All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it.
Notes:
Page revised in December 2022.
All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it.
Notes:
Page revised in December 2022.
You may wish to see a map showing the towns covered in this section first.
The aqueduct and the northern corner of the Farnese walls
From Civita Castellana to Rome, the
old and direct road follows the Flaminian Way, proceeding through Rignano and Prima
Porta; but it has fallen into disuse
since Pius VI. constructed the high
post-road through Nepi, in order to
unite this with Via Cassia, the road from Florence,
Siena, and Viterbo to Rome. The road to Nepi descends into the
plain formerly celebrated for the ancient Ciminian forest, and proceeds
through groves of oaks to Nepi, passing
its magnificent aqueduct of two tiers
arches, shortly
before entering the walls.
John Murray - Handbook for travellers in central Italy - 1843
Beyond Monterosi, (at the junction between Via Cassia and the road to Nepi), a gradual improvement took place, and fine views began to open on either hand. We passed through Nepi, a village very picturesquely situated, on the outside of which is a magnificent aqueduct.
George Stillman Hillard - Six Months in Italy in 1847-1848 - publ. 1853
Acqua di Nepi is a natural sparkling water which is very popular in the restaurants of Rome. The springs near Nepi were renowned in antiquity and some believe that Nepet, the Etruscan name of Nepi, meant water. In 1727 an imposing aqueduct was completed to carry the water to the town.
(left) Porta Romana with the coat of arms of Pope Paul III and behind it evidence of ancient walls; (right) southern corner of the walls with the coat of arms of Pierluigi Farnese, the Pope's son
and Monte Soratte in the far distance. The Farnese coat of arms can be seen also in the image used as background for this page
Nepi is a quaint-looking town. A line of crumbling wall, laden with machicolated battlements, and a massive castle within rising high above it, give it the appearance of a fortress. (..) Behind it soars Soracte, its serrated mass blued by distance; and far away in the horizon is the range of snow-capt Apennines. On entering the gate the eye is caught by a fine piece of ancient walling, (..) its crumbling weather-worn condition proclaims is antiquity, and the size and arrangement of the blocks mark its Etruscan character. (..) These are probably the very walls which Camillus and his soldiers scaled when they stormed the town, 386 years before Christ.
George Dennis - The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria - 1848
In 1537 Pope Paul III assigned the fiefdoms of Nepi and Ronciglione to his son Pierluigi Farnese, for whom he had already created the Duchy of Castro.
My aim being simply to point out objects of antiquarian interest, I shall say little of the modern representative of Nepete. It is a small town, not larger than Sutri; and its position is very similar, though the plateau it occupies rises much higher from the ravines, and the cliffs are in most parts more precipitous. As to its natural strength it has certainly no less claim than Sutri to the title of "key and portal of Etruria." This is all I could perceive of the ancient walls of Nepete. These portions, be it observed, are on the weakest side of the town, where it receives no protection from nature. On every other side, as it is situated on a long cliff-bound tongue of land between two ravines that meet at its tip, there was little need of walls. But at the root of the tongue, where the ground on which the city stands meets the unbroken level of the Campagna, it was most strongly fortified in ancient times; and the necessity continuing through the troubled period of the middle ages, the walls were preserved as much as might be, or replaced, where dilapidated, by the strong line of fortifications and flanking bastions, which still unites the ravines. Dennis
Nepi is remarkable chiefly from
its picturesque position on the edge of a
deep glen; it is surrounded by fortifications of the middle ages, and on the
Roman side particularly the towers
and battlements produce a very fine
effect. This little town
appears to have been the seat of a duchy
for a short time during the middle
ages. Murray
Nepi is located on a terrace between two deep ravines, so it just needed a short stretch of walls to become an impregnable fortress. The walls designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, the architect of the Farnese, are situated very near the foundations of those built by the Etruscans in the Vth century BC.
In 1545 in the frame of the negotiations for the assignment of Parma to Pier Luigi Farnese, Pope Paul III returned Nepi to the direct authority of the Papal State, so the town was a Farnese fiefdom for a very short period of time.
