by Gregorovius for a German paper. Muller was a watercolourist who later on opened a studio at Piazza Barberini.

View over Porta Saracena and Valmontone in the distance from a terrace near the Cathedral of Segni

Having crossed the Sacco near Valmontone, we began to ascend, continuing to do so till Segni was reached. As we rode over the foothills of the Volscian range we saw Fortino to the right and Gavignano on a pleasant eminence to the left. The road is a little monotonous, climbing always higher into the mountains; as we wound up, the classic plains of Latium spread out more and more beautifully at our feet, sad and grand, each hill crowned with its castle, and all shut in by the blue Apennines. The road winds through a deep gorge in zigzags up the steep red rocks on which Segni is set, so that you do not see the town till you reach it.
Gregorovius - From the Volscian Mountains - 1860 - English translation by Dorothea Roberts.

(above) View of the town; (below) view of the Acropolis and S. Pietro

The sun blazed hot at midday when I found myself before the gates of Segni. This ancient city stands high, and giant walls, broken in places, still encircle it. Its grey limestone houses, in successive terraces, as at Palestrina, ascending the crest of the hill, with an unsightly tower at intervals, may be curious, but are not specially attractive. (..) On the highest ground in the town, close by the Church of San Pietro stood the Volscian Cyclopean Fortress in days of old. On that eminence, dominating the whole of Latium, were seated the Citadel and temple of the ancient Signia, of which but few fragments now remain. Gregorovius

Segni seen from Gavignano and enlargement showing its polygonal walls at Ponte Scarabeo

The hill on which Segni is situated is very steep, and we were nearly two hours ascending its barren sides. The sites, in general, of all the towns in which Cyclopian remains are found, are on very steep and high mountains. The Cyclops always inhabited elevated situations.
John Izard Middleton - Grecian remains in Italy: Cyclopian walls and Roman antiquities - 1812
The ascent to Segni is most wild and rugged, and the road wound along the mountain edge without any parapet beyond a fringe of Judas bushes just bursting into bloom to be ready for the Good Friday close at hand, and with tremendous precipices below, rather alarming in a carriage.
Augustus J. C. Hare - Days Near Rome - 1873

(left) Porta Maggiore; (right-above) inscription mentioning two freedmen of the Volumni family (Ist century BC); (right-below) inscription celebrating Emperor Caracalla

I rode in by the Porta Maggiore, hoping to find an inn. This is the only gate to enter by; here alone is it accessible, precipitous cliffs guarding it everywhere else. The gate rests against the Cyclopean wall, and above it is a huge edifice which once dominated the town, the Palace of the Conti. It resembles a convent more than a castle. There is no castellated work, not even a tower, to mark it as a feudal fortress. Gregorovius
We copied a number of inscriptions that lie scattered in various parts of the town; some in private houses, others serving as corner-posts in the streets; some of them are, very probably, already published, but if so, are scattered in ponderous collections. I shall therefore give them all, as they serve to throw some light upon the history of Segni. Middleton
In the XIXth century Segni occupied only a part of the site of ancient Signia, a town on the northern side of the Volsci Mountains which according to tradition was conquered (or founded) by Tarquin the Proud, the last Roman king in 513 BC. Ancient Roman inscriptions and fragments of reliefs can be seen on the walls of many buildings of the town.

Medieval bell towers: (left to right) Cathedral, S. Pietro and S. Stefano

The Conti, ancestors of Innocent III, Gregory IX, and Alexander IV, and their families were the lords of Segni. After the reassertion of the Roman independence in 1143, the Pontiffs were often obliged to fly from the hatred and persecution of the Roman people to their strongholds in the Campagna. They came by turns to Palestrina, Tusculum, Anagni, and Segni. Eugenius fled to Segni for the first time, from the wrath of the Roman senate, in 1145, when he built himself a residence there, and there Innocent III was born in his father's palace. He and Alexander III and Lucius III all resided there at intervals. Later, the family of Conti came into possession of Segni, after having ruled it as podestas, then as Vicars of the Holy See. Gregorovius
The Romanesque bell towers of Segni are a sign of the importance acquired by the town in the XIIth and XIIIth centuries when several popes resided there for a short time; in 1198 Lotario dei Conti di Segni, a member of the family which ruled Segni, became Pope Innocent III, one of the most important popes of the Middle Ages and a keen asserter of the supremacy of the popes over kings and emperors.

