Osan (South Korea) '25

Doksanseong

 

Originally built under Baekje Dynasty. Rebuilt in stone in 1602 after Japanese invasion. Repaired again 1792.

La cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta è il duomo di Siena. Costruita in stile Romanico-Gotico italiano, è una delle più significative chiese realizzate in questo stile in Italia.

Nel luogo dove sorge la cattedrale, sarebbe sorto il castrum romano. Ancora nel Medioevo il toponimo era Piano Sancte Mariae e in questo luogo, tra l'attuale costruzione e la piazza che la circonda su due lati, sono stati effettuati degli scavi che hanno suffragato l'ipotesi di uno sviluppo dell'area in periodo longobardo e franco.

 

Si parla[senza fonte] di un accastellamento con quattro torri, di cui una sarebbe diventata la torre campanaria attuale. Questo edificio sarebbe stato fino al 913 la residenza del vescovo ed avrebbe contenuto una chiesa rivolta verso est, cioè verso l'attuale battistero. Nel XII secolo questa chiesa fu inglobata nella costruzione romanica che andava diventando la cattedrale, con la facciata rivolta a sud, cioè verso l'attuale "Facciatone", la facciata incompiuta del "duomo nuovo".

  

Finestra gotica sul fianco del duomoÈ tradizione, suffragata anche da deduzioni storiche[senza fonte], che il Duomo sia stato consacrato il 18 novembre 1179. Ci sono però opinioni contrastanti e notizie storiche che smentiscono questa datazione.[senza fonte] Infatti, solo nel XIII secolo (1229) il Duomo sarebbe stato trasformato in basilica, con la facciata rivolta ad ovest, verso l'ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala. I lavori vennero terminati solo alla fine del secolo successivo.

 

La cupola fu completata nel 1263 e il Rosso padellaio vi appose la "mela". La sua altezza è di 48 metri, inclusa la croce. L'attuale sistemazione dell'apice della cupola stessa è del 1667.

 

L'"Operaio del Duomo" che sovrintendeva all'amministrazione dei lavori era sempre scelto tra i canonici ma, dal 1258 agli inizi del Trecento, fu scelto tra i monaci dell'abbazia cistercense di San Galgano. Questi si erano segnalati come abili amministratori, tanto che lo stesso Comune di Siena gli aveva affidato gli uffici di Gabella e di Biccherna (gli uffici "entrate" e "uscite" della Repubblica di Siena).

 

Furono i monaci a chiamare Nicola Pisano e suo figlio Giovanni per i lavori. Giovanni lavorò alla facciata in quel periodo, utilizzando nella parte inferiore i rivestimenti marmorei (provenienti dalle vicine cave di Vallerano, comune di Murlo) che vediamo ancora oggi. Nicola creò il pulpito, terminato nel 1268.

 

La figura (forse derivata da Cimabue) del Cristo in croce, con le gambe avvitate, i piedi sovrapposti e trapassati da un unico chiodo e le braccia "ad ipsilon" è diventata un classico dell'iconografia. Sembra anche essere stata copiata da parte degli artisti che realizzarono gli affreschi scoperti di recente nella cripta sottostante il Duomo.

 

Nel 1313 viene terminato il campanile, alto circa 77 metri. Nel 1316 l'edificio venne ampliato sotto la direzione di Camaino di Crescentino, padre dello scultore Tino di Camaino.

 

Con Siena al massimo del suo splendore, dovette sembrare che il duomo fosse comunque troppo piccolo per la città. Si pensò quindi di ampliarlo in modo tale che l'attuale navata centrale diventasse solo il transetto e la facciata tornasse ad essere orientata a sud, in posizione molto più avanzata rispetto all'antico edificio. Il progetto fu affidato a Lando di Pietro (o "Lando di Piero") dopo la delibera del Consiglio Generale della Campana del 23 agosto 1339. I lavori passarono in seguito sotto la supervisione dello scultore ed architetto Giovanni di Agostino.

 

A causa della peste del 1348 e di alcuni crolli strutturali, nel giugno del 1357 si decise di interrompere i lavori, lasciando nell'attuale piazza Iacopo della Quercia i segni del fallimento: basamenti per le colonne e incastonamenti di queste nell'edificio dell'attuale Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, oltre alla facciata incompiuta (il "facciatone") dal quale è possibile oggi godere di un notevole panorama sulla città.

 

Dopo qualche anno, si affidarono di nuovo i lavori al capomastro Domenico di Agostino, fratello di Giovanni, morto nel 1366. Nel 1376, la costruzione della parte superiore della facciata venne affidata a Giovanni di Cecco (detto "Giovannino della Pietra"). Nel 1382 vennero alzate le volte della navata centrale e quest'anno può essere considerato quello di completamento del Duomo.

 

Nel 1870 un incendio distrusse la cupola estera in legno e parte della copertura lignea della navata che vennero ripristinate.

  

A Catedral de Siena ou Duomo di Siena, é a catedral medieval de Siena, na Itália.

A Catedral em si foi originalmente projetada e construída entre 1215 e 1263 no local de uma estrutura antiga. Tem a forma de uma cruz Latina, um cúpula e uma torre de sinos. A lanterna, no topo da cúpula, foi adicionada por Gian Lorenzo Bernini. O exterior e o interior são feitos de mármore preto e branco, as cores simbólicas de Siena, derivadas dos lendários cavalos dos fundadores da cidade, Senius e Aschius.

A fachada da Catedral foi construída em dois estágios. A parte inferior foi iniciada em 1284 e construída em estilo da Toscana, por Giovanni Pisano. A exuberante fachada representa profetas, filósofos e apóstolos. Em 1288, a janela em forma de rosa, um vitral redondo colocado em um limite quadrado foi instalado na área do coro, a partir de desenhos de Duccio. O trabalho na parte superior da fachada foram iniciados em 1376 por Giovanni di Cecco, a partir de um projeto inspirado na Catedral de Orvieto. A porta central de bronze é recente e data de 1958. Foi criada por Enrico Manfrini.

No canto esquerdo da fachada há uma inscrição do século XIV, marcando o túmulo de Giovanni Pisano. Ao lado está uma coluna com a loba amamentando Rômulo e Remo, símbolos de Siena. Conta a lenda que Senius e Aschius, filhos de Remo, fundaram Siena.

  

The Cathedral of Siena (Italian: Duomo di Siena), dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and now to Santa Maria Assunta (Most Holy Mary of Assumption), is a medieval church in Siena, central Italy.

The cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome rises from an octagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius.

The origins of the first structure are obscure and shrouded in legend. There was a 9th century church with bishop's palace at the present location. In December 1058 a synod was held in this church resulting in the election of pope Nicholas II and the deposition of the antipope Benedict X.

 

In 1196 the cathedral masons’ guild, the Opera di Santa Maria, was put in charge of the construction of a new cathedral. By 1215 there were already daily masses said in the new church. There are records from 1226 onwards of the transport of black and white marble, probably for the construction of the façade and the bell tower. The vaults and the transept were constructed in 1259-1260. In 1259 Manuello di Ranieri and his son Parri carved some wooden choir stalls, which were replaced about 100 years later and have now disappeared. In 1264, Rosso Padellaio was paid for the copper sphere on top of the dome.

 

A second massive addition was planned in 1339. It would have more than doubled the size of the structure by means of an entirely new nave and two aisles ranged perpendicular to the existing nave and centred on the high altar. The construction was begun under the direction of Giovanni di Agostino, better known as a sculptor. Construction was halted by the Black Death in 1348. Basic errors in the construction were already evident by then, however, and the work was never resumed. The outer walls, remains of this extension, can now be seen to the south of the Duomo. The floor of the uncompleted nave now serves as a parking lot and museum, and, though unfinished, the remains are testament to Sienese power, ambition, and artistic achievement.

Underneath the choir of the Duomo, a narthex containing important late-13th century frescoes (probably about 1280) was found and excavated in 1999-2003. The frescoes depict scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ. This was part of the entrance of an earlier church. But when the baptistry was built, this under-church was filled with rubble. The narthex is now open to the public.

The façade of this cathedral was built in two stages. The lower part in polychrome marble was begun around 1284. It is built in Tuscan Gothic style by Giovanni Pisano, replete with gargoyles. Giovanni Pisano worked on the lower levels until 1296, when he suddenly left Siena. At that time, between 1270 and 1285, the nave of the church had been raised and a higher façade became necessary. Work at the façade continued for another fifteen years and was then stopped. Meanwhile in 1288, the rose window, a large circular stained-glass window, was installed in the choir, based on designs by Duccio di Buoninsegna.

 

The three portals, surmounted by lunettes and Gothic pediments, were designed by Giovanni Pisano. The columns between the portals are richly decorated with acanthus scrolls, allegorical figures and biblical scenes.

 

Work on the upper part of the façade only resumed in 1376 under the direction of Giovanni di Cecco, working on a new elaborate design, inspired by the Orvieto Cathedral. It was to be erected much higher than foreseen, because the nave had, once again, been raised. The division of the upper part does not match the division of the lower part. The pinnacles of the upper part do not continue over the columns flanking the central portal. The weight of the elegant side towers was reduced by adding windows.

 

The statues of the lavish façade were sculpted by Giovanni Pisano and assistants. They represent prophets, philosophers and apostles. The half-length statues of the patriarchs in the niches around the rose window are the work of other sculptors. Almost all the sculptures on view are copies. The originals are kept in the "Crypt of the Statues" in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

 

The bronze central door is recent and dates from 1958. It was made by Enrico Manfrini. The scenes on the door represent the Glorification of the Virgin. The three large mosaics on the gables of the façade were made in Venice in 1878. The large central mosaic, the Coronation of the Virgin, is the work of Luigi Mussini. The smaller mosaics on each side, Nativity of Jesus and Presentation of Mary in the Temple, were made by Alessandro Franchi.

 

On the left corner pier of the façade, a 14th century inscription can be found, marking the grave of Giovanni Pisano. Next to the façade stands a column with the she-wolf breast-feeding Romulus and Remus, symbol of Siena (and also of the contrade Lupa). According to legend, Senius and Aschius, sons of Remus, founded Siena. They had stolen the statue of the she-wolf from the Temple of Apollo in Rome.

Il Castello Sforzesco è uno dei principali simboli di Milano e della sua storia. Fu costruito nel XV secolo da Francesco Sforza, divenuto da poco Duca di Milano, sui resti di una precedente fortificazione risalente al XIV secolo nota come Castrum Portae Jovis (Castello di porta Giovia o Zobia), e nei secoli ha subito notevoli trasformazioni. Fra il Cinquecento e il Seicento era una delle principali cittadelle militari d'Europa; ora è sede di importanti istituzioni culturali e meta turistica.

 

Giovanni Visconti alla sua morte lasciò in eredità il ducato ai tre nipoti Matteo II, Galeazzo II e Bernabò.

Alla morte di Matteo i due fratelli si spartirono la città e tra il 1360 e il 1370 Galeazzo Visconti fece costruire, a cavallo delle mura della città, in corrispondenza della porta detta Giovia (o Zobia) una fortificazione detta, appunto, Castello di Porta Giovia.

 

L'edificio venne ampliato dai suoi successori: Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria e Filippo Maria. Il risultato è un castello a pianta quadrata, con i lati lunghi 200 m, e quattro torri agli angoli, di cui le due rivolte verso la città particolarmente imponenti, con muri perimetrali spessi 7 m.

 

La costruzione divenne così dimora permanente della dinastia viscontea.

 

Nel 1447 venne distrutto dalla neo Aurea Repubblica Ambrosiana. Fu Francesco I Sforza a ricostruirlo nel 1450 per farne la sua residenza dopo aver abbattuto la Repubblica. Nel 1452 Filarete venne ingaggiato dal principe per la costruzione e la decorazione della torre mediana, che difatti tuttora viene chiamata Torre del Filarete.

 

Alla morte di Francesco Sforza, gli successe il figlio Galeazzo Maria che fece continuare i lavori dall'architetto Benedetto Ferrini. La parte decorativa fu invece affidata ai pittori del ducato. Nel 1476, sotto la reggenza di Bona di Savoia, fu costruita la torre omonima.

 

Nel 1494 salì al potere Ludovico il Moro e il castello divenne una fastosa opera, alla realizzazione della quale furono chiamati a lavorare artisti come Leonardo da Vinci (che affrescò diverse sale dell'appartamento ducale, insieme a Bernardino Zenale e Bernardino Butinone) e il Bramante (forse per una ponticella per collegare il castello alla cosiddetta strada coperta), mentre molti pittori affrescarono la sala della balla illustrando le gesta di Francesco Sforza. Verso il 1498 nella Sala delle Asse lavorò Leonardo da Vinci, con la pittura di Intrecci vegetali con frutti e monocromi di radici e rocce.

 

Negli anni a seguire il castello fu però danneggiato dai continui attacchi che francesi, milanesi e truppe germaniche si scambiarono; fu aggiunto un baluardo allungato chiamato "tenaglia" che dà il nome alla porta vicina e progettato forse da Cesare Cesariano, ma nel 1521 la Torre del Filarete esplose,perché un soldato francese fece per sbaglio esplodere una bomba dopo che la torre fu adibita ad armeria.

 

Ritornato al potere e al castello, Francesco II Sforza ristrutturò e ampliò la fortezza, adibendone una parte a sontuosa dimora della moglie Cristina di Danimarca.