Museum of Nepi: Etruscan objects from tombs near Nepi: (above) "bucchero" and "white on red" vases (VIIth century BC); (below-left) Greek and local "kylix", cups for wine (Vth century BC); (below-right) "amphoriskos", perfume bottle (VIth century BC)
In strolling around the place, I was surprised at the small number of tombs. The opposite cliff of the ravine to the south, has not a single cave; and on the other side of the town there are far fewer than usual in the immediate vicinity of Etruscan sites, which present facilities for excavation. The Nepesini seem to have preferred burying their dead beneath the surface of the ground, to hollowing out tombs or niches in the cliffs; and the table-lands around the town are probably burrowed thickly with sepulchres. Dennis
After the visit by Dennis several necropolises were found in the environs of Nepi, especially along the road leading to ancient Falerium (Civita Castellana). In 2014 a small archaeological museum was inaugurated near the Town Hall. You may wish to see the Archaeological Museum of Agro Falisco at Civita Castellana.
Town Hall: (left) pedestal with inscription mentioning a freedman of Emperor Trajan and a statue of an unknown magistrate; (centre) altar erected by a slave of Emperor Claudius who was in charge of a marble quarry belonging to the Emperor; the inscription mentions goddess Feronia; (right) tombstone of a young man who is mourned by his mother and a broken statue of a lion
There is little to detain the antiquarian traveller in Nepi. Beneath the town-hall, in the Piazza, are several Roman altars and statues found in the neighbourhood, one of them having reference to the goddess Feronia. (..) On the opposite side of the Piazza is a mutilated bas-relief of a winged lion. Dennis
After the destruction of Falerium at the end of the First Punic War, Nepi acquired importance. The goddess Feronia was worshipped by the Etruscans and the Sabines at a shrine near the River Tiber which was very famous at least until the IIIrd century AD.
Roman memories: (left) Museum of Nepi: head of Emperor Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (see a finer one at Chiusi and the statue which was found in Rome in 1910); (centre) portico of the Cathedral: funerary inscription of a freedman (LIB) who was a scribe and held the post of AED(ile), a magistrate in charge of streets and public buildings, and who died at the age of 97; (right) ancient column in Via Garibaldi
Nepete never took a prominent part in history; at least, we find little more than incidental mention of this town. It was made a Roman colony ten years later than Sutrium. Both these towns enjoyed municipal honours of the highest class, that is, while retaining their own internal administration, they were admitted to the full rights and privileges of Roman citizenship. Nepete, like Sutrium, never lost its name or site. In Imperial times it seems to have been of inferior consequence. Dennis
Nepi declined in the VIth century AD when it was affected by the Greek-Gothic War and it was plundered by the Longobards. This caused the destruction of its main buildings.
(left) S. Tolomeo extra muros; (right) photo of the Catacombs of St. Savinilla
Nepi
is an episcopal town of 1797 inhabitants. (..) Its bishopric is
one of the oldest in Italy, having been
founded in the time of St. Peter: its
first bishop was St. Romano, a.d. 46. Murray
According to tradition Tolomeo, a Christian from Antiochia was sent to Nepi by St. Peter and he converted Romano, a local philosopher. The two were killed because of their faith and became the patron saints of the town. Their bodies were buried by Savinilla, a pious matron not far from the walls of Nepi. They were found in 1544 during the construction of a church for the local cemetery. A recent restoration of the building led to the discovery of a Christian catacomb of the Vth century.
Cathedral: (left) XVIth century bell tower; (right) portico: a Roman sarcophagus portraying the fall of Phaeton and a section of the medieval
choir screen
The French set fire
to the town in 1799, and nearly destroyed it; there is little now to detain
the traveller, excepting its ancient
church, and the town-hall with its fine
front ornamented with statues and antique inscriptions. Murray
Records indicate that during the Xth century Nepi was again a town of some importance. In the XIIth century, similar to other towns of the region, it became an independent township. In 1180 a large cathedral was built on the site of a previous medieval church. Unfortunately almost all of the original building was destroyed when French troops set it on fire.
Cathedral: crypt and details of its capitals
The fire spared the interesting crypt for the construction of which some ancient columns were used, whereas its bizarre capitals were all made in the XIIth century (see similar capitals in a crypt at Acquapendente). Archaeologists have found out that the Cathedral stands on the site of the Roman forum.
Medieval Nepi: (left) Madonna delle Grazie; (right) portal of S. Biagio
The Cathedral and other medieval churches were embellished with fragments of ancient Roman buildings and sarcophagi. The lintel of the portal of S. Biagio is a small Late Empire sarcophagus whereas the side pillars are a medieval work, although based on ancient patterns.
