Ariccia
Encyclopedia
Ariccia is a town and comune
in the Province of Rome
, central Italy
. It is in the Alban Hills
of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One of the Castelli Romani
towns, Ariccia is located in the regional park known as the "Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani".
Ariccia is the center of a region that was extremely important in Roman
and pre-Roman mythology
and religion
because of its association with the goddess Diana
and the god Virbius. Legend
also recalls that it served as a temporary burial place of the Greek hero Orestes
(Servius on Aeneid
, ii. 116). Aricia was one of the oldest cities of ancient Latium
, and as the leader of the Latin League
was a serious contender against Rome during the early days of the Roman Republic
.
In modern times, Ariccia has become famous for its porchetta
, pork that is slowly roasted with herbs and wild fennel, and it has been known since historical times for its wine
. The comune of Ariccia includes the frazioni
of Vallericcia and Fontana di Papa. It is bounded by the communes of Albano Laziale
, Castel Gandolfo
, Genzano di Roma
and Marino Laziale.
, the wife of Hippolytus (Virbius), the Roman forest god who lived in the sacred forests near Aricia. According to a vague reference by Caius Julius Solinus, Ariccia was founded by Archilocus Siculus ("Archilocus of the Siculi" or Sicels
) in very ancient times.
Ruins found in the city confirm the existence of a settlement in the 8th-9th centuries BC. From the end of the 6th century BC until 338 BC, the city was the central member of the Latin League
.
In its territory, which then included the Lake of Nemi, was located the sanctuary of Diana Aricina (or Diana Nemorensis
) held by the Latin cities in common, and presided over by the Rex Nemorensis
made famous in Frazer's The Golden Bough
. The association with the cult of Diana led to its development as an influential and affluent center of healing and medicine.
In 508 BC, Lars Porsena
king of Clusium
(at that time reputed to be one of the most powerful cities of Etruria
) departed Rome after ending his war against Rome by peace treaty. Porsena split his forces, and sent part of the Clusian army with his son Aruns to wage war
on the Latin
city of Aricia
. The Aricians sent for assistance from the Latin League
, and also from the Greek city of Cumae
. When support arrived, the Arician army ventured beyond the walls of the city, and the combined armies met the Clusian forces in battle. According to Livy, the Clusians initially routed the Arician forces, but the Cumaean troops allowed the Clusians to pass by, then attacked from the rear, gaining victory against the Clusians. Livy
says the Clusian army was destroyed.
.
Aricia was definitively conquered by the Romans
in the 4th century BC. It received the title of municipium
, and expanded towards the valley below, where the Via Appia connected it with Rome. Ariccia became, therefore, the first main posting station on the overland journey from Rome towards southern Italy.
Being rather near to the Imperial capital, and favoured by a fresher climate, Ariccia was chosen by many of the Rome's patricii as a location for their leisure villas. It also was recognized for the caliber of its wine and food stuffs. Martial
wrote favorably of its leeks and Pliny
relished a unique variety of Ariccian cabbages.
Because of its wealth and its strategic location near the coast, the city was sacked several times during and after the fall of the Roman Empire
, by Goths
, Vandals
and, finally, by the Saracen
s who destroyed it in 827. The inhabitants subsequently moved to the ancient acropolis and founded a new community.
In 990 the Castrum Ariciensis ("Ariccia's Castle") was a dominion of Guido, count of Tusculum
. During the reign of Pope Nicholas II
the castle was absorbed by the Papal States
, from which it in turn passed again to the Earls of Tusculum as a fiefdom (1116). The Roman Church
regained Ariccia in 1223 with Pope Honorius III
, of the Savelli
family, and maintained it until the first half of the 15th century.
The population of Ariccia began to decline, however. After a period under the administration of the castle of Lariano
, it passed to the Genzano district, which at that time registered only 100 residents. Around 1400 all the territory became property of the Monastery of Sant'Anastasio alle Tre Fontane and, after a brief period under the Savelli once more, was sold to the Abbey of Grottaferrata
.