Passato sotto il dominio spagnolo, il castello nel 1535 (governatore Antonio de Leyva) perse il ruolo di dimora signorile, che passò al Palazzo Ducale, e divenne il fulcro della nuova cittadella, sede delle truppe militari iberiche: la guarnigione era una delle più grandi d'Europa, variabile da 1000 a 3000 uomini, con a capo un castellano spagnolo. Nel 1550 cominciarono i lavori per il potenziamento delle fortificazioni, con l'aiuto di Vincenzo Seregni: fu costruito un nuovo sistema difensiva di pianta prima pentagonale e e poi esagonale (tipica della fortificazione alla moderna): una stella a sei punte portate poi a 12 con l'aggiunta di apposite mezzelune. Le difese esterne raggiunsero così la lunghezza complessiva di 3 km, e coprivano un'area di circa 25,9 ettari. Le antiche sale affrescate furono adibite a falegnameria e a dispense, mentre nei cortili furono costruiti pollai in muratura. All'inizio del Seicento l'opera fu completata coi fossati, che separarono completamente il castello dalla città, e la "strada coperta".

 

Quando la Lombardia passò dalla Spagna agli Asburgo d'Austria, per mano del grande generale Eugenio di Savoia, il castello conservò la propria destinazione militare. L'unica nota artistica del dominio austriaco è la statua di San Giovanni Nepomuceno, protettore dell'esercito austriaco, posta nel cortile della Piazza d'armi.

 

Con l'arrivo in Italia di Napoleone, l'Arciduca Ferdinando d'Austria abbandonò il 9 maggio 1796 la città, lasciando al Castello una guarnigione di 2.000 soldati, sotto il comando del tenente colonnello Lamy, con 152 cannoni e buone scorte di polvere, fucili e foraggiamenti. Respinto un primo, velleitario, attacco di un gruppo di Milanesi filogiacobini, subì l'assedio francese, protratto dal 15 maggio alla fine di giugno. In un primo tempo Napoleone ordinò di ripristinarne le difese, per alloggiarvi una guarnigione di 4000 uomini. Nell'aprile 1799 questa dovette subire l'assedio delle rientranti truppe austro-russe ma, già un anno dopo, all'indomani di Marengo, il dominio francese venne ristabilito.

   

Finestrone affacciato sul cortile interno.Già nel 1796 era stata presentata una prima petizione popolare, che richiedeva l'abbattimento del castello, interpretato quale simbolo della 'antica tirannide'. Con decreto del 23 giugno 1800 Napoleone ne ordinò, in effetti, la totale demolizione. Essa venne realizzata a partire dal 1801, solo in parte per le torri laterali e in toto per i bastioni spagnoli, esterni al palazzo sforzesco, di fronte alla popolazione esultante.

 

Nel 1801 venne presentato dall'architetto Antolini un progetto per il rimaneggiamento del castello in forme vistosamente neo-classiche, con un atrio a dodici colonne e circondato dal primo progetto di Foro Buonaparte: una piazza circolare di circa 570 metri di diametro, circondata da una sterminata serie di edifici pubblici di forme monumentali (le Terme, il Pantheon, il Museo Nazionale, la Borsa, il Teatro, la Dogana), collegati da portici sui quali si sarebbero aperti magazzini, negozi ed edifici privati. Esso venne respinto da Napoleone, il 13 luglio dello stesso anno, perché troppo costoso e, in effetti, sproporzionato ad una città di circa 150 000 abitanti.

Venne quindi ripreso in considerazione un secondo progetto, presentato dal Canonica, che limitava l'intervento alla sola parte rivolta verso via Dante (che porta comunque il nome dell'ambizioso progetto: Foro Bonaparte) mentre la vasta area retrostante venne adibita a piazza d'armi, coronata, anni più tardi, dall'Arco della Pace, opera del Cagnola, a quel tempo dedicato a Napoleone.

 

Pochi anni a seguire, nel 1815, Milano e il Regno Lombardo-Veneto, furono annessi nell' Impero d'Austria, sotto il dominio dagli austriaci del Bellegarde e il castello arricchito di cortine, passaggi, prigioni e fossati, divenne tristemente famoso perché durante la rivolta dei milanesi nel 1848 (le cosiddette Cinque giornate di Milano), il maresciallo Radetzky darà ordine di bombardare la città proprio con suoi cannoni.

Durante i tragici avvenimenti delle guerre d'indipendenza italiane, gli austriaci si ritirarono per qualche tempo e i milanesi ne approfittarono per smantellare parte delle difese rivolte verso la città.

Quando nel 1859 Milano è definitivamente in mano sabauda e dal 1861 parte del Regno d'Italia la popolazione invade il castello, derubando e saccheggiando in segno di rivalsa.

 

Circa 20 anni dopo il castello è oggetto di dibattito e molti milanesi propongono di abbatterlo per dimenticare i secoli di gioco militare e soprattutto per costruire un quartiere residenziale estremamente lucroso: tuttavia prevale la cultura storica e l'architetto Luca Beltrami lo sottopose a un restauro massiccio, quasi una ricostruzione, che aveva come scopo far tornare il castello alle forme della signoria degli Sforza. Restauro che terminò nel 1905, quando venne inaugurata la Torre del Filarete, ricostruita in base a disegni del XVI secolo e dedicata a re Umberto I di Savoia, assassinato pochi anni prima. La torre costituisce anche il fondale prospettico della nuova via Dante.

 

Nella vecchia piazza d'armi vengono inoltre messe a dimora centinaia di piante nel nuovo polmone verde cittadino, il Parco del Sempione, giardino paesaggistico in stile inglese. Il Foro Bonaparte è ricostruito a scopo residenziale anteriormente al castello.

 

Nel corso del XX secolo il castello viene danneggiato e ristrutturato dopo la seconda guerra mondiale; negli anni novanta fu costruita in piazza castello una grande fontana ispirata ad una precedentemente installata sul posto che venne smantellata negli anni '60 durante i lavori per la costruzione della prima linea della metropolitana e non più rimessa dopo il termine dei lavori.

 

Nel 2005 si è concluso l'ultimo restauro di cortili e sale.

 

Il quadrilatero attuale del castello racchiude l'ampia piazza d'armi, il corpo dell'edificio che fronteggia l'ingresso principale e la torre mediana è interrotto dalla torre di Bona di Savoia. Antistante vi è il fossato morto, parte dell'antico fossato medievale in corrispondenza del quale sono le fondazioni del castello di porta Giovia. Una porta introduce al cortile della Corte Ducale, di forma rettangolare e con un porticato sui tre lati. Dal lato opposto vi è invece la Rocchetta, la parte del castello più inespugnabile nella quale gli Sforza si rifugiavano in caso di attacco.

 

Il complesso del castello è al centro di un fossato, racchiuso dentro delle mura rinascimentali e allargato posteriormente (il cosiddetto barco). Questa espansione verso la campagna era chiamata Ghirlanda (fu abbattuta da Beltrami) e collegata al castello interno da altri rivellini e da un barbacane, ancora oggi visibili ma in rovina, così come parte della Ghirlanda (protetta negli angoli da massicce torri).

   

Da Wikipedia

      

La cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta è il duomo di Siena. Costruita in stile Romanico-Gotico italiano, è una delle più significative chiese realizzate in questo stile in Italia.

Nel luogo dove sorge la cattedrale, sarebbe sorto il castrum romano. Ancora nel Medioevo il toponimo era Piano Sancte Mariae e in questo luogo, tra l'attuale costruzione e la piazza che la circonda su due lati, sono stati effettuati degli scavi che hanno suffragato l'ipotesi di uno sviluppo dell'area in periodo longobardo e franco.

 

Si parla[senza fonte] di un accastellamento con quattro torri, di cui una sarebbe diventata la torre campanaria attuale. Questo edificio sarebbe stato fino al 913 la residenza del vescovo ed avrebbe contenuto una chiesa rivolta verso est, cioè verso l'attuale battistero. Nel XII secolo questa chiesa fu inglobata nella costruzione romanica che andava diventando la cattedrale, con la facciata rivolta a sud, cioè verso l'attuale "Facciatone", la facciata incompiuta del "duomo nuovo".

  

Finestra gotica sul fianco del duomoÈ tradizione, suffragata anche da deduzioni storiche[senza fonte], che il Duomo sia stato consacrato il 18 novembre 1179. Ci sono però opinioni contrastanti e notizie storiche che smentiscono questa datazione.[senza fonte] Infatti, solo nel XIII secolo (1229) il Duomo sarebbe stato trasformato in basilica, con la facciata rivolta ad ovest, verso l'ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala. I lavori vennero terminati solo alla fine del secolo successivo.

 

La cupola fu completata nel 1263 e il Rosso padellaio vi appose la "mela". La sua altezza è di 48 metri, inclusa la croce. L'attuale sistemazione dell'apice della cupola stessa è del 1667.

 

L'"Operaio del Duomo" che sovrintendeva all'amministrazione dei lavori era sempre scelto tra i canonici ma, dal 1258 agli inizi del Trecento, fu scelto tra i monaci dell'abbazia cistercense di San Galgano. Questi si erano segnalati come abili amministratori, tanto che lo stesso Comune di Siena gli aveva affidato gli uffici di Gabella e di Biccherna (gli uffici "entrate" e "uscite" della Repubblica di Siena).

 

Furono i monaci a chiamare Nicola Pisano e suo figlio Giovanni per i lavori. Giovanni lavorò alla facciata in quel periodo, utilizzando nella parte inferiore i rivestimenti marmorei (provenienti dalle vicine cave di Vallerano, comune di Murlo) che vediamo ancora oggi. Nicola creò il pulpito, terminato nel 1268.

 

La figura (forse derivata da Cimabue) del Cristo in croce, con le gambe avvitate, i piedi sovrapposti e trapassati da un unico chiodo e le braccia "ad ipsilon" è diventata un classico dell'iconografia. Sembra anche essere stata copiata da parte degli artisti che realizzarono gli affreschi scoperti di recente nella cripta sottostante il Duomo.

 

Nel 1313 viene terminato il campanile, alto circa 77 metri. Nel 1316 l'edificio venne ampliato sotto la direzione di Camaino di Crescentino, padre dello scultore Tino di Camaino.

 

Con Siena al massimo del suo splendore, dovette sembrare che il duomo fosse comunque troppo piccolo per la città. Si pensò quindi di ampliarlo in modo tale che l'attuale navata centrale diventasse solo il transetto e la facciata tornasse ad essere orientata a sud, in posizione molto più avanzata rispetto all'antico edificio. Il progetto fu affidato a Lando di Pietro (o "Lando di Piero") dopo la delibera del Consiglio Generale della Campana del 23 agosto 1339. I lavori passarono in seguito sotto la supervisione dello scultore ed architetto Giovanni di Agostino.

 

A causa della peste del 1348 e di alcuni crolli strutturali, nel giugno del 1357 si decise di interrompere i lavori, lasciando nell'attuale piazza Iacopo della Quercia i segni del fallimento: basamenti per le colonne e incastonamenti di queste nell'edificio dell'attuale Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, oltre alla facciata incompiuta (il "facciatone") dal quale è possibile oggi godere di un notevole panorama sulla città.

 

Dopo qualche anno, si affidarono di nuovo i lavori al capomastro Domenico di Agostino, fratello di Giovanni, morto nel 1366. Nel 1376, la costruzione della parte superiore della facciata venne affidata a Giovanni di Cecco (detto "Giovannino della Pietra"). Nel 1382 vennero alzate le volte della navata centrale e quest'anno può essere considerato quello di completamento del Duomo.

 

Nel 1870 un incendio distrusse la cupola estera in legno e parte della copertura lignea della navata che vennero ripristinate.

  

A Catedral de Siena ou Duomo di Siena, é a catedral medieval de Siena, na Itália.

A Catedral em si foi originalmente projetada e construída entre 1215 e 1263 no local de uma estrutura antiga. Tem a forma de uma cruz Latina, um cúpula e uma torre de sinos. A lanterna, no topo da cúpula, foi adicionada por Gian Lorenzo Bernini. O exterior e o interior são feitos de mármore preto e branco, as cores simbólicas de Siena, derivadas dos lendários cavalos dos fundadores da cidade, Senius e Aschius.

A fachada da Catedral foi construída em dois estágios. A parte inferior foi iniciada em 1284 e construída em estilo da Toscana, por Giovanni Pisano. A exuberante fachada representa profetas, filósofos e apóstolos. Em 1288, a janela em forma de rosa, um vitral redondo colocado em um limite quadrado foi instalado na área do coro, a partir de desenhos de Duccio. O trabalho na parte superior da fachada foram iniciados em 1376 por Giovanni di Cecco, a partir de um projeto inspirado na Catedral de Orvieto. A porta central de bronze é recente e data de 1958. Foi criada por Enrico Manfrini.

No canto esquerdo da fachada há uma inscrição do século XIV, marcando o túmulo de Giovanni Pisano. Ao lado está uma coluna com a loba amamentando Rômulo e Remo, símbolos de Siena. Conta a lenda que Senius e Aschius, filhos de Remo, fundaram Siena.

  

The Cathedral of Siena (Italian: Duomo di Siena), dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and now to Santa Maria Assunta (Most Holy Mary of Assumption), is a medieval church in Siena, central Italy.

The cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome rises from an octagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius.

The origins of the first structure are obscure and shrouded in legend. There was a 9th century church with bishop's palace at the present location. In December 1058 a synod was held in this church resulting in the election of pope Nicholas II and the deposition of the antipope Benedict X.