(left) Palazzo della Comunità, former medieval Town Hall, which today houses the Archaeological Museum (see some of its exhibits) ; (right) fresco inside the building

This small palace was built towards the middle of the XIIIth century and at the time it must have consisted of a portico on the ground floor made up of a series of round arches and of a loggia with large pointed-arch windows. The portico was most likely used as a shelter for merchants and the loggia as an assembly hall. The building has undergone many changes over the centuries, but in the late 1990s its medieval aspect was emphasized by removing later additions, in order to use it as a museum.

(left) Medieval building; (right) Ponte Scarabeo

When the Conti became extinct, and Mario Sforza had inherited it, Sixtus V raised the title which went with it to that of a duke. Notwithstanding its strong position, the soldiers of Alba, Spanish Viceroy of Naples, destroyed it in 1557 (during the war against Pope Paul IV). No trace of any Gothic building now remains. The town was rebuilt, but the Sforzas were forced, owing to debts, to sell it; then Urban VIII bought it and gave it in fief to his nephew, Cardinal Antonio Barberini. For half a century a lawsuit dragged on between the houses of Barberini and Sforza; this, at the end of the last century, was decided in favour of the Sforza-Cesarini family, who are still Dukes of Segni. Gregorovius
Ponte Scarabeo is a medieval arch built between a house and the ancient walls; its unusual name is associated with a tale about a scarab donated by a Carthaginian prince to a local girl.

(left) Cathedral with an early XIXth century façade; (right) inscription celebrating St. Thomas Becket and St. Bruno of Asti

When I have got hold of the geography of these Campagna towns, I visit, as a rule, the cathedral, which is the historic museum of the place, and it is seldom that I fail to discover in it some relic of the Middle Ages. (..) I was building on this cathedral at Segni, for it has been a Bishop's See ever since the year 499, but a modern edifice confronted me, decorated, after the present Roman fashion, with an exuberant painted cupola which it dislocated one's neck to look up at. (..) There are two modern statues in it, both of famous personages whom Segni delights to honour - Pope Vitalian and Bishop Bruno. The first, a native of Segni, was Pope from 657 till 672, when the Byzantines were lords in Rome. Then the Emperor Constans II came to the imperial city to rob it of the last remaining portions of the fine artistic gilt bronze roofing of the Pantheon, which had been spared by the Vandals, but were now stolen to adorn his church at Byzantium. Bruno, a native of Asti, in Piedmont, came to Rome, was received by Gregory VII, and consecrated Bishop of Segni by Urban II. In violation of the canonical law he abdicated, relinquished the See, and went to Monte Cassino, where Abbot Oderisius received him into his community as a Benedictine monk. In defiance of the commands of Pope Paschal to return to his pastoral charge, Bruno remained at Monte Cassino, of which great Monastery he was elected Abbot, and there, in cloistered leisure, he wrote his mystical works. (..) He eventually died at Segni in 1123, and was canonised in 1189. This cathedral is curiously connected with England. In 1173 Thomas à Becket of Canterbury was canonised there, shortly after his murder, at a synod held by Pope Alexander III. An inscription in the church records this. Gregorovius
The cathedral of Segni was entirely redesigned in 1626-1657; it contains some interesting paintings which you can see in the second page.

(left) Small oratory near the Cathedral with a 1533 portal and window from a demolished church dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel in the cemetery of the town; (right) Chiesa del Gesù

An Englishman, Lord Ellis, Abbot of Monte Cassino and Bishop of Segni, (..) restored the cathedral in 1708, when Bishop of Segni. He also founded a seminary to which pupils crowded from far and wide to be taught their humanities. Whether destined or not for the priesthood, they wear classical gowns. Gregorovius
Michael Ellis was one of the royal chaplains of King James II. During the Glorious Revolution of 1688 he was imprisoned, but being soon liberated he retired to the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France and afterwards to Rome. In 1696 he was named an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne; and in 1708 Bishop of Segni. The seminary he founded was run by Jesuits for whom he built a small church near Porta Maggiore.
In 1986 the Diocese of Segni was merged with that of Velletri and the Bishop resides there.

Houses

No cathedral or fortress breaks the uniformity of its rows of low houses. I had fondly imagined I should find it an ancient place, filled with old monuments, but I was disillusioned. The towns in Latium proper bear the stamp of the Middle Ages, but this old Signia looks desolate, sad, with no historical interest. (..) I found Segni grey and monotonous; not a garden, not a tree, breaks its uniformity; its limestone is dull in its hue. (..) If we except Cori, which is not so far from Rome, the Volscian towns have all a forlorn, poverty-stricken, and deserted aspect. Gregorovius
The German writer was impressed by the poor houses he saw in Segni; they were built with white calcareous stones mixed with black tufo which overall gave them a grey colour; today most walls have been covered by an outer layer, while flowers and climbing plants give the houses a bright appearance on a sunny day.

