  What's New! Detailed Sitemap All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore. |  Days of Peace (how to spend a peaceful day in Rome)  in Rome and in Veroli(logo of FAI Spring Weekend and the apse of S. Maria Salome in Veroli) F.A.I. - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano is a private trust founded in 1975 with the aim of acting for the protection of the Italian artistic and environmental heritage.
In 2008 550 monuments and sites in 240 locations throughout Italy were visited by some 500,000 people. In Rome the focus of the FAI weekend was on Via Giulia: for the occasion the private owners of Palazzo Farnese (French Embassy), Palazzo Falconieri (Hungarian Cultural Centre) and Palazzo Sacchetti (Sacchetti family) let the public visit their most interesting rooms. Several small churches which usually open only for Sunday mass were open for the whole weekend. Veroli
In southern Latium FAI arranged guided tours of the main monuments of Veroli, a town with a very long history.
Veroli is located very near the old border between the Papal State and the Kingdom of Naples; the latter started beyond the mountains shown above. In the clickable map at the end of the page the territory of Veroli is the red area at the lower right corner of Latium.
Ancient Veroli was located on a narrow ridge at the top of a rocky hill: its eastern side was protected by "polygonal" walls of which there is still evidence in the lower part of the medieval walls. This construction technique was typical of the region and it can best be seen at Segni. Veroli (Latin Verulae) was a town which allied with Rome so it had the status of civis foederata with the right to some form of self-government. During the Roman rule the centre of the town was moved from the acropolis to a less steep part of the hill.
Memories of the Roman period can be found in the foundations of the town hall and of the Cathedral and here and there on the walls of later buildings. Fasti Verulani are the fragments of a Roman calendar found in 1922. They cover the first three months of the year: the letters NP indicate a holiday such as the Lupercalia (February 15 - at the start of the second column). Minor celebrations were indicated by small inscriptions (first column - end of January - celebration of Castor and Pollux at their temple in the Roman Forum). The calendar also showed the lucky (fausti) and the unlucky days: the latter were marked by "N" (example in the lower part of the second column). On these days the Romans avoided making important decisions. A recollection of this habit survives in some Italian says such as Di Venere e di Marte nè si sposa, nè si parte - Do not marry or start a journey on a Friday (It. Venerdì) or a Tuesday (It. Martedì).
During the Roman rule the lower part of the hill was terraced in order to build a small forum there. The Cathedral was most likely built upon the main temple of the forum; the façade was redesigned in 1706, but the rose-window belongs to the previous building (the coat of arms is of Pope Clement XI). FAI placed an information point in the square opposite the Cathedral.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the dramatic events of the following centuries led the inhabitants of Veroli to rely again on their ancient acropolis for their security. A small fortress was built in the IXth century on the highest point of the hill; the major threat came from the Saracens who raided the coasts of Italy, but the fortress is mainly known because two popes (John X and John XII) were kept prisoners in it. A small church (S. Leucio) was built near the fortress. After the year 1000 Veroli gradually benefited from the general recovery of the country: in the XIIIth century a large church was dedicated to St. Salome, whose body was found in 1209. According to the traditional account she was the mother of St. James the Greater. The façade of the church was redesigned in the XVIIIth century.
S. Erasmo is another large church built in medieval times (XIIth century) which was modified in the XVIIIth century; in this case however the old Romanesque features are more evident than in the Cathedral and in S. Salome.
The walls which surrounded the lower part of Veroli do not exist any longer but the gates have been preserved. Porta S. Croce retains its medieval aspect, while Porta Napoli and Porta Romana were embellished at a later period. Porta Romana was designed at the end of the XVIIIth century by Giuseppe Subleyras (1745-1819), the son of a French painter (Pierre Subleyras) who established himself in Rome and married an Italian miniature painter (Maria Felice Tibaldi). The gate is decorated with the coat of arms of the town and with the inscription S.(enatus) P.(opulus) Q.(ue) V.(erulani).
In the VIIIth century Veroli became the residence of a bishop. In the structure of the Papal State this meant tribunals, schools, orphanages and other institutions. Veroli lost the bishopric in the XXth century and some of its inhabitants still resent that decision. In the XVIth century Veroli had the privilege of being ruled by a cardinal: in 1528 Francis Quinones, a distant relative of Emperor Charles V, was appointed cardinal and governor of Veroli by Pope Clement VII in recognition of his efforts to promote a reconciliation between the pope and the emperor. He placed his elaborate coat of arms on a small fountain outside Porta Romana (you can see it in the image used as background for this page).
Veroli has some very picturesque sites and its monuments are generally well maintained. Other Days of Peace pages: At the Flea Market A Sunny Day in Villa Borghese At the Beach Voicing Your Views and feeling better! Eating Outdoors A visit to Roseto di Roma Christmas in Rome Celebrating the Foundation of Rome The procession of La Madonna de Noantri Running the Marathon Watching the Parade Finding Solace at the Protestant Cemetery Attending 2007 July Events Rome's Sleepless Night Attending Winter Ceremonies Jogging at Valle delle Camene Sailing on the River to see the Bridges of Roma An October Outing to Marino Attending a Funeral ...and enjoying it! Embassy-hunting in Parioli Celebrating Eritrean Michaelmas in Rome Visiting Rome at Dawn Visiting Rome in the Moonlight Visiting Rome on a Hop-on-Hop-off Bus Visiting Multi-ethnic Rome 
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. |