 

In 1196 the cathedral masons’ guild, the Opera di Santa Maria, was put in charge of the construction of a new cathedral. By 1215 there were already daily masses said in the new church. There are records from 1226 onwards of the transport of black and white marble, probably for the construction of the façade and the bell tower. The vaults and the transept were constructed in 1259-1260. In 1259 Manuello di Ranieri and his son Parri carved some wooden choir stalls, which were replaced about 100 years later and have now disappeared. In 1264, Rosso Padellaio was paid for the copper sphere on top of the dome.

 

A second massive addition was planned in 1339. It would have more than doubled the size of the structure by means of an entirely new nave and two aisles ranged perpendicular to the existing nave and centred on the high altar. The construction was begun under the direction of Giovanni di Agostino, better known as a sculptor. Construction was halted by the Black Death in 1348. Basic errors in the construction were already evident by then, however, and the work was never resumed. The outer walls, remains of this extension, can now be seen to the south of the Duomo. The floor of the uncompleted nave now serves as a parking lot and museum, and, though unfinished, the remains are testament to Sienese power, ambition, and artistic achievement.

Underneath the choir of the Duomo, a narthex containing important late-13th century frescoes (probably about 1280) was found and excavated in 1999-2003. The frescoes depict scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ. This was part of the entrance of an earlier church. But when the baptistry was built, this under-church was filled with rubble. The narthex is now open to the public.

The façade of this cathedral was built in two stages. The lower part in polychrome marble was begun around 1284. It is built in Tuscan Gothic style by Giovanni Pisano, replete with gargoyles. Giovanni Pisano worked on the lower levels until 1296, when he suddenly left Siena. At that time, between 1270 and 1285, the nave of the church had been raised and a higher façade became necessary. Work at the façade continued for another fifteen years and was then stopped. Meanwhile in 1288, the rose window, a large circular stained-glass window, was installed in the choir, based on designs by Duccio di Buoninsegna.

 

The three portals, surmounted by lunettes and Gothic pediments, were designed by Giovanni Pisano. The columns between the portals are richly decorated with acanthus scrolls, allegorical figures and biblical scenes.

 

Work on the upper part of the façade only resumed in 1376 under the direction of Giovanni di Cecco, working on a new elaborate design, inspired by the Orvieto Cathedral. It was to be erected much higher than foreseen, because the nave had, once again, been raised. The division of the upper part does not match the division of the lower part. The pinnacles of the upper part do not continue over the columns flanking the central portal. The weight of the elegant side towers was reduced by adding windows.

 

The statues of the lavish façade were sculpted by Giovanni Pisano and assistants. They represent prophets, philosophers and apostles. The half-length statues of the patriarchs in the niches around the rose window are the work of other sculptors. Almost all the sculptures on view are copies. The originals are kept in the "Crypt of the Statues" in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

 

The bronze central door is recent and dates from 1958. It was made by Enrico Manfrini. The scenes on the door represent the Glorification of the Virgin. The three large mosaics on the gables of the façade were made in Venice in 1878. The large central mosaic, the Coronation of the Virgin, is the work of Luigi Mussini. The smaller mosaics on each side, Nativity of Jesus and Presentation of Mary in the Temple, were made by Alessandro Franchi.

 

On the left corner pier of the façade, a 14th century inscription can be found, marking the grave of Giovanni Pisano. Next to the façade stands a column with the she-wolf breast-feeding Romulus and Remus, symbol of Siena (and also of the contrade Lupa). According to legend, Senius and Aschius, sons of Remus, founded Siena. They had stolen the statue of the she-wolf from the Temple of Apollo in Rome.

Sighișoara (Romanian pronunciation: [siɡiˈʃo̯ara]; German: Schäßburg; Hungarian: Segesvár, Hungarian pronunciation: [’ʃɛɡɛʃvaːr] ( listen); Latin: Castrum Sex) is a city on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, Romania. Located in the historic region of Transylvania, Sighișoara has a population of 28,102 according to the 2011 census.

 

During the 12th century, German craftsmen and merchants known as the Transylvanian Saxons were invited to Transylvania by the King of Hungary to settle and defend the frontier of his realm. The chronicler Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in present-day Sighișoara by 1191.[citation needed] A document of 1280 records a town built on the site of a Roman fort as Castrum Sex or "six-sided camp", referring to the fort's shape of an irregular hexagon.[1] Other names recorded include Schaäsburg (1282), Schespurg (1298) and Segusvar (1300).[2] By 1337 Sighișoara had become a royal center for the kings, who awarded the settlement urban status in 1367 as the Civitas de Segusvar.

 

The city played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of Central Europe for several centuries. Sighișoara became one of the most important cities of Transylvania, with artisans from throughout the Holy Roman Empire visiting the settlement. The German artisans and craftsmen dominated the urban economy, as well as building the fortifications protecting it. It is estimated that during the 16th and 17th centuries Sighișoara had as many as 15 guilds and 20 handicraft branches. The Baroque sculptor Elias Nicolai lived in the city. The Wallachian prince Vlad Dracul (father of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), who lived in exile in the town, had coins minted in the city (otherwise coinage was the monopoly of the Hungarian kings in the Kingdom of Hungary) and issued the first document listing the city's Romanian name, Sighișoara.[citation needed] The Romanian name is first attested in 1435, and derives from the Hungarian Segesvár, where vár is "fort".[1][2]

 

The city was the setting for George I Rákóczi's election as Prince of Transylvania and King of Hungary in 1631. Sighișoara suffered military occupation, fires, and plagues during the 17th and 18th centuries. An important source for the history of 17th-century Transylvania, for the period of 1606-1666, are the records of Georg Kraus, the town's notary.[3]

 

The nearby plain of Albești was the site of the Battle of Segesvár, where the revolutionary Hungarian army led by Józef Bem was defeated by the Russian army led by Luders on 31 July 1849. A monument was constructed in 1852 to the Russian general Skariatin, who died in the battle. The Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi is generally believed to have been killed in the battle, and a monument was constructed in his honor at Albești in 1897. After World War I Sighișoara passed with Transylvania from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania.

 

Central Sighișoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city. It has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sighi%C8%99oara

La cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta è il duomo di Siena. Costruita in stile Romanico-Gotico italiano, è una delle più significative chiese realizzate in questo stile in Italia.

Nel luogo dove sorge la cattedrale, sarebbe sorto il castrum romano. Ancora nel Medioevo il toponimo era Piano Sancte Mariae e in questo luogo, tra l'attuale costruzione e la piazza che la circonda su due lati, sono stati effettuati degli scavi che hanno suffragato l'ipotesi di uno sviluppo dell'area in periodo longobardo e franco.

 

Si parla[senza fonte] di un accastellamento con quattro torri, di cui una sarebbe diventata la torre campanaria attuale. Questo edificio sarebbe stato fino al 913 la residenza del vescovo ed avrebbe contenuto una chiesa rivolta verso est, cioè verso l'attuale battistero. Nel XII secolo questa chiesa fu inglobata nella costruzione romanica che andava diventando la cattedrale, con la facciata rivolta a sud, cioè verso l'attuale "Facciatone", la facciata incompiuta del "duomo nuovo".

  

Finestra gotica sul fianco del duomoÈ tradizione, suffragata anche da deduzioni storiche[senza fonte], che il Duomo sia stato consacrato il 18 novembre 1179. Ci sono però opinioni contrastanti e notizie storiche che smentiscono questa datazione.[senza fonte] Infatti, solo nel XIII secolo (1229) il Duomo sarebbe stato trasformato in basilica, con la facciata rivolta ad ovest, verso l'ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala. I lavori vennero terminati solo alla fine del secolo successivo.

 

La cupola fu completata nel 1263 e il Rosso padellaio vi appose la "mela". La sua altezza è di 48 metri, inclusa la croce. L'attuale sistemazione dell'apice della cupola stessa è del 1667.

 

L'"Operaio del Duomo" che sovrintendeva all'amministrazione dei lavori era sempre scelto tra i canonici ma, dal 1258 agli inizi del Trecento, fu scelto tra i monaci dell'abbazia cistercense di San Galgano. Questi si erano segnalati come abili amministratori, tanto che lo stesso Comune di Siena gli aveva affidato gli uffici di Gabella e di Biccherna (gli uffici "entrate" e "uscite" della Repubblica di Siena).

 

Furono i monaci a chiamare Nicola Pisano e suo figlio Giovanni per i lavori. Giovanni lavorò alla facciata in quel periodo, utilizzando nella parte inferiore i rivestimenti marmorei (provenienti dalle vicine cave di Vallerano, comune di Murlo) che vediamo ancora oggi. Nicola creò il pulpito, terminato nel 1268.

 

La figura (forse derivata da Cimabue) del Cristo in croce, con le gambe avvitate, i piedi sovrapposti e trapassati da un unico chiodo e le braccia "ad ipsilon" è diventata un classico dell'iconografia. Sembra anche essere stata copiata da parte degli artisti che realizzarono gli affreschi scoperti di recente nella cripta sottostante il Duomo.

 

Nel 1313 viene terminato il campanile, alto circa 77 metri. Nel 1316 l'edificio venne ampliato sotto la direzione di Camaino di Crescentino, padre dello scultore Tino di Camaino.

 

Con Siena al massimo del suo splendore, dovette sembrare che il duomo fosse comunque troppo piccolo per la città. Si pensò quindi di ampliarlo in modo tale che l'attuale navata centrale diventasse solo il transetto e la facciata tornasse ad essere orientata a sud, in posizione molto più avanzata rispetto all'antico edificio. Il progetto fu affidato a Lando di Pietro (o "Lando di Piero") dopo la delibera del Consiglio Generale della Campana del 23 agosto 1339. I lavori passarono in seguito sotto la supervisione dello scultore ed architetto Giovanni di Agostino.

 

A causa della peste del 1348 e di alcuni crolli strutturali, nel giugno del 1357 si decise di interrompere i lavori, lasciando nell'attuale piazza Iacopo della Quercia i segni del fallimento: basamenti per le colonne e incastonamenti di queste nell'edificio dell'attuale Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, oltre alla facciata incompiuta (il "facciatone") dal quale è possibile oggi godere di un notevole panorama sulla città.

 

Dopo qualche anno, si affidarono di nuovo i lavori al capomastro Domenico di Agostino, fratello di Giovanni, morto nel 1366. Nel 1376, la costruzione della parte superiore della facciata venne affidata a Giovanni di Cecco (detto "Giovannino della Pietra"). Nel 1382 vennero alzate le volte della navata centrale e quest'anno può essere considerato quello di completamento del Duomo.

 

Nel 1870 un incendio distrusse la cupola estera in legno e parte della copertura lignea della navata che vennero ripristinate.

  

A Catedral de Siena ou Duomo di Siena, é a catedral medieval de Siena, na Itália.

A Catedral em si foi originalmente projetada e construída entre 1215 e 1263 no local de uma estrutura antiga. Tem a forma de uma cruz Latina, um cúpula e uma torre de sinos. A lanterna, no topo da cúpula, foi adicionada por Gian Lorenzo Bernini. O exterior e o interior são feitos de mármore preto e branco, as cores simbólicas de Siena, derivadas dos lendários cavalos dos fundadores da cidade, Senius e Aschius.

A fachada da Catedral foi construída em dois estágios. A parte inferior foi iniciada em 1284 e construída em estilo da Toscana, por Giovanni Pisano. A exuberante fachada representa profetas, filósofos e apóstolos. Em 1288, a janela em forma de rosa, um vitral redondo colocado em um limite quadrado foi instalado na área do coro, a partir de desenhos de Duccio. O trabalho na parte superior da fachada foram iniciados em 1376 por Giovanni di Cecco, a partir de um projeto inspirado na Catedral de Orvieto. A porta central de bronze é recente e data de 1958. Foi criada por Enrico Manfrini.

No canto esquerdo da fachada há uma inscrição do século XIV, marcando o túmulo de Giovanni Pisano. Ao lado está uma coluna com a loba amamentando Rômulo e Remo, símbolos de Siena. Conta a lenda que Senius e Aschius, filhos de Remo, fundaram Siena.

  

The Cathedral of Siena (Italian: Duomo di Siena), dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and now to Santa Maria Assunta (Most Holy Mary of Assumption), is a medieval church in Siena, central Italy.

The cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome rises from an octagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius.

The origins of the first structure are obscure and shrouded in legend. There was a 9th century church with bishop's palace at the present location. In December 1058 a synod was held in this church resulting in the election of pope Nicholas II and the deposition of the antipope Benedict X.

 

In 1196 the cathedral masons’ guild, the Opera di Santa Maria, was put in charge of the construction of a new cathedral. By 1215 there were already daily masses said in the new church. There are records from 1226 onwards of the transport of black and white marble, probably for the construction of the façade and the bell tower. The vaults and the transept were constructed in 1259-1260. In 1259 Manuello di Ranieri and his son Parri carved some wooden choir stalls, which were replaced about 100 years later and have now disappeared. In 1264, Rosso Padellaio was paid for the copper sphere on top of the dome.

 

A second massive addition was planned in 1339. It would have more than doubled the size of the structure by means of an entirely new nave and two aisles ranged perpendicular to the existing nave and centred on the high altar. The construction was begun under the direction of Giovanni di Agostino, better known as a sculptor. Construction was halted by the Black Death in 1348. Basic errors in the construction were already evident by then, however, and the work was never resumed. The outer walls, remains of this extension, can now be seen to the south of the Duomo. The floor of the uncompleted nave now serves as a parking lot and museum, and, though unfinished, the remains are testament to Sienese power, ambition, and artistic achievement.