Palazzo Cremona

The Sforza Cesarini were more interested in the Roman theatrical life (they built Teatro Argentina) and in the development and embellishment of Genzano than in living in Segni; for this reason Palazzo Cremona is the only XVIIIth century building which stands out from the grey houses of Segni because of its elegant loggia which connects it to the building across the street.

(left) XVIIth century portal, perhaps of the former prison; (right) portal of a noble house

The Volscian towns, so far as I have seen them, have an entirely different character from the Latian ones. They are simply mountain villages, with no industries, of little agricultural value, and less commercial enterprise. Their fields produce oil, and wine, and fruits - cherries on the heights, peaches, chestnuts, and above all, acorns for the swine. The Volscians only rear black pigs; the hams of the district are much sought after. (..) The living was very good at the solitary inn of the place, which is clean and cheap, as is the case everywhere in the mountains. The nectarines, of a light yellow colour, were delicious. The white wine was good, though very sour. The poet Martial says that it has an astringent quality: -
"Potabis liquidum Signina morantia ventrem
Ne nimium sistant, sit tibi parca sitis,
Quos Cora, quos spumans inimico Signia musto."
(Will you drink Signine that constricts relaxed bowels? That you may not check them too much, let your thirst be sparing - translation by Walter C. A. Ker)
(..) Fair and full of beauty as situation of this town is, I should never decide to spend a summer there. The grey stone, the demoniac, the melancholy aspect of the place, would soon strike the muses dumb. The wind, too, now blew keenly round it every day, thunder growled amongst the mountains, and suddenly rain came down on us in torrents. Gregorovius

Polygonal walls

The air felt cool, almost sharp; wild roses, tall brown grasses, sprays of golden broom waved in the breeze to and fro. The spirit of a primeval world - a grand, awe inspiring, prehistoric world - broods over the weather-worn Cyclopean masses which form these ancient walls. I climbed up to examine them, far-famed as they are. As in all the other Latian towns, their long lines encircle the arx or Citadel set on these mountain precipices. Their gigantic blocks are as closely fitted into each other as if the architect who placed them there had been at work only yesterday. Gregorovius
Because of its walls and gates Segni is twinned with Mycenae, one of the major towns of Ancient Greece in the period 1600-1100 BC. The walls of Segni however are not as old as those of Mycenae: it is now believed that they were built after the Roman conquest; they are called polygonal walls for the shape of their stones, but Gregorovius preferred to use the term cyclopean, which was utilized by Pliny to mean that only those mythical giants could have moved these boulders.

(left) Porta Saracena (also in the image used as background for this page); (right) a corbel arch at Tiryns

A low Etruscan gateway has here and there been broken out through their massive bulk. The original Cyclopean gate of the town is still in use. It is composed of huge blocks of dressed stone leaning towards each other at the top of the opening, with a great lintel stone covering them in. The colossal size of these walls, their surface worn by the storms of thousands of years, the wild growths which garland them, the immense strength of the rocks which they crown, the vast scale of all their surroundings excite emotions which it is quite impossible to put into words. Gregorovius
This gate was called Porta Saracena after a Saracen (Arab) raid; these raids were not limited to towns on the coast, but reached sites very far from the sea.
Porta Saracena consists of a corbel arch closed by an enormous boulder; it has been compared to the Lion Gate of Mycenae, but a more appropriate comparison would be with other corbel arches at Mycenae and Tiryns.

(left) Porta (della) Foca; (right) peperino walls

The name given to this other ancient gate, in the lack of more plausible explanations, is thought to be a reference to Byzantine Emperor Phocas to whom a column was dedicated in the Roman Forum.
Segni has also sections of ancient walls which were built at a later time and which were aimed at supporting some small terraces (similar to those which can be seen at Cori).