Pope Sixtus IV
handed Ariccia over to the Savelli, who executed several works to improve its condition, including the draining of the volcanic lake (Lake of Vallericcia) which lay to the west, between the hills and the sea.
In 1661 the city passed to the powerful Chigi
family, who rebuilt the splendid Palazzo Savelli Chigi in the main square, in which the invaluable Chigi archives were housed. The Chigi Pope Alexander VII
lived for long periods in Ariccia and drastically changed its character, with important contributions from Gian Lorenzo Bernini
, designer of the piazza
of St. Peter's Basilica
in Rome.
Among Bernini's rich contributions to the character of the town were the piazza and the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta which faces the palazzo.
In 1854 Pope Pius IX
ordered the construction of a bridge. This bridge bypassed the large wood (now the Parco Chigi) in the valley, which hindered access to Ariccia from Rome along the Via Appia.
Nearly a century later, the bridge—along with much of the city—was destroyed by retreating German troops
during World War II . Rebuilt in 1947, it crumbled suddenly in 1967 and was rebuilt again.
square. The main monuments include:
Other monuments include the Porta Romana, also by Bernini, and, two kilometres outside the city, the venerated Sanctuary of the Madonna del Galloro, with facade by Bernini. The latter is the final stop of a religious procession held on December 8 and called "Procession of the Lady", as a young woman is asked to lead it.
The area around Ariccia houses many interesting archaeological finds such as the Villa of the Roman Emperor Vitellius
, the remains of the Via Appia Antica, as well as those of the ancient temples on Monte Cavo and in the Lake Nemi
basin.
. Horace
in one of his Satires notes that in "Escaping from great Rome, I'm welcomed in Ariccia at a reasonable inn."
The forested landscapes of Ariccia, which had given birth to the Latin-Roman cult of Diana, also had a special appeal to later writers and artists, especially those associated with Romanticism
. Ariccia appears as a subject in noteworthy paintings by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, George Inness
, Ludwig Richter, Alexandre Calame
, Friedrich Wilhelm Schirmer
, Adrien Manglard, Franz Ludwig Catel
, Hermann Winterhalter
, Oswald Achenbach
, J. M. W. Turner
, Mikhail Lebedev
, and Richard Wilson
. Goethe visited in the 1780s, and Henrik Ibsen
wrote his epic verse play Brand
in Ariccia in 1865. In Italian Hours
(essays collected in 1909), Henry James
observed the natural beauty of Ariccia and the pleasantness of the "little piazza".
The Locanda Martorelli, the hotel which faced the palace in the Piazza di Corte, was a popular stop between Rome and Naples
for those on the Grand Tour
, and was frequented by artists and writers such as J.M. William Turner
, Corot, Henrik Ibsen
, Gogol, D'Azeglio, Richter, Hans Christian Andersen
, and Henry Longfellow
.
Today, the Palazzo Savelli Chigi often hosts exhibitions drawing from its own extensive collections as well as visiting exhibitions. The Palace is also the site of frequent public musical performances.
Much of the city's greatest art, Roman-era sculpture excavated by archaeologists, has been distributed to the world's collections of classical artwork, so one often sees the name "Ariccia" pinned next to statues of Augustus or Diana that are being displayed far from Latium.
's only international campus, the Joseph S. Bruno Auburn Abroad in Italy program, which is housed in the Palazzo Savelli Chigi. This year-round program is sponsored by the Auburn University College of Human Sciences and is open to students from any major on the Auburn campus.
, France Lichtenfels
, Germany Prestwick
, United Kingdom
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the Province of Rome
Province of Rome
The Province of Rome , is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. The province can be viewed as the extended metropolitan area of the city of Rome, although in its more peripheral portions, especially to the north, it comprises towns surrounded by rural landscape.-Geography:The Province of Rome...