Underneath the choir of the Duomo, a narthex containing important late-13th century frescoes (probably about 1280) was found and excavated in 1999-2003. The frescoes depict scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ. This was part of the entrance of an earlier church. But when the baptistry was built, this under-church was filled with rubble. The narthex is now open to the public.

The façade of this cathedral was built in two stages. The lower part in polychrome marble was begun around 1284. It is built in Tuscan Gothic style by Giovanni Pisano, replete with gargoyles. Giovanni Pisano worked on the lower levels until 1296, when he suddenly left Siena. At that time, between 1270 and 1285, the nave of the church had been raised and a higher façade became necessary. Work at the façade continued for another fifteen years and was then stopped. Meanwhile in 1288, the rose window, a large circular stained-glass window, was installed in the choir, based on designs by Duccio di Buoninsegna.

 

The three portals, surmounted by lunettes and Gothic pediments, were designed by Giovanni Pisano. The columns between the portals are richly decorated with acanthus scrolls, allegorical figures and biblical scenes.

 

Work on the upper part of the façade only resumed in 1376 under the direction of Giovanni di Cecco, working on a new elaborate design, inspired by the Orvieto Cathedral. It was to be erected much higher than foreseen, because the nave had, once again, been raised. The division of the upper part does not match the division of the lower part. The pinnacles of the upper part do not continue over the columns flanking the central portal. The weight of the elegant side towers was reduced by adding windows.

 

The statues of the lavish façade were sculpted by Giovanni Pisano and assistants. They represent prophets, philosophers and apostles. The half-length statues of the patriarchs in the niches around the rose window are the work of other sculptors. Almost all the sculptures on view are copies. The originals are kept in the "Crypt of the Statues" in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

 

The bronze central door is recent and dates from 1958. It was made by Enrico Manfrini. The scenes on the door represent the Glorification of the Virgin. The three large mosaics on the gables of the façade were made in Venice in 1878. The large central mosaic, the Coronation of the Virgin, is the work of Luigi Mussini. The smaller mosaics on each side, Nativity of Jesus and Presentation of Mary in the Temple, were made by Alessandro Franchi.

 

On the left corner pier of the façade, a 14th century inscription can be found, marking the grave of Giovanni Pisano. Next to the façade stands a column with the she-wolf breast-feeding Romulus and Remus, symbol of Siena (and also of the contrade Lupa). According to legend, Senius and Aschius, sons of Remus, founded Siena. They had stolen the statue of the she-wolf from the Temple of Apollo in Rome.

La cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta è il duomo di Siena. Costruita in stile Romanico-Gotico italiano, è una delle più significative chiese realizzate in questo stile in Italia.

Nel luogo dove sorge la cattedrale, sarebbe sorto il castrum romano. Ancora nel Medioevo il toponimo era Piano Sancte Mariae e in questo luogo, tra l'attuale costruzione e la piazza che la circonda su due lati, sono stati effettuati degli scavi che hanno suffragato l'ipotesi di uno sviluppo dell'area in periodo longobardo e franco.

 

Si parla[senza fonte] di un accastellamento con quattro torri, di cui una sarebbe diventata la torre campanaria attuale. Questo edificio sarebbe stato fino al 913 la residenza del vescovo ed avrebbe contenuto una chiesa rivolta verso est, cioè verso l'attuale battistero. Nel XII secolo questa chiesa fu inglobata nella costruzione romanica che andava diventando la cattedrale, con la facciata rivolta a sud, cioè verso l'attuale "Facciatone", la facciata incompiuta del "duomo nuovo".

  

Finestra gotica sul fianco del duomoÈ tradizione, suffragata anche da deduzioni storiche[senza fonte], che il Duomo sia stato consacrato il 18 novembre 1179. Ci sono però opinioni contrastanti e notizie storiche che smentiscono questa datazione.[senza fonte] Infatti, solo nel XIII secolo (1229) il Duomo sarebbe stato trasformato in basilica, con la facciata rivolta ad ovest, verso l'ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala. I lavori vennero terminati solo alla fine del secolo successivo.

 

La cupola fu completata nel 1263 e il Rosso padellaio vi appose la "mela". La sua altezza è di 48 metri, inclusa la croce. L'attuale sistemazione dell'apice della cupola stessa è del 1667.

 

L'"Operaio del Duomo" che sovrintendeva all'amministrazione dei lavori era sempre scelto tra i canonici ma, dal 1258 agli inizi del Trecento, fu scelto tra i monaci dell'abbazia cistercense di San Galgano. Questi si erano segnalati come abili amministratori, tanto che lo stesso Comune di Siena gli aveva affidato gli uffici di Gabella e di Biccherna (gli uffici "entrate" e "uscite" della Repubblica di Siena).

 

Furono i monaci a chiamare Nicola Pisano e suo figlio Giovanni per i lavori. Giovanni lavorò alla facciata in quel periodo, utilizzando nella parte inferiore i rivestimenti marmorei (provenienti dalle vicine cave di Vallerano, comune di Murlo) che vediamo ancora oggi. Nicola creò il pulpito, terminato nel 1268.

 

La figura (forse derivata da Cimabue) del Cristo in croce, con le gambe avvitate, i piedi sovrapposti e trapassati da un unico chiodo e le braccia "ad ipsilon" è diventata un classico dell'iconografia. Sembra anche essere stata copiata da parte degli artisti che realizzarono gli affreschi scoperti di recente nella cripta sottostante il Duomo.

 

Nel 1313 viene terminato il campanile, alto circa 77 metri. Nel 1316 l'edificio venne ampliato sotto la direzione di Camaino di Crescentino, padre dello scultore Tino di Camaino.

 

Con Siena al massimo del suo splendore, dovette sembrare che il duomo fosse comunque troppo piccolo per la città. Si pensò quindi di ampliarlo in modo tale che l'attuale navata centrale diventasse solo il transetto e la facciata tornasse ad essere orientata a sud, in posizione molto più avanzata rispetto all'antico edificio. Il progetto fu affidato a Lando di Pietro (o "Lando di Piero") dopo la delibera del Consiglio Generale della Campana del 23 agosto 1339. I lavori passarono in seguito sotto la supervisione dello scultore ed architetto Giovanni di Agostino.

 

A causa della peste del 1348 e di alcuni crolli strutturali, nel giugno del 1357 si decise di interrompere i lavori, lasciando nell'attuale piazza Iacopo della Quercia i segni del fallimento: basamenti per le colonne e incastonamenti di queste nell'edificio dell'attuale Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, oltre alla facciata incompiuta (il "facciatone") dal quale è possibile oggi godere di un notevole panorama sulla città.

 

Dopo qualche anno, si affidarono di nuovo i lavori al capomastro Domenico di Agostino, fratello di Giovanni, morto nel 1366. Nel 1376, la costruzione della parte superiore della facciata venne affidata a Giovanni di Cecco (detto "Giovannino della Pietra"). Nel 1382 vennero alzate le volte della navata centrale e quest'anno può essere considerato quello di completamento del Duomo.

 

Nel 1870 un incendio distrusse la cupola estera in legno e parte della copertura lignea della navata che vennero ripristinate.

  

A Catedral de Siena ou Duomo di Siena, é a catedral medieval de Siena, na Itália.

A Catedral em si foi originalmente projetada e construída entre 1215 e 1263 no local de uma estrutura antiga. Tem a forma de uma cruz Latina, um cúpula e uma torre de sinos. A lanterna, no topo da cúpula, foi adicionada por Gian Lorenzo Bernini. O exterior e o interior são feitos de mármore preto e branco, as cores simbólicas de Siena, derivadas dos lendários cavalos dos fundadores da cidade, Senius e Aschius.

A fachada da Catedral foi construída em dois estágios. A parte inferior foi iniciada em 1284 e construída em estilo da Toscana, por Giovanni Pisano. A exuberante fachada representa profetas, filósofos e apóstolos. Em 1288, a janela em forma de rosa, um vitral redondo colocado em um limite quadrado foi instalado na área do coro, a partir de desenhos de Duccio. O trabalho na parte superior da fachada foram iniciados em 1376 por Giovanni di Cecco, a partir de um projeto inspirado na Catedral de Orvieto. A porta central de bronze é recente e data de 1958. Foi criada por Enrico Manfrini.

No canto esquerdo da fachada há uma inscrição do século XIV, marcando o túmulo de Giovanni Pisano. Ao lado está uma coluna com a loba amamentando Rômulo e Remo, símbolos de Siena. Conta a lenda que Senius e Aschius, filhos de Remo, fundaram Siena.

  

The Cathedral of Siena (Italian: Duomo di Siena), dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and now to Santa Maria Assunta (Most Holy Mary of Assumption), is a medieval church in Siena, central Italy.

The cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome rises from an octagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius.

The origins of the first structure are obscure and shrouded in legend. There was a 9th century church with bishop's palace at the present location. In December 1058 a synod was held in this church resulting in the election of pope Nicholas II and the deposition of the antipope Benedict X.

 

In 1196 the cathedral masons’ guild, the Opera di Santa Maria, was put in charge of the construction of a new cathedral. By 1215 there were already daily masses said in the new church. There are records from 1226 onwards of the transport of black and white marble, probably for the construction of the façade and the bell tower. The vaults and the transept were constructed in 1259-1260. In 1259 Manuello di Ranieri and his son Parri carved some wooden choir stalls, which were replaced about 100 years later and have now disappeared. In 1264, Rosso Padellaio was paid for the copper sphere on top of the dome.

 

A second massive addition was planned in 1339. It would have more than doubled the size of the structure by means of an entirely new nave and two aisles ranged perpendicular to the existing nave and centred on the high altar. The construction was begun under the direction of Giovanni di Agostino, better known as a sculptor. Construction was halted by the Black Death in 1348. Basic errors in the construction were already evident by then, however, and the work was never resumed. The outer walls, remains of this extension, can now be seen to the south of the Duomo. The floor of the uncompleted nave now serves as a parking lot and museum, and, though unfinished, the remains are testament to Sienese power, ambition, and artistic achievement.

Underneath the choir of the Duomo, a narthex containing important late-13th century frescoes (probably about 1280) was found and excavated in 1999-2003. The frescoes depict scenes from the Old Testament and the life of Christ. This was part of the entrance of an earlier church. But when the baptistry was built, this under-church was filled with rubble. The narthex is now open to the public.

The façade of this cathedral was built in two stages. The lower part in polychrome marble was begun around 1284. It is built in Tuscan Gothic style by Giovanni Pisano, replete with gargoyles. Giovanni Pisano worked on the lower levels until 1296, when he suddenly left Siena. At that time, between 1270 and 1285, the nave of the church had been raised and a higher façade became necessary. Work at the façade continued for another fifteen years and was then stopped. Meanwhile in 1288, the rose window, a large circular stained-glass window, was installed in the choir, based on designs by Duccio di Buoninsegna.

 

The three portals, surmounted by lunettes and Gothic pediments, were designed by Giovanni Pisano. The columns between the portals are richly decorated with acanthus scrolls, allegorical figures and biblical scenes.

 

Work on the upper part of the façade only resumed in 1376 under the direction of Giovanni di Cecco, working on a new elaborate design, inspired by the Orvieto Cathedral. It was to be erected much higher than foreseen, because the nave had, once again, been raised. The division of the upper part does not match the division of the lower part. The pinnacles of the upper part do not continue over the columns flanking the central portal. The weight of the elegant side towers was reduced by adding windows.

 

The statues of the lavish façade were sculpted by Giovanni Pisano and assistants. They represent prophets, philosophers and apostles. The half-length statues of the patriarchs in the niches around the rose window are the work of other sculptors. Almost all the sculptures on view are copies. The originals are kept in the "Crypt of the Statues" in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

 

The bronze central door is recent and dates from 1958. It was made by Enrico Manfrini. The scenes on the door represent the Glorification of the Virgin. The three large mosaics on the gables of the façade were made in Venice in 1878. The large central mosaic, the Coronation of the Virgin, is the work of Luigi Mussini. The smaller mosaics on each side, Nativity of Jesus and Presentation of Mary in the Temple, were made by Alessandro Franchi.

 

On the left corner pier of the façade, a 14th century inscription can be found, marking the grave of Giovanni Pisano. Next to the façade stands a column with the she-wolf breast-feeding Romulus and Remus, symbol of Siena (and also of the contrade Lupa). According to legend, Senius and Aschius, sons of Remus, founded Siena. They had stolen the statue of the she-wolf from the Temple of Apollo in Rome.

The "Castrum Petrae Roseti" (Stone Castle of Roseto) is a fortified castle to defend the Ionian coast. Is one of the main monuments in Calabria, which dates back to Norman times, rebuilt in the '200 by the will of Frederick II of Swabia and remodeled several times until the sixteenth century. It is located in Roseto Capo Spulico, overlooking the Ionian sea.

Piglio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers.It has been identified with the ancient Roman Capitulum, a Hernican town. Its area was the seat of several Roman patrician towns.In 1088 it is mentioned as Castrum Pileum; according to a legend, the name would stem from the Latin pileum, the helmet of Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. In that period it depended from the bishop of Anagni and, from the late 12th century, it was first a fief of the De Pileo and then of the De Antiochia families. In 1347 it was captured by Cola di Rienzo and, from the late 14th century, it was under the Colonna family, who held it until 1816. In 1656 the town was decimated by plague.Piglio became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1870. During World War II, it was bombed by Allied planes, with c. 30% of the edifices destroyed.