Sketch of the walls from "Augustus J. C. Hare - Days Near Rome - 1873"

All those who visit Segni should make the circuit of the Pelasgic walls which give the place its chief interest. They are formed by masses of rock jammed into one another, and though of no great height, almost surround the existing town, and are among the most extensive in Italy. In some places they are most picturesque, especially where a tall cross crowns the huge pile of stones, and stands out against the vast expanse of distance, for you look across the great depths to billow upon billow of purple Hernican hills, and beyond these upon all the ranges of the Abruzzi, still, in April, covered with snow. Hare

Roman cistern

A circular cistern is at the top of the town. This platform is a favourite resort of the townsfolk, who stroll about on what resembles a huge stone table supported by prehistoric walls, and set amongst grey rocks overgrown with moss and wild flowers. Nothing can be more original than this promenade, up in the clouds, and in such a grand and rocky region. Gregorovius
Terraces were common to Roman houses on a large and small scale; and such terraces, which served as roofs, were composed in the first place, of a thick layer of pounded pottery and liquid lime, called opus Signinum, perhaps because first used in Signia, now Segni: over this were laid small bricks united by cement, and disposed in form of the back of a fish, whence it was called by the ancients opus spicatum from its resemblance to the back of a pike, and by us herring-bone from its similarity to that of a herring. Over the bricks was laid another thick stratum of opus Signinum on which was superimposed the mosaic floor. Such terraces were impenetrable to wet or damp, and their solidity has resisted the influence of time itself.
Rev. Jeremiah Donovan - Rome Ancient and Modern - 1843
A large Roman cistern was still utilized when Gregorovius visited Segni; Pliny the Elder (Historia Naturalis - Book 35 - XLVI) mentioned the town for opus signinum, a particular technique of flooring made up of tiles broken up into very small pieces, mixed with mortar and turned into a paste which had impermeable properties and was used for aqueducts, pools and cisterns (more on Roman construction techniques).

(left) S. Pietro on the ancient acropolis; (right-above) XIIIth century fresco; (right-below) stones of the cell of a temple behind the altar

The more ancient records of the town are lost in the mists of tradition, and mount up to the times of Janus and of Saturn. (..) On this remarkable site stood the Volscian Cyclopean Fortress in days of old. On that eminence, dominating the whole of Latium, were seated the Citadel and temple of the ancient Signia, of which but few fragments now remain. (..) Today was Sunday, and many smart ladies were parading up and down in their rustling silks, fanning themselves. Gregorovius
On the acropolis archaeologists have identified a temple of the IIIrd century BC which replaced a previous temple dedicated to Juno Moneta; this epithet of Juno meant she was worshipped as protectress of funds; eventually the epithet became a noun from which the word money derives. A church was built inside the cell of the temple; in 1965 some medieval frescoes were discovered behind later additions.

The Volsci Mountains

To mount up and up into this radiant mountain land, you should borrow the wings of yonder eagle - the real Conti of the Campagna - as he soars and circles in the sunny, benefit air. That kingly creature, living on the rocks or floating majestically above them, looks like the possessor of the whole earth, as he hovers motionless in the still air with that vast landscape beneath him. (..) Next morning my friend, the water-colour artist Müller, and I, designed to mount our horses at daybreak, to climb to the summit of the mountain, and then ride on through the primeval Volscian Forest to Norba; but the heavens were overcast, thunder-clouds were tossed from peak to peak, and rain fell for long hours. We hesitated as to setting forth, when suddenly Jupiter Pluvius began to smile. We sprang on our steeds, quick as the wind, out guide set off ahead at double-quick speed to pioneer the way. The wind was sending white masses of cloud from hill to hill, driving them across the sky like a fleet of ships in full sail - an enchanting and magnificent spectacle. Gregorovius

Gavignano

Gavignano seen from the road to Carpineto

The name of the town is generally thought to origin from a property of Aulus Gabinius, a politician and military commander who was supported by Pompey.
Gabinius, one of Pompey's intimates, drew up a law which gave him, not an admiralty, but an out-and-out monarchy and irresponsible power over all men. For the law gave him dominion over the sea this side of the pillars of Hercules, and over all the mainland to the distance of four hundred furlongs from the sea. These limits included almost all places in the Roman world, and the greatest nations and most powerful kings were comprised within them.
Plutarch - Pompey - 25 - Bernadotte Perrin, Ed.

Abbazia di Rossilli at the foot of Gavignano on the site of a Roman villa (in the lower part of the image)

Friday, November 26, 1790. Quitted Anagni at break of day. (..) I diverged from the customary road, to Valmontone and turned to the left; but after six or seven miles my progress was stopped by the badness of the track, and the breaking down of a bridge. I was therefore obliged to send back the vehicle, and pursued my course on horseback, having the towns of Gavignano and Segni on the left. Under the Osteria of Gavignano, I observed the remains of an antique building of brick, with the opus reticulatum intermixed.
Richard Colt Hoare - A classical tour through Italy in 1790
The property of Aulus Gabinius was most likely at the foot of the hill of Gavignano along Via Latina the road which linked Rome with Casinum. The remains of a Roman villa were used in the late XIIth century to build a Benedictine abbey. Its importance declined with that of the Benedictine order in the following centuries and most likely it was temporarily assigned to the Basilian monks of Grottaferrata. In the early XIXth century it was sold and turned into a farm.