, central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is in the Alban Hills
Alban Hills
The Alban Hills are the site of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio.The dominant peak is Monte Cavo. There are two small calderas which contain lakes, Lago Albano and Lake Nemi...
of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One of the Castelli Romani
Castelli Romani
The Castelli Romani is a group of communes in the province of Rome, Italy. They are located at short distance south-east to Rome, at the feet of the Alban Hills.-Overview:...
towns, Ariccia is located in the regional park known as the "Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani".
Overview
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
and pre-Roman mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
because of its association with the goddess Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
and the god Virbius. Legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
also recalls that it served as a temporary burial place of the Greek hero Orestes
Orestes
Orestes was the son of Agamemnon in Greek mythology; Orestes may also refer to:Drama*Orestes , by Euripides*Orestes, the character in Sophocles' tragedy Electra*Orestes, the character in Aeschylus' trilogy of tragedies, Oresteia...
(Servius on Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
, ii. 116). Aricia was one of the oldest cities of ancient Latium
Latium
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...
, and as the leader of the Latin League
Latin league
The Latin League was a confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near ancient Rome, organized for mutual defense...
was a serious contender against Rome during the early days of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
.
In modern times, Ariccia has become famous for its porchetta
Porchetta
Porchetta is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood...
, pork that is slowly roasted with herbs and wild fennel, and it has been known since historical times for its wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
. The comune of Ariccia includes the frazioni
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
of Vallericcia and Fontana di Papa. It is bounded by the communes of Albano Laziale
Albano Laziale
Albano Laziale is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Latium, central Italy. It is also a suburb of Rome, which is 25 km distant. It is bounded by other communes of Castel Gandolfo, Rocca di Papa, Ariccia and Ardea. Located in the Castelli Romani area of Lazio...
, Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo is a small Italian town or comune in Lazio that occupies a height overlooking Lake Albano about 15 miles south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills. It is best known as the summer residence of the Pope. It is an Italian town with the population of 8834...
, Genzano di Roma
Genzano di Roma
Genzano di Roma is a town and comune in the province of Rome, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is one of the Castelli Romani, at a distance of 29 km from Rome, on the Alban Hills.-History:The origin of the name Genzano is still disputed...
and Marino Laziale.
History
There is a connection between the town's name and AriciaAricia
Aricia can refer to:*Aricia, a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies usually included in Aricia *Aricia , historical figure in ancient Britain*Aricia , minor figure in Greek mythology*Aricia, Italy...
, the wife of Hippolytus (Virbius), the Roman forest god who lived in the sacred forests near Aricia. According to a vague reference by Caius Julius Solinus, Ariccia was founded by Archilocus Siculus ("Archilocus of the Siculi" or Sicels
Sicels
The Sicels were an Italic people who inhabited ancient Sicily. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, but they rapidly fused into the culture of Magna Graecia.-History:...
) in very ancient times.
Ruins found in the city confirm the existence of a settlement in the 8th-9th centuries BC. From the end of the 6th century BC until 338 BC, the city was the central member of the Latin League
Latin league
The Latin League was a confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near ancient Rome, organized for mutual defense...
.
In its territory, which then included the Lake of Nemi, was located the sanctuary of Diana Aricina (or Diana Nemorensis
Diana Nemorensis
Diana Nemorensis, "Diana of Nemi" also known as “Diana of the Wood”, was an Italic form of the goddess who became Hellenised during the fourth century BCE and conflated with Artemis. Her sanctuary was to be found on the northern shore of Lake Nemi beneath the cliffs of the modern city Nemi...
) held by the Latin cities in common, and presided over by the Rex Nemorensis
Rex Nemorensis
The rex Nemorensis was a priest of the goddess Diana at Aricia in Italy, by the shores of Lake Nemi, where she was known as Diana Nemorensis. The priesthood played a major role in the mythography of J.G...
made famous in Frazer's The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer . It first was published in two volumes in 1890; the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes...
. The association with the cult of Diana led to its development as an influential and affluent center of healing and medicine.
In 508 BC, Lars Porsena
Lars Porsena
Lars Porsena, in Etruscan Pursenas, was an Etruscan king known for his war against the city of Rome. He ruled over the city of Clusium...
king of Clusium
Clusium
Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan...