 

Piglio è un comune di 4.771 abitanti in provincia di Frosinone.Il paese si trova in posizione panoramica su una propaggine del monte Scalambra tra le valli dei fiumi Sacco e Aniene. Interessante il patrimonio naturalistico e storico-culturale.Inoltre diviso in due parti:piglio alto e romagnano.Il territorio era abitato da popolazioni erniche e potrebbe forse essere identificato con il Capitulum Hernicum o Hernicorum di cui parla Strabone, collocandolo tra Olibanum (Olevano) e Anagnia (Anagni). La zona fu in seguito conquistata dai Romani e fu sede di diverse ville rustiche di cui si conservano resti ("villa di Mecenate" nella località "Le Fattora", "villa di Sant'Eligio", villa della località "Fontana di Grano").Con il nome di Castrum Pileum è citato in un documento del 1088 e secondo una leggenda il nome deriverebbe dal pileum, l'elmo romano che sarebbe caduto per un forte vento al condottiero Quinto Fabio Massimo il Temporeggiatore mentre passava nel territorio.Nell'XI secolo dipendeva dal vescovo di Anagni e dalla fine del XII secolo fu in possesso prima dei De Pileo (o "Buccaporco"), probabilmente imparentati con i Caetani, e poi dei De Antiochia. Nel 1347 fu preso da Cola di Rienzo, Passò quindi alla fine del XIV secolo in possesso dei Colonna, che lo mantennero fino al 1816. Saccheggiato nel 1526 dalle truppe di papa Clemente VII, e dalla metà del XVI secolo era inserito nella provincia di "Campagna Marittima" dello Stato Pontificio. Nel 1656 la popolazione venne decimata da una pestilenza, che secondo la leggenda fu arrestata dalla miracolosa immagine della "Madonna delle Rose".Nel 1799 il paese subì distruzioni ad opera delle truppe francesi. Ritornato allo Stato Pontificio fece parte del "distretto di Tivoli". Nel 1849 vi passò Giuseppe Garibaldi, diretto alla difesa della Repubblica Romana. Dopo la presa di Roma nel 1870 fu annesso al Regno di Italia e fece parte del "mandamento" di Paliano nel "circondario" di Frosinone, che apparteneva alla allora provincia di Roma, unica per il Lazio. Agli inizi del XX secolo fu attraversato dalla ferrovia a scattamento ridotto che metteva in comunicazione Roma e Frosinone. Nel 1926 venne eretto il Municipio e nel 1927 entrò a far parte della provincia di Frosinone. Durante la seconda guerra mondiale e la liberazione dall'occupazione tedesca, fu bombardato dagli Alleati nel 1944, con la distruzione di circa il 30% degli edifici.Lo sperone roccioso è dominato nella parte più alta dal Castello Colonna, le cui origini risalgono probabilmente agli inizi dell'XI secolo. Il castello è suddiviso in una parte alta ("Palatium superiore"), costruita su una spianata alla sommità della collina e comprendente, secondo le antiche descrizioni, la rocca con una loggia, una cisterna, la piazza d'armi (platea curiae) e il palazzo baronale con salone di rappresentanza. Da qui si scendeva, superando un dislivello di circa 25 m, alla parte bassa (Palatium inferius o "Castellutium, con una corte su cui prospettavano camere ornate da pitture. Il castello controllava la strada di accesso agli Altipiani di Arcinazzo.Della rocca superiore restano un torrione quadrato e un muro di cinta difeso da torri verso nord, mentre dagli edifici sul lato sud, a due piani si scende nella piazza dell'"Arringo". Attualmente vi è ospitato l'Antiquarium, comunale. Da esso si scendeva mediante una scala all'"Arringo". La parte bassa, risalente probabilmente agli inizi dell XIV secolo si sviluppa attualmente in una costruzione a due piani, con sistemazione esterna dovuta ad un rimaneggiamento ottocentesco e protegge la porta principale di accesso. L'"arco della Fontana che si apre nella parte inferiore del vecchio castello verso il paese è fiancheggiata da una trifora tardo-romanica.Il paese ("Borgo") si sviluppa sulla parte restante del rilievo: le case stesse costruite sui margini verso il dirupo ne costituiscono la struttura difensiva. La pianta assume la tipica forma "a fuso", con la via principale (via Maggiore" e "via dell'Arringo") che ne forma l'asse tra la "porta del Pei" di ingresso al paese e il castello.La chiesa collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore o dell'Assunta, risalente alla fine del XIII secolo fu in gran parte distrutta dai bombardamenti del 1944 e ricostruita nel dopoguerra nelle forme originarie baroccheggianti: conserva su un fianco i resti dell'ogiva di un antico portale. Ha tre navate presenta la facciata con un rosone e chiusa da due campanili gemelli. Da maggio a ottobre vi viene conservata la statua della "Madonna delle Rose", che viene riportata in processione al suo santuario il 30 ottobre, anniversario della liberazione di Piglio dalla peste.

Il santuario della "Madonna delle Rose" o della "Madre Santissima" fu edificato nel XVII secolo intorno alla miracolosa icona bizantina (un affresco del XIV secolo), a cui si attribuisce il miracolo di aver arrestato la peste del 1656.La chiesa di San Rocco presenta un affresco quattrocentesco che raffigura la "Madonna, san Lorenzo, sant'Antonio Abate e altri santi".Il convento francescano di San Lorenzo venne fondato secondo la leggenda dallo stesso San Francesco in viaggio verso Subiaco, su un terreno donato dal cardinale Giovanni Colonna, vescovo di Sabina nel 1215. La chiesa di San Lorenzo, del XV secolo, su edificio forse precedente e con annessa cappella dedicata al beato Andrea Conti, venne ricostruita a pianta ellittica nel 1773 dall'architetto Giuseppe Ferroni, ma era in abbandono nel 1873. Subì gravi danni nel terremoto del 1915 e per i bombardamenti del 1944 e fu quindi ricostruita secondo le forme originarie nel 1954. Da qui si accede alla grotta in cui era vissuto in romitaggio il beato Andrea Conti, morto nel 1302.Il convento francescano di San Giovanni fu eretto nel 1620 presso una chiesa già nominata come esistente nel XIII secolo, rifatta nel 1632. Chiesa e convento abbandonati in seguito alla soppressione degli ordini religiosi nel 1870 e danneggiati in seguito al terremoto del 1915, furono restaurati nel 1923 e nuovamente distrutti nel 1944 dai bombardamenti. Gli attuali edifici furono ricostruiti in forme moderne tra il 1949 e il 1951.

 

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Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castrum) just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it originally pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, a set of wooden leaf-tablets that were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.

 

The first post-Roman record of the ruins at Vindolanda was made by the antiquarian William Camden, in his Britannia (1586). Occasional travellers reached the site over the next two hundred years, and the accounts they left predate much of the stone-stealing that has damaged the site. The military Thermae (bath-house) was still partly roofed when Christopher Hunter visited the site in 1702. In about 1715 an excise officer named John Warburton found an altar there, which he removed. In 1814 the first real archaeological work was begun, by the Rev. Anthony Hedley.

 

Hedley died in 1835, before writing up his discoveries. Little more was done for a long time, although in 1914 a workman found another altar at the site, set up by the civilians living at the fort in honour of the Divine House and Vulcan. Several names for the site are used in the early records, including "Chesters on Caudley", "Little Chesters", "The Bower" and "Chesterholm"; the altar found in 1914 confirmed that the Roman name for the site was "Vindolanda", which had been in dispute as one early source referred to it as "Vindolana".

 

The garrison consisted of infantry or cavalry auxilia, not components of Roman legions. From the early third century, this was the Cohors IV Gallorum equitata also known as the Fourth Cohort of Gauls. It had been presumed that this title was, by this time, purely nominal, with auxiliary troops being recruited locally but an inscription found in a recent season of excavations suggests that native Gauls were still to be found in the regiment and that they liked to distinguish themselves from British soldiers. The inscription reads:

 

CIVES GALLI

DE GALLIAE

CONCORDES

QUE BRITANNI

 

A translation of this is "The troops from Gaul dedicate this statue to the goddess Gallia with the full support of the British-born troops".

 

Among the troops were Basque-speaking soldiers of the Varduli.

 

The earliest Roman forts at Vindolanda were built of wood and turf. The remains are now buried as much as 13 ft (4 m) deep in the anoxic waterlogged soil. There are five timber forts, built (and demolished) one after the other. The first, a small fort, was probably built by the 1st Cohort of Tungrians about 85 AD. By about 95 AD this was replaced by a larger wooden fort built by the 9th Cohort of Batavians, a mixed infantry-cavalry unit of about 1,000 men. That fort was repaired in about 100 AD under the command of the Roman prefect Flavius Cerialis. When the 9th Cohort of Batavians left in 105 AD, their fort was demolished. The 1st Cohort of Tungrians returned to Vindolanda, built a larger wooden fort and remained here until Hadrian's Wall was built around 122 AD, when they moved, most likely to Vercovicium (Housesteads Roman Fort) on the wall, about two miles to the north-east of Vindolanda.

 

Soon after Hadrian's Wall was built, most of its men were moved north to the Antonine Wall. A stone fort was built at Vindolanda, possibly for the 2nd Cohort of Nervians. From 208 to 211 AD, there was a major rebellion against Rome in Britain, and the Emperor Septimius Severus led an army to Britain to cope with it personally. The old stone fort was demolished, and replaced by an unconventional set of army buildings on the west, and an unusual array of many round stone huts where the old fort had been. Some of these circular huts are visible by the north and the southwest walls of the final stone fort. The Roman army may have built these to accommodate families of British farmers in this unsettled period. Septimius Severus died at York in 211 AD; his sons paid off the rebels and left for Rome. The stone buildings were demolished, and a large new stone fort was built where the huts had been, for the 4th Cohort of Gauls.

 

A vicus, a self-governing village, developed to the west of the fort. The vicus contains several rows of buildings, each containing several one-room chambers. Most are not connected to the existing drainage system. The one that does was perhaps a butchery where, for health reasons, an efficient drain would have been important. A stone altar found in 1914 (and exhibited in the museum) proves that the settlement was officially a vicus and that it was named Vindolanda. To the south of the fort is a thermae (a large imperial bath complex), that would have been used by many of the individuals on the site. The later stone fort, and the adjoining village, remained in use until about 285 AD, when it was largely abandoned for unknown reasons.

 

About 300 AD, the fort was again rebuilt, but the vicus was not reoccupied, so most likely the area remained too unsafe for life outside the defended walls of the fort. In about 370, the fort was roughly repaired, perhaps by irregular soldiers. There is no evidence for the traditional view that Roman occupation ended suddenly in 410; it may have declined slowly.

 

In the 1930s, the house at Chesterholm where the museum is now located was purchased by archaeologist Eric Birley, who was interested in excavating the site. The excavations have been continued by his sons, Robin and Anthony, and his grandson, Andrew Birley, into the present day. They are undertaken each summer, and some of the archaeological deposits reach depths of six metres. The anoxic conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artefacts, such as 850 ink tablets and over 160 boxwood combs, that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life – military and otherwise – on the northern frontier. The study of these ink tablets shows a literacy among both the high born who there, as with the party invitation from one officer's wife to another and with soldiers and their families who send care packages with notes on the contents of the packages. A study of spindle whorls from the north-western quadrant has indicated the presence of spinners of low- and high- status in the fort in the 3rd and 4th century AD. Along with ongoing excavations (in season) and excavated remains, a full-size replica of a section of Hadrian's Wall in both stone and turf can be seen on the site. As of yet there is no reconstruction of the Vallum.

 

Nearly 2000-year-old Roman boxing gloves were uncovered at Vindolanda in 2017 by the Vindolanda Trust experts led by Dr Andrew Birley. According to the Guardian, being similar in style and function to the full-hand modern boxing gloves, these two gloves found at Vindolanda look like leather bands and date back to 120 AD. It is suggested that, based on their difference from gladiator gloves, warriors using this type of gloves had no purpose to kill each other. These gloves were probably used in a sport for promoting fighting skills. The gloves are currently displayed at Vindolanda's museum. According to Birley, they are not part of a matching pair:

 

The larger of the two gloves is cut from a single piece of leather and was folded into a pouch configuration, the extending leather at each side were slotted into one another forming a complete oval shape creating an inner hole into which a hand could still easily be inserted. The glove was packed with natural material acting as a shock absorber.

 

Recent excavations have been accompanied by new archaeological methodologies. 3-D imaging has been used to investigate the use of an ox cranium in target practice.

 

In 2021, a carved sandstone artifact was discovered a few inches below the floor of the fort. It depicts a nude warrior or deity before a horse or similar animal. Early interpretations point to the figure being of a Roman deity, perhaps of Mars or Mercury.

 

In 2023 February, a 2,000 year-old disembodied 6.3 inches long wooden phallus toy was revealed, according to the research published in the journal Antiquity.

 

In addition to the older initial findings of ink tablets, shoes and combs, several more artifacts and discoveries of note have been covered by the media. In 2017, the British newspaper The Guardian focused on a discovery of cavalry barracks that were uncovered during the excavation season that held a large number of artifacts including swords, ink tablets, textiles, arrowheads, and other military paraphernalia. Relative dating of the barracks had determined that they were built around 105 AD. The Guardian also publicized the discovery of a cache of 25 ink tablets found earlier in the 2017 season. The tablets were discovered in a trench in one of the earliest layers of the fort, dating to the 1st century AD. This discovery was considered to be the second-largest discovery of ink tablets in the world, with the first being a cache that was also discovered at Vindolanda in 1992.