Musei Capitolini: sarcophagus from S. Biagio which was donated by Pope Benedict XIV in 1740; it depicts the education of Dionysus/Bacchus (IInd century AD)
A sarcophagus with Bacchus consigned to the care of his grandmother Ino and also when adored after having planted the vine. In the centre is a curious Bacchic sport, in which the actor had to jump upon a swollen oiled skin while old Silenus is belabouring an unlucky wight, who has been sprawling on the ground.
Rev. Jeremiah Donovan - Rome Ancient and Modern - 1842
Towers of the Borgia fortress; (inset) coat of arms of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia
The oldest fortifications
bear the arms of Calixtus III., who
died in 1458, and the more recent were
built by Sangallo, for Paul III., in the
sixteenth century. Murray
One of the first decisions of Pope Calixtus III was to create his nephew Rodrigo Borgia cardinal and to appoint him generalissimo of the papal troops. In this capacity Cardinal Borgia associated his name with the construction of a series of fortresses, such as those at Soriano and at Subiaco and a major one at Civita Castellana. At Nepi he built a fortress which was eventually incorporated into the Farnese fortifications.
Museum of Nepi: Renaissance coats of arms: (left) of the City of Nepi; according to tradition a water snake, symbol of fertility, made its appearance at the foundation of the town; (right) of Lucrezia Borgia and her husband Alfonso d'Aragona (of the Neapolitan branch of the family)
When the Pope came to Nepi, his beautiful daughter went to visit him on the 21st of September, and she returned finally to Rome during the following October. A few months later, in July 1500, her husband, Don Alphonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglia, was poignarded by Caesar Borgia on the steps of St. Peter's, followed to his house, and there murdered.
Ferdinand Gregorovius - An Excursion through the Sabina and Umbria in 1861 - Transl. by D. Roberts
In 1492 Cardinal Borgia was elected Pope Alexander VI and in 1499 he assigned Nepi to his daughter Lucrezia, who spent many months there during her short widowhood (in February 1502 she became the wife of Alfonso d'Este, son of the Duke of Ferrara).
The Farnese commissioned Sangallo with the construction of a palace, similar to what they had done in many towns of the Duchy of Castro (e.g. at Gradoli and Valentano) which was unfinished when they left Nepi. It was turned into the town hall and it was completed in the early XVIIIth century.
Main fountain which was designed by Filippo Barigioni at the centre of Palazzo Comunale
The construction of the aqueduct and of the fountain was promoted by Cardinal Giuseppe Renato Imperiali, a very influential member of the Papal Court (see his imposing funerary monument) who did the same at other locations such as Corneto and Montalto di Castro. The tower and the snakes which are depicted in the fountain are a reference to the coat of arms of Nepi.
(left) Gate of the Episcopal Palace with statues of Tolomeo and Romano, the first two bishops of Nepi; (right) Cathedral: Farnese-Gambara coat of arms above a side entrance
In 1435 the diocese of Sutri was united to that of Nepi, but both towns had a large episcopal palace (see that of Sutri) and a seminary; although the list of the bishops of the new diocese does not include members of the Farnese or Gambara families, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese iuniore and Cardinal Gianfrancesco Gambara were involved in the upkeep of the Nepi Cathedral, because they lived near the town. The former had a large palace at Caprarola and the latter a beautiful villa at Bagnaia.
Cardinal Giulio Spinola was Bishop of Nepi and Sutri in 1670-1677. He belonged to an extremely wealthy Genoese family (see his tomb at S. Andrea al Quirinale) and he commissioned Ercole Ferrata, one of the most trusted assistants of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, with a relief portraying Savinilla covering Romano with the assistance of three angels. The sculpture was placed in the Cathedral in 1680.
Via Garibaldi: (left) Palazzo Celsi; (right) S. Silvestro aka Chiesa del Carmine (Our Lady of Mount Carmel)
Via Garibaldi is a long street which crosses the whole town from the Town Hall to where the two ravines meet at its tip. Palazzo Celsi was built in the second half of the XVIth century by Ascanio Celsi, a rich local landowner who had also a palace in Rome opposite Chiesa del Gesù. Nepi being a bishopric see, it had many convents and nunneries. The church of S. Silvestro is thus named because it belonged to a convent of the Sylvestrines, a branch of the Benedictine Order and earlier on to a Carmelite nunnery.