(at that time reputed to be one of the most powerful cities of Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
) departed Rome after ending his war against Rome by peace treaty. Porsena split his forces, and sent part of the Clusian army with his son Aruns to wage war
War between Clusium and Aricia
The war between Clusium and Aricia was a military conflict in central Italy in around 508 BC.Lars Porsena was king of Clusium, at that time reputed to be one of the most powerful cities of Etruria. At the behest of the exiled king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, Porsena had waged war against...
on the Latin
Latin league
The Latin League was a confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near ancient Rome, organized for mutual defense...
city of Aricia
Aricia
Aricia can refer to:*Aricia, a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies usually included in Aricia *Aricia , historical figure in ancient Britain*Aricia , minor figure in Greek mythology*Aricia, Italy...
. The Aricians sent for assistance from the Latin League
Latin league
The Latin League was a confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near ancient Rome, organized for mutual defense...
, and also from the Greek city of Cumae
Cumae
Cumae is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Cumae was the first Greek colony on the mainland of Italy , and the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl...
. When support arrived, the Arician army ventured beyond the walls of the city, and the combined armies met the Clusian forces in battle. According to Livy, the Clusians initially routed the Arician forces, but the Cumaean troops allowed the Clusians to pass by, then attacked from the rear, gaining victory against the Clusians. Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
says the Clusian army was destroyed.
.
Aricia was definitively conquered by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in the 4th century BC. It received the title of municipium
Municipium
Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...
, and expanded towards the valley below, where the Via Appia connected it with Rome. Ariccia became, therefore, the first main posting station on the overland journey from Rome towards southern Italy.
Being rather near to the Imperial capital, and favoured by a fresher climate, Ariccia was chosen by many of the Rome's patricii as a location for their leisure villas. It also was recognized for the caliber of its wine and food stuffs. Martial
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...
wrote favorably of its leeks and Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
relished a unique variety of Ariccian cabbages.
Because of its wealth and its strategic location near the coast, the city was sacked several times during and after the fall of the Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, by Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
, Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
and, finally, by the Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s who destroyed it in 827. The inhabitants subsequently moved to the ancient acropolis and founded a new community.
In 990 the Castrum Ariciensis ("Ariccia's Castle") was a dominion of Guido, count of Tusculum
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.-Location:Tusculum is one of the largest Roman cities in Alban Hills. The ruins of Tusculum are located on Tuscolo hill—more specifically on the northern edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano...
. During the reign of Pope Nicholas II
Pope Nicholas II
Pope Nicholas II , born Gérard de Bourgogne, Pope from 1059 to July 1061, was at the time of his election the Bishop of Florence.-Antipope Benedict X:...
the castle was absorbed by the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, from which it in turn passed again to the Earls of Tusculum as a fiefdom (1116). The Roman Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
regained Ariccia in 1223 with Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...
, of the Savelli
Savelli
thumb|300px|The Coat of Arms of the Savelli over a wall of the church of [[Santa Maria in Aracoeli]], [[Rome]].The Savelli were a rich and influential Roman aristocratic family who rose to prominence in the 13th century and became extinct in the main line with Giulio Savelli .The family, who held...
family, and maintained it until the first half of the 15th century.
The population of Ariccia began to decline, however. After a period under the administration of the castle of Lariano
Lariano
Lariano is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 35 km southeast of Rome on the Alban Hills....
, it passed to the Genzano district, which at that time registered only 100 residents. Around 1400 all the territory became property of the Monastery of Sant'Anastasio alle Tre Fontane and, after a brief period under the Savelli once more, was sold to the Abbey of Grottaferrata
Grottaferrata
Grottaferrata, Italy is a small town and comune in the province of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, 20 km south east of Rome. It is bounded by other communes, Frascati, Rocca di Papa, Marino, and Rome.-History:...
.
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...
handed Ariccia over to the Savelli, who executed several works to improve its condition, including the draining of the volcanic lake (Lake of Vallericcia) which lay to the west, between the hills and the sea.