(above) View northwards from Gavignano with the Hernican Mountains in the background (see them from Veroli); (below) details showing Genazzano (left) and Paliano (right), both fiefdoms of the Colonna

The valley is one of the most delightful that can be conceived; it is protected on each side by lofty mountains, and through the centre of it runs the river Sacco, which contributes to fertilize the whole of the surrounding country. The hills are covered with olive trees, and the plains with corn. Add to this, the facility of access afforded by the Via Latina, which is ranked by Strabo with the Via Appia, and which leads through the centre of it ; and it affords the idea of one of the richest and most populous countries imaginable. Middleton
Cingoli is a town known as the Balcony of the Marches because of its commanding views. Gavignano could be rightly called the Balcony of Ciociaria, because of its views over the whole valley of the River Sacco which is known as Ciociaria (the land of those who wear ciocie, a traditional footwear).

View southwards in the direction of Frosinone and Ceccano from Porta Napoletana

Sheer down fell the rock into the Latian plains below, where in a glance you behold more provinces, cities, mountains than it is possible to enumerate, each rich in historical memories, classic associations, and poetic myths. Gregorovius
The isolation of the hill of Gavignano, in addition to providing views in all directions, was a natural fortification for the inhabitants of the valley who sought refuge there in the IXth century when the Saracens raided the coasts of Latium and its interior reaching even Subiaco at the foot of the Apennines.

The two gates: (left) Porta Romana; (right) Porta Napoletana

Gavignano was fortified according to a scheme common to many other small Italian hill towns: a ring of walls or of houses without openings and a watching tower on the highest point which served as a last defence. In the case of Gavignano the houses themselves protected the access from Rome whereas the southern gate was placed at the centre of a short stretch of walls. The earliest document mentioning Gavignano is dated 1161 and it is signed by Pope Alexander III; it assigned the town and the surrounding countryside to Abbazia dei SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio ad Aqua Salvias (aka as S. Paolo alle Tre Fontane).

(left) Arches supporting Palazzo Aldobrandini; (centre) main street; (right) "cordonata", street with very low steps leading to Palazzo Aldobrandini

In the XIIIth century Gavignano became a fiefdom of the very powerful Conti di Segni, but it suffered from the rivalries among the members of that family. In 1266 Mattia d'Anagni, a nephew of Pope Gregory IX sacked Gavignano in an attempt to create his own fiefdom. In 1495 the town was almost razed to the ground by the troops of King Charles VIII of France who, after a failed attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Naples, was returning home. The Conti di Segni rebuilt the town during the pontificate of Pope Leo X, but in 1597 they sold Gavignano to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, nephew of Clement VIII, the reigning pope.

Palazzo Aldobrandini

Cardinal Aldobrandini ordered the redesign of the small castle at the centre of the town which was given the aspect of an urban palace (the tower and the battlements are a XXth century addition). He also granted some rights of self-government to the citizens of Gavignano. Similar to nearby Carpineto and other properties of the Aldobrandini, e.g. a large villa at Frascati, Gavignano was inherited by the Pamphilj, the family of Pope Innocent X. In 1816 the feudal system was abolished by Pope Pius VII. Gavignano was not bombed during WWII and thus has retained its historical aspect.

Chiesa del Calvario (XVIIIth century) at the northern end of the town surrounded by a small cemetery

Move to page two and visit the Archaeological Museum and the Cathedral of Segni.
Introductory page on Ferdinand Gregorovius
Previous page of this walk: Valmontone and Montefortino
Next pages of this walk: Carpineto, Norma and Cori
Other walks:
The Roman Campagna: Colonna and Zagarolo, Palestrina, Cave, Genazzano, Olevano, Paliano and Anagni
The Ernici Mountains: Ferentino, Frosinone, Ceccano, Ceprano, Alatri, Fiuggi (Anticoli di Campagna), Piglio and Acuto
On the Latin shores: Anzio and Nettuno and Torre Astura plus An Excursion to Ardea and An Excursion to Lavinium (Pratica di Mare)
Circe's Cape: Terracina and San Felice
The Orsini Castle in Bracciano
Subiaco, the oldest Benedictine monastery
Small towns near Subiaco: Cervara, Rocca Canterano, Trevi and Filettino.