Santuario di S. Tolomeo: (left) seen from Palazzo Celsi; (centre) façade; (right) dome
The Farnese planned to dedicate a large church to St. Tolomeo, but after Pier Luigi Farnese left Nepi the original design by Antonio da Sangallo was modified in size and scope. The building was completed in 1606, but in the second half of the XIXth century its interior was redesigned by the addition of a dome with a lantern similar to that of S. Pietro.
View of Castel Sant'Elia
From Nepi the high road runs direct to Civita Castellana, a distance of nearly eight miles; but to the traveller on horse or foot I would recommend a route, by which he will save two miles. On passing the bridge of Nepi, let him turn immediately to the right; a mile of lane-scenery with fine views of Nepi will carry him to Castel di Sant' Elia, a small village, which looks much like an Etruscan site, and was perhaps a castellum dependent on Nepete. The road to it and beyond it seems in some parts to have been ancient, cut through the tufo. Dennis
Castel Sant'Elia was built during the Middle Ages on a very small terrace perched on the edge of a deep ravine near Nepi.
The reference to Prophet Elijah is probably due to the fact that the terrace seemed a likely location from which Elijah could
ride his fiery chariot to Heaven.
(left) Entrance to the older part of the town; (centre) restored gate of the new walls; (right) S. Antonio Abate
The small medieval settlement was a property of Spedale di S. Spirito in Sassia for many centuries until it was acquired by the Farnese, who included it in the Duchy of Ronciglione. The Farnese promoted the development of Castel Sant'Elia and new walls marked the enlarged extent of the settlement. In the second half of the XVIIth century the small town returned under the direct rule of the Papal State. The parish church was rebuilt in 1737 during the pontificate of Pope Clement XII.
(left) The rock containing Cappella di Madonna ad Rupes; (right) altar with a XVIth century painting
In the VIth century Benedictine hermits lived in caves cut into the rock near Castel Sant'Elia. According to tradition Pope Gregory the Great met Queen Theodolinda, wife of two consecutive Longobard kings, in a church of these hermits.
In 1777 Fra Giuseppe Rodio, a Franciscan monk, decided to live as a hermit in one of the caves. In 14 years he cut 144 steps into the rock to allow pilgrims to visit the chapel of his cave which was dedicated to Madonna ad Rupes (Our Lady of the Rocks).
Basilica di S. Elia or S. Anastasio
It is a delightful drive of about an hour and a half through the forest from Civita Castellana to Nepi. The road passes near the castle and Benedictine church of Sant'Elia, the latter a very curious early Christian building, covered internally with frescoes.
Augustus J. C. Hare - Days Near Rome - 1875.
The ravine beneath Castel Sant'Elia was regarded as a holy site from the time of the Etruscans. The Romans built a temple to Diana on a small terrace at the foot of the rock. The Benedictines built a church there in the VIth century. It was renovated in the VIIIth century and it was entirely rebuilt in the XIth century.
The church is dedicated to St. Anastasius of Suppentonia (the name of the ravine) who was the first abbot of the Benedictines.
Basilica di S. Elia - interior
The church was built using columns and capitals of ancient buildings. The floor and the altar show early examples of Cosmati decoration. The marble chair is thought to come from the older church. After the Farnese left Castel Sant'Elia the church was not properly maintained. In the late 1960s the building was thoroughly restored and the roof was entirely replaced.
Details of the portals: (above) central portal: the relief shows a series of animals having at the centre a winged creature;
the two ram heads are a Christian symbol; (below-left) left portal with two peacocks (symbol of Resurrection) eating grapes (symbol of Eucharist);
(below-right) right portal with a XVIth century fresco in a medieval frame
The decoration of the portals is mainly medieval although some ancient marbles were utilized. The left portal was decorated with fragments of the choir screen of the old church.
View of the ravine and of Monte Soratte from Castel Sant'Elia
The traveller then enters on a bare green down, rich in the peculiar beauties of the Campagna. A ravine yawns on either hand. That on the right, dark with wood, is more than usually deep, gloomy, and grand. (..) Soracte towers in dark and lonely majesty in the midst; and the chain of Apennines in grey or snow-capped masses billows along the horizon. Dennis
From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana - other pages:
Civitavecchia, Allumiere and Tolfa
Civitavecchia - Terme Taurine
Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia
Oriolo Romano and Capranica
Oriolo - Palazzo Altieri
Sutri
Bassano, Monterosi and Campagnano
Bassano - Palazzo Giustiniani
Civita Castellana
Museum of Agro Falisco at Civita Castellana