 

In the 2014 excavation season, BBC ran a story about the discovery of one of the few surviving examples of a wooden toilet seat to be found in the Roman Empire. In the same year, they also recorded the discovery of the only (very old, very worn) gold coin ever to be found on the site with a mint date of 64 or 65 AD, lying in a site layer dating to the 4th century AD.

 

In 2010, the BBC announced the discovery of the remains of a child between the ages of 8 and 10 years, which was uncovered in a shallow pit in a barrack room in a position suggesting that its arms may have been bound. Further archaeological analysis indicated that it could be female. She is believed to have died about 1,800 years ago.

 

Another find publicised on the BBC website in 2006 was a bronze and silver fibula modelled with the figure of Mars, with the name Quintus Sollonius punched into its surface.

 

In 2020, archaeologists discovered a 5th-century chalice covered in religious iconography within a collapsed church structure. The images include crosses, angels, a smiling priestly figure holding a crook, fish, a whale, ships, the Greek letters chi-rho. In addition, the chalice bears scripts written in Latin, Greek, and possibly Ogham.

 

The Vindolanda site museum, also known as Chesterholm Museum, conserves and displays finds from the site. The museum is set in gardens, which include full-sized reconstructions of a Roman temple, a Roman shop, a Roman house and Northumbrian croft, all with audio presentations. Exhibits include Roman boots, shoes, armour, jewellery and coins, infrared photographs of the writing tablets and, from 2011, a small selection of the tablets themselves, on loan from the British Museum. 2011 saw the reopening of the museum at Vindolanda, and also the Roman Army Museum at Magnae Carvetiorum (Carvoran), refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the cust

Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castrum) just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it originally pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, a set of wooden leaf-tablets that were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.

 

The first post-Roman record of the ruins at Vindolanda was made by the antiquarian William Camden, in his Britannia (1586). Occasional travellers reached the site over the next two hundred years, and the accounts they left predate much of the stone-stealing that has damaged the site. The military Thermae (bath-house) was still partly roofed when Christopher Hunter visited the site in 1702. In about 1715 an excise officer named John Warburton found an altar there, which he removed. In 1814 the first real archaeological work was begun, by the Rev. Anthony Hedley.

 

Hedley died in 1835, before writing up his discoveries. Little more was done for a long time, although in 1914 a workman found another altar at the site, set up by the civilians living at the fort in honour of the Divine House and Vulcan. Several names for the site are used in the early records, including "Chesters on Caudley", "Little Chesters", "The Bower" and "Chesterholm"; the altar found in 1914 confirmed that the Roman name for the site was "Vindolanda", which had been in dispute as one early source referred to it as "Vindolana".

 

The garrison consisted of infantry or cavalry auxilia, not components of Roman legions. From the early third century, this was the Cohors IV Gallorum equitata also known as the Fourth Cohort of Gauls. It had been presumed that this title was, by this time, purely nominal, with auxiliary troops being recruited locally but an inscription found in a recent season of excavations suggests that native Gauls were still to be found in the regiment and that they liked to distinguish themselves from British soldiers. The inscription reads:

 

CIVES GALLI

DE GALLIAE

CONCORDES

QUE BRITANNI

 

A translation of this is "The troops from Gaul dedicate this statue to the goddess Gallia with the full support of the British-born troops".

 

Among the troops were Basque-speaking soldiers of the Varduli.

 

The earliest Roman forts at Vindolanda were built of wood and turf. The remains are now buried as much as 13 ft (4 m) deep in the anoxic waterlogged soil. There are five timber forts, built (and demolished) one after the other. The first, a small fort, was probably built by the 1st Cohort of Tungrians about 85 AD. By about 95 AD this was replaced by a larger wooden fort built by the 9th Cohort of Batavians, a mixed infantry-cavalry unit of about 1,000 men. That fort was repaired in about 100 AD under the command of the Roman prefect Flavius Cerialis. When the 9th Cohort of Batavians left in 105 AD, their fort was demolished. The 1st Cohort of Tungrians returned to Vindolanda, built a larger wooden fort and remained here until Hadrian's Wall was built around 122 AD, when they moved, most likely to Vercovicium (Housesteads Roman Fort) on the wall, about two miles to the north-east of Vindolanda.

 

Soon after Hadrian's Wall was built, most of its men were moved north to the Antonine Wall. A stone fort was built at Vindolanda, possibly for the 2nd Cohort of Nervians. From 208 to 211 AD, there was a major rebellion against Rome in Britain, and the Emperor Septimius Severus led an army to Britain to cope with it personally. The old stone fort was demolished, and replaced by an unconventional set of army buildings on the west, and an unusual array of many round stone huts where the old fort had been. Some of these circular huts are visible by the north and the southwest walls of the final stone fort. The Roman army may have built these to accommodate families of British farmers in this unsettled period. Septimius Severus died at York in 211 AD; his sons paid off the rebels and left for Rome. The stone buildings were demolished, and a large new stone fort was built where the huts had been, for the 4th Cohort of Gauls.

 

A vicus, a self-governing village, developed to the west of the fort. The vicus contains several rows of buildings, each containing several one-room chambers. Most are not connected to the existing drainage system. The one that does was perhaps a butchery where, for health reasons, an efficient drain would have been important. A stone altar found in 1914 (and exhibited in the museum) proves that the settlement was officially a vicus and that it was named Vindolanda. To the south of the fort is a thermae (a large imperial bath complex), that would have been used by many of the individuals on the site. The later stone fort, and the adjoining village, remained in use until about 285 AD, when it was largely abandoned for unknown reasons.

 

About 300 AD, the fort was again rebuilt, but the vicus was not reoccupied, so most likely the area remained too unsafe for life outside the defended walls of the fort. In about 370, the fort was roughly repaired, perhaps by irregular soldiers. There is no evidence for the traditional view that Roman occupation ended suddenly in 410; it may have declined slowly.

 

In the 1930s, the house at Chesterholm where the museum is now located was purchased by archaeologist Eric Birley, who was interested in excavating the site. The excavations have been continued by his sons, Robin and Anthony, and his grandson, Andrew Birley, into the present day. They are undertaken each summer, and some of the archaeological deposits reach depths of six metres. The anoxic conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artefacts, such as 850 ink tablets and over 160 boxwood combs, that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life – military and otherwise – on the northern frontier. The study of these ink tablets shows a literacy among both the high born who there, as with the party invitation from one officer's wife to another and with soldiers and their families who send care packages with notes on the contents of the packages. A study of spindle whorls from the north-western quadrant has indicated the presence of spinners of low- and high- status in the fort in the 3rd and 4th century AD. Along with ongoing excavations (in season) and excavated remains, a full-size replica of a section of Hadrian's Wall in both stone and turf can be seen on the site. As of yet there is no reconstruction of the Vallum.

 

Nearly 2000-year-old Roman boxing gloves were uncovered at Vindolanda in 2017 by the Vindolanda Trust experts led by Dr Andrew Birley. According to the Guardian, being similar in style and function to the full-hand modern boxing gloves, these two gloves found at Vindolanda look like leather bands and date back to 120 AD. It is suggested that, based on their difference from gladiator gloves, warriors using this type of gloves had no purpose to kill each other. These gloves were probably used in a sport for promoting fighting skills. The gloves are currently displayed at Vindolanda's museum. According to Birley, they are not part of a matching pair:

 

The larger of the two gloves is cut from a single piece of leather and was folded into a pouch configuration, the extending leather at each side were slotted into one another forming a complete oval shape creating an inner hole into which a hand could still easily be inserted. The glove was packed with natural material acting as a shock absorber.

 

Recent excavations have been accompanied by new archaeological methodologies. 3-D imaging has been used to investigate the use of an ox cranium in target practice.

 

In 2021, a carved sandstone artifact was discovered a few inches below the floor of the fort. It depicts a nude warrior or deity before a horse or similar animal. Early interpretations point to the figure being of a Roman deity, perhaps of Mars or Mercury.

 

In 2023 February, a 2,000 year-old disembodied 6.3 inches long wooden phallus toy was revealed, according to the research published in the journal Antiquity.

 

In addition to the older initial findings of ink tablets, shoes and combs, several more artifacts and discoveries of note have been covered by the media. In 2017, the British newspaper The Guardian focused on a discovery of cavalry barracks that were uncovered during the excavation season that held a large number of artifacts including swords, ink tablets, textiles, arrowheads, and other military paraphernalia. Relative dating of the barracks had determined that they were built around 105 AD. The Guardian also publicized the discovery of a cache of 25 ink tablets found earlier in the 2017 season. The tablets were discovered in a trench in one of the earliest layers of the fort, dating to the 1st century AD. This discovery was considered to be the second-largest discovery of ink tablets in the world, with the first being a cache that was also discovered at Vindolanda in 1992.

 

In the 2014 excavation season, BBC ran a story about the discovery of one of the few surviving examples of a wooden toilet seat to be found in the Roman Empire. In the same year, they also recorded the discovery of the only (very old, very worn) gold coin ever to be found on the site with a mint date of 64 or 65 AD, lying in a site layer dating to the 4th century AD.

 

In 2010, the BBC announced the discovery of the remains of a child between the ages of 8 and 10 years, which was uncovered in a shallow pit in a barrack room in a position suggesting that its arms may have been bound. Further archaeological analysis indicated that it could be female. She is believed to have died about 1,800 years ago.

 

Another find publicised on the BBC website in 2006 was a bronze and silver fibula modelled with the figure of Mars, with the name Quintus Sollonius punched into its surface.

 

In 2020, archaeologists discovered a 5th-century chalice covered in religious iconography within a collapsed church structure. The images include crosses, angels, a smiling priestly figure holding a crook, fish, a whale, ships, the Greek letters chi-rho. In addition, the chalice bears scripts written in Latin, Greek, and possibly Ogham.

 

The Vindolanda site museum, also known as Chesterholm Museum, conserves and displays finds from the site. The museum is set in gardens, which include full-sized reconstructions of a Roman temple, a Roman shop, a Roman house and Northumbrian croft, all with audio presentations. Exhibits include Roman boots, shoes, armour, jewellery and coins, infrared photographs of the writing tablets and, from 2011, a small selection of the tablets themselves, on loan from the British Museum. 2011 saw the reopening of the museum at Vindolanda, and also the Roman Army Museum at Magnae Carvetiorum (Carvoran), refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the cust

Castel Gandolfo, oder lateinisch Castrum Gandulphi liegt in den Albaner Bergen etwa 25 Km südöstlich von Rom am Albaner See. Hier, wo sich jetzt die Kleinstadt an einem ehemaligen Vulkankrater befindet lag die sagenumwobenen Stadt Alba Longa. Diese Stadt wurde etwa 1152 v. Chr von Ascanius, ein Sohn des Trojaners Aeneas gegründet. Die beiden Stadtgründer von Rom Romulus und Remus waren die Söhne der Rhea Silvia, einer Tochter des Alba Longa Königs Numitor Silvius.

Der dritte König Roms, Tullus Hostilius hat die Stadt 665 v. Chr. zerstört, die Bewohner verschleppt und auf dem Mons Caelius, einer der sieben Hügel Roms angesiedelt.

Das Patriziergeschlecht der Julier, von dem Cäsar abstammte kam ursprünglich aus Alba Longa.

Heute ist Castel Gandolfo der Sommersitz der Päpste.

        

Castel Gandolfo, or Latin Castrum Gandulphi located in the Alban Hills about 25 km southeast of Rome on the Alban Lake. Here, where now the town is located on a former volcanic crater was the fabled city of Alba Longa. This city was founded around 1152 BC by Ascanius, the son of the Trojan Aeneas. The two founders of the city of Rome, Romulus and Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia, daughter of the king Numitor Silvius from Alba Longa.

The third king of Rome, Tullus Hostilius has destroyed the city 665 BC, the inhabitants deported and settled on the Mons Caelius, one of the seven hills of Rome.

The patrician Julian clan, descended from the Caesar was originally from Alba Longa.

Today, Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes.

Heribert Pohl

Kaiseraugst (Switzerland) '24

 

Founded c. AD 300

Castel Gandolfo

Castel Gandolfo (IPA: /kasˈtɛl gaˈndɔlfo/[2], detto semplicemente Castello nei dialetti dei Castelli Romani, Castrum Gandulphi in latino, talvolta erroneamente indicata con il nome Castelgandolfo) è un comune italiano di 8 967 abitanti[1] della città metropolitana di Roma Capitale, nell'area dei Castelli Romani, nel Lazio. Il centro abitato fa parte del circuito dei I borghi più belli d'Italia.[3]

La città è conosciuta soprattutto per la presenza della residenza estiva dei papi, alla quale fanno corona molte altre residenze estive, ville e villini edificati a partire dal XVII secolo. Il suo territorio include quasi tutto l'arco costiero del Lago Albano, che ospita tra l'altro lo Stadio Olimpico di Canottaggio CONI.

Vi sono inoltre vari luoghi di interesse archeologico, tra cui vanno ricordati l'Emissario del Lago Albano ed i resti della villa albana di Domiziano, nonché naturalistico, dato che la zona è inclusa nel perimetro del Parco regionale dei Castelli Romani. Non mancano infine punti di interesse artistico, come la collegiata pontificia di San Tommaso da Villanova, edificata da Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Geografia FIsica

 

« Da tramontana signoreggia Marino, l'antico Tuscolo, e i monti di Tivoli; e dal mezzogiorno vagheggia Ardea ed altri luoghi, e dalla parte occidentale da per tutto poi gode la vista del mare. Confina col detto lago e monte, colla Riccia, con Albano, colla via Appia, colle Frattocchie e campagna romana. »

(Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica - Castel-Gandolfo, vol. X p. 153, Venezia 1841.)