In 1661 the city passed to the powerful Chigi
Chigi
Chigi may refer to:* Chigi , a crossbreed between a Welsh Corgi and a chihuahua * House of Chigi, a Roman princely family* Chigi , an element in Japanese architecture...
family, who rebuilt the splendid Palazzo Savelli Chigi in the main square, in which the invaluable Chigi archives were housed. The Chigi Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...
lived for long periods in Ariccia and drastically changed its character, with important contributions from Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
, designer of the piazza
Piazza
A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...
of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
in Rome.
Among Bernini's rich contributions to the character of the town were the piazza and the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta which faces the palazzo.
In 1854 Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
ordered the construction of a bridge. This bridge bypassed the large wood (now the Parco Chigi) in the valley, which hindered access to Ariccia from Rome along the Via Appia.
Nearly a century later, the bridge—along with much of the city—was destroyed by retreating German troops
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
during World War II . Rebuilt in 1947, it crumbled suddenly in 1967 and was rebuilt again.
Main sights
The most noteworthy sight in Ariccia is the northern entrance from the famous bridge which leads to Bernini's BaroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
square. The main monuments include:
- The Palazzo Savelli Chigi, whose perfectly restored rooms are renowned as a location for Luchino ViscontiLuchino ViscontiLuchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...
's The LeopardThe LeopardThe Leopard is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento...
and for other historical movies and television programs, was built by Prince Augusto Chigi in 1740. - The domed circular church of the Assunta, by Bernini, inspired by his restoration of the PantheonPantheon, RomeThe Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
. In the interior the apse is a notable fresco by BorgognoneBorgognoneBorgognone may refer to:*Ambrogio Bergognone , Italian painter*Jacques Courtois , French painter...
. - The Fontana delle Tre Cannelle ("Fountain of the three spouts"), once thought to contain the tomb of Simon MagusSimon MagusSimon the Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, in Latin Simon Magus, was a Samaritan magus or religious figure and a convert to Christianity, baptised by Philip the Apostle, whose later confrontation with Peter is recorded in . The sin of simony, or paying for position and influence in the church, is...
.
Other monuments include the Porta Romana, also by Bernini, and, two kilometres outside the city, the venerated Sanctuary of the Madonna del Galloro, with facade by Bernini. The latter is the final stop of a religious procession held on December 8 and called "Procession of the Lady", as a young woman is asked to lead it.
The area around Ariccia houses many interesting archaeological finds such as the Villa of the Roman Emperor Vitellius
Vitellius
Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
, the remains of the Via Appia Antica, as well as those of the ancient temples on Monte Cavo and in the Lake Nemi
Lake Nemi
Lake Nemi is a small circular volcanic lake in the Lazio region of Italy south of Rome, taking its name from Nemi, the largest town in the area, that overlooks it from a height.-Archaeology and history:The lake is most famous for its sunken Roman ships...
basin.
Culture
Ariccia has a long history of welcoming artists and writers who have departed from Rome's heat and bustle for the breezy hillsides and groves overlooking the Tyrrhenian SeaTyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
. Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
in one of his Satires notes that in "Escaping from great Rome, I'm welcomed in Ariccia at a reasonable inn."
The forested landscapes of Ariccia, which had given birth to the Latin-Roman cult of Diana, also had a special appeal to later writers and artists, especially those associated with Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
. Ariccia appears as a subject in noteworthy paintings by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, George Inness
George Inness
George Inness was an American landscape painter; born in Newburgh, New York; died at Bridge of Allan in Scotland. His work was influenced, in turn, by that of the old masters, the Hudson River school, the Barbizon school, and, finally, by the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose spiritualism...
, Ludwig Richter, Alexandre Calame
Alexandre Calame
Alexandre Calame was a Swiss painter.He was born in Arabie! at the time belonging to Corsier-sur-Vevey, today a part of Vevey. He was the son of a skillful marble worker in Vevey, but because his father lost the family fortune, Calame could not concentrate on art, but rather he was forced to...