Territorio

Il territorio del comune di Castel Gandolfo si estende in obliquo in direzione nord-nord est a cavallo tra la zona collinare dei Colli Albani e quella pianeggiante dell'Agro Romano. È incluso e tutelato dal Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani, costituito nel 1984. Il suolo è nella schiacciante totalità composto da terreni di origine vulcaniche, con prevalenza di materiali come peperino, tufo e pozzolana.

Secondo la classificazione data dal Servizio Geologico d'Italia[4] la maggior parte del territorio castellano è composto, similmente alle altre zone dei Colli Albani, da terreni classificati come v2[5]. Le coste del cratere del Laghetto di Turno a Pavona sono classificate come zona v7, ovvero prodotti di un antico centro d'emissione di lava del Vulcano Laziale; il fondo del Laghetto invece è zona av.[6] Le aree del Quarto Santa Fumia e di Villa Elvira Vaselli sono invece classificate come zone β'4.[7] I fianchi del Lago Albano, chiamati volgarmente pentime, sono geologicamente zona dt[8], mentre le spiagge del Lago stesso, caratteristiche per il loro colore nero cenere, sono definite zona a.[9] Infine, gli ultimi lembi del territorio castellano sotto Pavona verso il mar Tirreno appartengono alle zone p'2 ed sp.

Classificazione sismica: zona 2 (sismicità medio-alta)

Idrografia

La principale risorsa idrografica del territorio castellano è rappresentata dal Lago Albano, spesso chiamato impropriamente Lago di Castel Gandolfo o Lago di Albano. La superficie lacustre attualmente è gestita dall'Ente Acque Interne della provincia di Roma: in passato fu di proprietà dell'abbazia di Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, della Camera Apostolica, e del principe Stanislao Poniatowski dal 1802 fino al 1870.[14] (Vedi Lago Albano)

Dal Lago Albano in età romana, presumibilmente nel III secolo a.C. dando credito alla leggenda riferita da Tito Livio e Dionigi d'Alicarnasso, venne scavato un emissario artificiale, che parte dalla rupe sotto il Villino Manes, a circa 250 m s.l.m., poco fuori l'abitato e giunge in località Mole di Castel Gandolfo percorrendo 1800 metri in direzione sud-sud ovest. Le acque del Lago alimentavano alcune mole per la molitura del grano, che servivano alla popolazione di Castel Gandolfo ed Albano, ed alcuni lavatoi pubblici.

Poco più a valle della località Mole, c'è il Laghetto di Turno, un antico cratere vulcanico successivamente riempitosi d'acqua, di dimensioni più piccole rispetto ai vicini laghi vulcanici come Albano, Vallericcia e Nemi. Il Laghetto[15], ridottosi ad una palude malsana, venne bonificato attorno al 1611 su ordine di papa Paolo V con la sovraintendenza del cardinale Giacomo Serra.[16]

Ai confini con i territori di Marino e di Roma, scorre il fosso dei Preti, che si origina in territorio marinese in località Quarto della Tribuna, a 163 m s.l.m.. Un altro fosso che si origina da acque castellane è il fosso de' Picelli, che scorre verso Pomezia.

Orografia

L'altitudine massima che si registra nel territorio castellano è 425 m s.l.m., presso il Collegio di Propaganda Fide attiguo a Villa Barberini. Sempre sulla corona di alture attorno al cratere del Lago Albano, si ha quota 400 m s.l.m., altezza della cima di Monte Cucco, ai confini con Marino. Poco più in basso al chilometro 24 della Strada statale 216 Maremmana III si contano 394 m s.l.m., e all'incrocio tra la Strada statale 140 del Lago di Albano e la Strada statale 216 Maremmana III, in prossimità dell'ingresso principale della Villa Pontificia, si misurano 392 m s.l.m.. Poco più in basso, a 388 m s.l.m., c'è la Stazione di Castel Gandolfo, sulla ferrovia Roma-Albano poco sotto il centro storico, a picco sul Lago Albano. Infine, 381 m s.l.m. è l'altitudine di Villa Elvira Vaselli, su un colle prossimo ai confini di Marino lungo la Strada statale 216 Maremmana III.

Lungo la direttrice della Strada statale 7 Via Appia le altitudini da nord-ovest a sud-est sono le seguenti: al Cimitero di Castel Gandolfo, chilometro 22,5, l'altitudine è 306 m s.l.m.; al chilometro 23 presso la località Ercolano 335 m s.l.m.; alla Stazione di Albano Villetta 330 m s.l.m..

Verso il mar Tirreno, il terreno degrada dolcemente: così dai 250 m s.l.m. del Casale Santa Cristina, sotto Castel Savello ai confini con Albano, si passa ai 217 m s.l.m. di Colle Lilli, ai 200 m s.l.m. di Valle Pozzo, ai 155 m s.l.m. del Quarto Santa Fumia ai confini con Marino e Roma, ai 130 m s.l.m. del Laghetto di Turno, e alla quota più bassa del territorio che è 101 m s.l.m., nella frazione di Pavona.

Clima

Dal punto di vista climatico il territorio rientra nel dominio del clima temperato mediterraneo con inverni miti, temperature autunnali superiori a quelle primaverili, estati ventilate. Nell'area dei Colli Albani, dunque anche a Castel Gandolfo, si presenta il fenomeno detto stau, che consiste nella riduzione del vapore acqueo nelle nuvole man mano che il terreno si alza. Perciò la piovosità maggiore si avrà sulle prime alture dei colli, rivolte verso il mare, verso sud sud-ovest, e la minore verso nord. Castel Gandolfo, trovandosi sulla traiettoria delle correnti umide tirreniche, risulta discretamente piovosa con 900mm annui di precipitazioni.[17]. I venti spirano prevalentemente da sud e da ovest, più raramente da nord e da est.

Normalmente la zona è battuta da venti di scirocco non di rado molto forti e libeccio, ma talvolta compare anche il ponentino, vento caratteristico della zona di Roma. Durante l'inverno invece si ha la presenza di tramontana e grecale, il primo proveniente dalla vasta pianura dell'Agro Romano.

L'estate è calda e asciutta, l'inverno mite e piovoso senza, in genere, che vengano raggiunte temperatura eccessivamente basse. A Castel Gandolfo nevica piuttosto raramente e solo in presenza di un freddo generalizzato marcato. In estate le temperature possono raggiungere i 35 °C con punte di 37 °C in casi rari. La zona del Lago, posta oltre 100 metri più in basso dell'abitato, seppur mitigata dalla mole d'acqua è probabilmente più fredda ed umida del paese.

Dall'aprile 1995 a tutto il 2001 è stata attiva una stazione pluviometrica dell'Ufficio Idrografico di Roma[18] a quota 436 metri che ha registrato i valori che seguono di pioggia; per quanto riguarda temperature e venti non è possibile utilizzare le rilevazioni di stazioni vicine come Ariccia Catena che risentono troppo del fenomeno dell'inversione termica per essere paragonabili. Dal novembre 2011 è attiva una stazione meteo sul lato ovest del Lago a quota 295 metri

Storia

Medioevo (476-1604)

Il territorio di Castel Gandolfo, incluso nella Massa Caesariana, divenne poi proprietà probabilmente dei Conti di Tuscolo e agli inizi dell'XI secolo risulta in parte dell'abbazia di Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, e quindi della famiglia di origine genovese dei Gandolfi, che eressero il Castrum che porta ancora oggi il loro nome.

Nel 1221 il castello divenne possesso dei Savelli, che lo affittarono nel 1389 ai Capizzucchi. Tuttavia, nel 1436 il castello era nuovamente in pieno controllo dei Savelli, perché il cardinal Giovanni Maria Vitelleschi lo rase al suolo insieme al Borghetto di Grottaferrata, ad Albano e a Castel Savello. Nel 1482 papa Sisto IV concesse il possesso di Castel Gandolfo alla Comunità di Velletri, che era stata danneggiata dai Savelli, i quali tuttavia rientrarono quattro anni dopo in possesso del feudo.

Papa Sisto V (1585-1590) elevò Castel Gandolfo al grado di Ducato in favore di Bernardino Savelli. Ciò nonostante, a causa dell'insolvenza dei Savelli nel pagamento di ingenti debiti, la Camera Apostolica pignorò il 30 giugno 1596 il feudo alla famiglia. Papa Clemente VIII incluse poi lo stesso castello il 27 maggio 1604 nella lista dei beni della Santa Sede non alienabili, ovvero che non potevano essere ceduti.

Età moderna (1604-1870)

Sotto il nuovo governo della Camera Apostolica, sedente papa Paolo V, vennero iniziati importanti lavori pubblici: venne bonificato infatti il Laghetto di Turno (1611), con la conduttura nel castello di acqua proveniente dalle alture di Malafitto e Palazzolo, e venne fondato il convento dei PP. Francescani Riformati (1619).

Papa Urbano VIII (1623-1644) nel 1628 fu il primo Papa che soggiornò a Castel Gandolfo, nella villa che si era fatto costruire da cardinale: grazie al suo interessamento, vennero realizzate la Galleria di Sopra e la Galleria di Sotto, strade che collegano Castel Gandolfo ad Albano, così chiamate per via della fitta vegetazione che le fiancheggiava.[24] La prima Bolla emanata da un Papa ex Arce Gandulphi fu scritta appunto da papa Urbano VIII il 25 ottobre 1626.

Al tempo di papa Alessandro VII (1655-1667), vennero eseguiti nuovi lavori, che videro tra l'altro la messa in opera della strada fino che conduce a Palazzolo costeggiando i dirupi del Lago Albano, chiamata in antico appunto via Alessandrina, la sistemazione del Palazzo Pontificio (1660) e l'edificazione della collegiata di San Tommaso da Villanova (1658-1661) su progetto dell'architetto Gian Lorenzo Bernini, autore sempre per conto di papa Alessandro VII e della famiglia Chigi della Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta nella vicina Ariccia.

Il 24 settembre 1728 il governo di Castel Gandolfo venne concesso pro tempore da papa Benedetto XIII con la Bolla Aequitatis al Maggiordomo dei Sacri Palazzi.[25]

Papa Benedetto XIV (1740-1758) fu molto assiduo nelle visite a Castel Gandolfo, facendo erigere il campaniletto sulla facciata principale del Palazzo Pontificio e ammettendo per la prima volta le dame locali al bacio del piede al Papa durante la villeggiatura.[26] Inoltre, nel 1740 fece allargare la strada che conduce a Marino, oggi Strada statale 216 Maremmana III.

All'ingresso dei soldati francesi a Roma nel febbraio 1798, il 18 febbraio 1798 Albano istituì la Repubblica Albanense, affiliata alla Repubblica Romana (1798-1799), assieme a Frascati, Velletri e Marino. In questa situazione, Castel Gandolfo venne unita alla municipalità di Albano, ma il 21 febbraio i castellani insorsero contro i francesi insieme ad altri abitanti dei Castelli Romani. I contro-rivoluzionari vennero sconfitti manu militari dai francesi di Gioacchino Murat alleati con i marinesi ed i frascatani rimasti fedeli alla Francia, nella battaglia di Frattocchie o di Castel Gandolfo (24 febbraio 1798), in seguito alla quale i francesi misero a sacco il Palazzo Pontificio.

Con il ritorno di papa Pio VII, Castel Gandolfo venne restituita al governo del Maggiordomo dei Sacri Palazzi e tale situazione perdurò fino al settembre 1870. Papa Gregorio XVI (1831-1846) fu particolarmente frequente nei suoi soggiorni a Castel Gandolfo, tanto che Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli ironizzò nei suoi Sonetti che andasse al Lago Albano a pescacce 'e tinche pe'r digiuno.

Il 23 novembre 1820 il consigliere comunale Angelo Antonio Iacorossi ebbe l'idea di far collocare in piazza della Libertà la prima cassetta postale del mondo, che ancora oggi si può trovare in quel punto.

L'Unità d'Italia (1870-2000)

Il 20 settembre 1870 con la presa di Porta Pia e l'ingresso dei bersaglieri a Roma finiva ufficialmente lo Stato Pontificio. Papa Pio IX, che aveva lasciato l'ultima volta Castel Gandolfo nel maggio 1869[27], e i suoi successori fino al 1929 non misero più piede nel Palazzo Pontificio.

Nelle Legge delle Guarentigie del 18 maggio 1871, rifiutate da papa Pio IX come inutili e futili proposte volgarmente dette guarentigie, verrà tuttavia prevista l'extra-territorialità del Palazzo Pontificio con attinenze e dipendenze.[28]

L'11 febbraio 1929, con la stipula dei Patti Lateranensi, Benito Mussolini concesse al nascente Stato della Città del Vaticano il possesso del Palazzo Pontificio con le attigue ville, per un totale di quarantaquattro ettari. Area che appartiene, però, allo Stato italiano, con la servitù dell'extraterritorialità.

Nel 1933 all'interno del Palazzo Pontificio venne installato l'Osservatorio Astronomico Pontificio, spostato dal Vaticano per via della troppa luce artificiale di Roma. Nel gennaio 2008 è stato annunciato che, in seguito al peggioramento della visibilità anche nei Castelli Romani, l'Osservatorio sarà spostato negli Stati Uniti d'America.