, Friedrich Wilhelm Schirmer
Friedrich Wilhelm Schirmer
August Wilhelm Ferdinand Schirmer was a German landscape artist.-Biography:Schirmer was born in Berlin. As a youth Schirmer painted flowers in the royal porcelain factory; afterwards he became a pupil of Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow in the Berlin Academy, but his art owed most to Italy...
, Adrien Manglard, Franz Ludwig Catel
Franz Ludwig Catel
Franz Ludwig Catel was born at Berlin in 1778. He commenced his artistic career by carving in wood, and then designed illustrations forunimportant works, executing in 1799 ten plates for Goethe's 'Hermann and Dorothea.' He next worked in Indian ink and water-colours, producing in 1806 a large piece...
, Hermann Winterhalter
Hermann Winterhalter
Hermann Fidel Winterhalter was a German painter, younger brother of the portrait painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter .- Life :...
, Oswald Achenbach
Oswald Achenbach
Oswald Achenbach was a German landscape painter.Born in Düsseldorf, he received his art education from his brother, Andreas Achenbach. His landscapes generally dwell on the rich and glowing effects of color which drew him to the Bay of Naples and the neighborhood of Rome. He also painted in the...
, J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
, Mikhail Lebedev
Mikhail Lebedev
Mikhail Ivanovich Lebedev was a Russian painter.Lebedev was born in Tartu into the family of an impoverished serf. In the 1820s, serfdom was abolished in his region and the young Lebedev got an opportunity to study at a nearby school...
, and Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson (painter)
Richard Wilson was a Welsh landscape painter, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Wilson has been described as '...the most distinguished painter Wales has ever produced and the first to appreciate the aesthetic possibilities of his country.' He is considered to be the...
. Goethe visited in the 1780s, and Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
wrote his epic verse play Brand
Brand (play)
Brand is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is a verse tragedy, written in 1865 and first performed in Stockholm on 24 March 1867. Brand was an intellectual play that provoked much original thought....
in Ariccia in 1865. In Italian Hours
Italian Hours
Italian Hours is a book of travel writing by Henry James published in 1909. The book collected essays that James had written over nearly forty years about a country he knew and loved well. James extensively revised and sometimes expanded the essays to create a more consistent whole...
(essays collected in 1909), Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
observed the natural beauty of Ariccia and the pleasantness of the "little piazza".
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
for those on the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
, and was frequented by artists and writers such as J.M. William Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
, Corot, Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, Gogol, D'Azeglio, Richter, Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
, and Henry Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
.
Today, the Palazzo Savelli Chigi often hosts exhibitions drawing from its own extensive collections as well as visiting exhibitions. The Palace is also the site of frequent public musical performances.
Much of the city's greatest art, Roman-era sculpture excavated by archaeologists, has been distributed to the world's collections of classical artwork, so one often sees the name "Ariccia" pinned next to statues of Augustus or Diana that are being displayed far from Latium.
Education
Ariccia is home to Auburn UniversityAuburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
's only international campus, the Joseph S. Bruno Auburn Abroad in Italy program, which is housed in the Palazzo Savelli Chigi. This year-round program is sponsored by the Auburn University College of Human Sciences and is open to students from any major on the Auburn campus.
Transportation
Public transportation is provided by the region's COTRAL bus lines, with regular bus connections to and from Rome. There is nearby train service directly to Stazione di Roma Termini from Albano Laziale, approximately 2 kilometers from Ariccia's main piazza.Twin towns
Cournon-d'AuvergneCournon-d'Auvergne
Cournon-d'Auvergne is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
, France Lichtenfels
Lichtenfels, Bavaria
Lichtenfels is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district of Lichtenfels. It is situated on the upper course of the river Main , approx. 15 km southeast of Coburg, and 30 km northeast of Bamberg, in an area called Gottesgarten am Obermain .Lichtenfels became as of middle of the 19...
, Germany Prestwick
Prestwick
Prestwick is a town in South Ayrshire on the south-west coast of Scotland, about south-west of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr, the centre of which is about south...
, United Kingdom