Durante la seconda guerra mondiale Il 22 gennaio 1944 gli anglo-americani effettuarono lo sbarco ad Anzio portando i Castelli Romani in prima linea negli scontri. Il 1º febbraio vennero bombardate Ariccia ed Albano Laziale, con la distruzione del locale convento delle Clarisse posto ai margini della tenuta pontificia ed il bilancio di 16 religiose uccise; il 2 febbraio venne colpita Marino con varie centinaia di vittime; infine il 10 febbraio i bombardamenti anglo-americani colpirono nel territorio castellano il Collegio di Propaganda Fide causando 500 vittime civili. (Vedi Bombardamento di Propaganda Fide) Infatti nell'area extra-territoriale delle Ville Pontificie si rifugiarono durante tutto il periodo bellico circa 12.000 bisognosi e vi nacquero circa quaranta bambini.[29] (Vedi Castelli Romani durante la seconda guerra mondiale)

Il 19 settembre 1994 l'allora Presidente della Repubblica Italiana Oscar Luigi Scalfaro concesse al Comune di Castel Gandolfo il titolo di Città.

Monumenti e luoghi d'interesse

Architetture religiose

Collegiata pontificia di San Tommaso da Villanova; edificata al posto dell'antica chiesa Parrocchiale di San Nicola, venne iniziata a costruire nel 1658 per interessamento di papa Alessandro VII, su progetto dell'architetto Gian Lorenzo Bernini. I lavori terminarono nel 1661.

Chiesa della Madonna del Lago; voluta personalmente da papa Paolo VI, venne consacrata dallo stesso Papa nel 1977 sulle rive del Lago Albano.

Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta[33]; la sua costruzione venne iniziata nel 1619 con la consacrazione della prima pietra da parte di papa Paolo V. Originariamente vi erano installati i PP. Francescani Riformati, in seguito però vi è stata una sede della Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, tragicamente bombardata dagli anglo-americani il 10 febbraio 1944.

Chiesa di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice; di costruzione moderna, sorge nel popoloso quartiere di Borgo San Paolo, verso la Strada statale 7 Via Appia. Annesso alla chiesa vi è la Sala-Teatro "Ugo Bazzi".

Chiesa di San Sebastiano; dedicata al santo patrono della città e situata sulla Strada statale 7 Via Appia, al chilometro 23, è la chiesa adiacente al Cimitero Comunale.

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Cona.

Architetture civili

Palazzo Pontificio; edificato a partire dal 1628 su iniziativa di papa Urbano VIII e progetto di Carlo Maderno sulla preesistente struttura dell'antico Castrum Gandulphorum, il castello feudale che era stato dei Gandolfi e dei Savelli. L'attuale aspetto gli venne conferito nel 1660 al tempo di papa Alessandro VII. Gli ultimi lavori risalgono al 1930, dopo i Patti Lateranensi. Al suo interno è notevole la Cappella Privata, che ospita un'immagine della Madonna del Santuario di Częstochowa.

Ville Pontificie; la proprietà pontificia, che gode dell'extra-territorialità ed è possesso dello Santa Sede, è composta in realtà da tre parti storicamente ben distinte:

Giardini Pontifici o del Moro; costituiscono il nucleo storico originario della Villa Pontificia, poiché furono organizzati al tempo della primitiva residenza di papa Urbano VIII sul retro del Palazzo Pontificio, sul sito dell'antica villa del cardinal Visconti.

Villa Cybo; edificata dal cardinal Camillo Cybo, venne annessa al complesso delle Ville Pontificie al tempo di papa Clemente XIV che l'acquistò nel 1774 dal proprietario dell'epoca, il duca di Modena, per la somma di 80.000 scudi.

Villa Barberini; costruita dal nipote di papa Urbano VIII, Maffeo Barberini, è stata inglobata nel complesso extra-territoriale delle Ville Pontificie solo nel 1929: ospita la sede castellana del Collegio estivo di Propaganda Fide. Nell'ambito dei suoi estesi giardini all'italiana è ubicata, come di seguito precisato, buona parte degli esistenti resti del complesso costruito dall'imperatore romano Domiziano;

Palazzo Cybo; edificato plausibilmente assieme all'omonima villa dal cardinal Cybo, attualmente ne è separato dalla Strada statale 216 Maremmana III. È un bel palazzotto con prospetto su strada, dal notevole portale marmoreo sorretto da sei colonnine.

Villa Santa Caterina; attualmente di proprietà del Pontificio Collegio Nord-Americano, sotto le costruzioni di questa imponente villa situata in località Ercolano sono stati rinvenuti i famosi ruderi romani della villa attribuita a Publio Clodio Pulcro.

Villa Torlonia; edificata nel XVI secolo dalla famiglia romana dei Giustiniani, passò quindi in proprietà del duca di Bracciano Giuseppe Torlonia. L'attuale aspetto è dovuto ai restauri del 1829, finanziati dal duca Carlo Torlonia. La villa gode di un bellissimo panorama sull'Agro Romano.

Villa Chigi; costruita dal cardinal Flavio Chigi, nipote di papa Alessandro VII, nel cratere prosciugato del Laghetto di Turno presso Pavona, oggi è la sede di un circolo di golf.

Siti archeologici

Villa di Publio Clodio Pulcro; si tratta dei resti di una villa romana di età repubblicana situata al XIV miglio della via Appia, chilometro 23 della Strada statale 7 Via Appia, all'interno di Villa Santa Caterina, di proprietà del Pontificio Collegio Nord-Americano. Viene identificato, forse a torto, con la villa del tribuno Publio Clodio Pulcro, situata secondo quanto afferma Marco Tullio Cicerone nell'area dell'antica Alba Longa. In prossimità di questa sua villa Clodio venne ucciso dai sicari dell'avversario politico Tito Annio Milone, nell'agosto del 54 a.C. Della villa resta il diverticolo lastricato d'accesso, parte del portico in peperino, e tutto il corpo nord-ovest, datato al II secolo a.C. L'intera costruzione è in blocchetti di tufo a piccoli scapoli, tecnica costruttiva tipica dell'età repubblicana.

Villa albana di Domiziano; si tratta dei resti monumentali della villa romana di età imperiale fatta edificare da Tito Flavio Domiziano (81-96), collocati in massima parte all'interno di Villa Barberini, nell'area extra-territoriale delle Ville Pontificie. La villa consisteva in un enorme complesso che si sviluppava su tre terrazzamenti lunghi circa 500 metri ciascuno. Il quartiere residenziale, di proporzioni enormi e scarsamente conservato, si articolava attorno a tre cortili, ed era circondato da alcuni ninfei che affacciavano sul Viale dei Ninfei, da un criptoportico, da un teatro e da un circo. Il teatro, parzialmente conservato, era del diametro di 50 metri e ornato da sculture marmoree. Molte parti della villa che oggi sono visibili vennero messe in luce nel 1929 con i lavori di risistemazioni della Ville voluti da papa Pio XI a seguito dei Patti Lateranensi. Presso il circo della villa si tenevano faraoniche venationes, giochi di caccia, e anche feste in onore di Demetra. Si discute se parte delle strutture della villa fosse anche il ninfeo romano oggi Santuario di Santa Maria della Rotonda nel centro di Albano Laziale. Sicuramente, l'approvvigionamento idrico del complesso era fornito da due acquedotti provenienti da Palazzolo in comune di Rocca di Papa e Malafitto in comune di Ariccia, che affluivano in tre monumentali cisterne, di cui la più grande delle dimensioni di 57.70x10.95 metri.

Ninfeo dorico; si conserva sulle rive del Lago Albano, e risale al I secolo a.C., tanto che non si esclude possa aver fatto parte delle strutture della Villa di Clodio. Scavato nella roccia, è un ambiente rettangolare con volta a botte e due file di nicchie su due piani: al primo piano undici, al secondo sette. Nel ninfeo giungeva l'acqua attraverso una canalizzazione scavata nella roccia soprastante.

Ninfeo del Bergantino o dei Bagni di Diana; sulle rive occidentali del Lago Albano, due chilometri dopo il ninfeo dorico, questa struttura, originariamente annessa alla villa di Domiziano, si apre in una grotta circolare di 17 metri di diametro. Al centro della grotta c'è una vasca, e il pavimento era completamente rivestito a mosaici, di cui restano pochi frammenti. Sono state trovate nel ninfeo, che si proponeva come una copia della grotta-ninfeo di Tiberio a Sperlonga, varie parti di gruppi scultorei, ora conservati presso il Palazzo Pontificio di Castel Gandolfo.

Emissario del Lago Albano; condotto artificiale di deflusso delle acque lungo 1800 metri che si origina dalla costa occidentale del Lago Albano e sfocia poi in località Mole di Castel Gandolfo. Venne edificato secondo la tradizione nel 396 a.C. per sciogliere una profezia riguardo alla conquista di Veio.

Villaggio delle Macine

Ricerca

Dal 1935 all'interno del Palazzo Pontificio è stata spostata la Specola Vaticana, l'osservatorio astronomico del Vaticano. Fondato nel 1891 da papa Leone XIII con sede nei Giardini Vaticani, venne cambiato di locazione a causa della crescente difficoltà ad avere una buona visibilità nel cielo di Roma, inquinato da un numero sempre maggiore di luci artificiali. Da Castel Gandolfo gli scienziati della Specola ottennero sostanziosi risultati: nel 1946 il gesuita di origini olandesi Mattieu Timmers (1907-1954) scoprì una cometa che porta oggi il suo nome; nel 1955 anche la Specola collaborò alla redazione della Carta del Cielo. Dal 1993 la Specola ha aperto una succursale negli Stati Uniti d'America, sul Monte Graham in Arizona (3200 m s.l.m.): questo osservatorio, operativo dal 1995, ospita per dieci mesi l'anno i dieci gesuiti astronomi, che per i restanti due mesi dell'anno soggiornano a Castel Gandolfo.

Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.

di Jean Louis Philippe Coignet;

Raccolta Foto de Alvariis;

Boat Street Antibes French Riviera Rue du Bateau Antibes

Picasso Museum Place Mariejol 06600 Antibes

opened

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Based on the ancient acropolis of the Greek city of Antipolis, Roman castrum, residence of the bishops of the Middle Ages (from 442-1385), the Grimaldi castle was inhabited from 1385 by the Monegasque family who gave it its name. King became mansion of the governor, then from 1792, City Hall, the building is transformed into a barracks in 1820, marking the taking possession of the premises by military engineers until 1924.

 

PicassoProfessor of French, Greek and Latin at Lycee Carnot in Cannes, Romuald Dor de la Souchère began in 1923 archaeological research in Antibes. On March 29, 1924, the Dor Souchère created the company of friends who Antibes museum is to establish a historical and archaeological museum and to work to publicize the history of the region.

 

In 1925, the Grimaldi castle was bought by the city of Antibes and becomes the first to Grimaldi museum curator, Romuald Dor de la Souchère. In September 1945, Pablo Picasso went to Grimaldi museum in 1946, Romuald Dor de la Souchère asked him to use part of the castle as a workshop.

Picasso ....

 

Picasso, enthusiastic, works at the castle and created numerous works, drawings and paintings. Following his stay in 1946, Pablo Picasso left on deposit at the Antibes 23 paintings and 44 drawings. Among the most famous paintings: La Joie de vivre, Satyr, centaur fauna and trident, Slimer The sea urchin, sea urchin Woman, Still life with owl and three urchins, The Goat ...

 

The September 22, 1947 saw the official opening of the Picasso room on the first floor, together with a first hooking works of Antibes.

The September 7, 1948, an exhibition confirms the significant enrichment of 78 ceramics workshop conducted in Madura Vallauris.

On September 13, 1949, on the occasion of the inauguration of the "French Paintings" exhibition, new rooms devoted to paintings, ceramics and drawings by Picasso are open to the public. And December 27, 1966, the city of Antibes makes new tribute to Pablo Picasso and Grimaldi Castle officially became the Picasso Museum, the first museum dedicated to the artist. Finally, in 1991, the giving Jacqueline Picasso authorizes a new enrichment of Picasso collections.

 

... To Nicolas de Stael

 

Picasso1The works of Nicolas de Staël also presented in the museum bear witness to the painter's stay in Antibes, from September 1954 to March 1955. A first donation made by his widow to the Picasso museum after the exhibition devoted to the artist in 1955 and from 1982, the city acquired important works of his last period.

 

To modern art

 

In 2001, a donation made by Hans Hartung Foundation and Anna-Eva Bergman allows the opening of two rooms, the ground floor of the museum. A permanent attachment offers a journey in the work of each of these artists.

 

Finally, the modern art collection, begun in 1951 by Dor La Souchère was created from exceptional donations from the artists. Important artists from the mainstream art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are represented: Arman, Atlan, Balthus, Ben, Bioules, Bloch, Buraglio, Bury, Calder, Cane, Castellas, Caesar, Chillida, Clavé, Combas, Cornelius , Crotti, Debre, Dezeuze, Ernst, Gleizes, Goetz, Hantaï, Hartung, Jaccard, Klein, Leppien, Magnelli, Malaval Mansouroff, Mathieu, Meurice, Modigliani, Music, Picabia, Pincemin, Raynaud, Raysse, Sarkis, Spoerri, Viallat ...

 

Cathedral of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception

1 Rue du Saint-Esprit

06600 Antibes

The Notre-Dame-de-la-Platea is the former cathedral of the Diocese of Antibes and the largest church in the city of Antibes , in Alpes-Maritimes ( France ). Its doors, the xviii th century, are the work of sculptor Joseph Dolle Antibes.

History

The Cathedral was destroyed by the Saracens in 1124 and rebuilt in 1125. The facade was damaged in 1746 and restored by Louis XV with funds from the Royal cassette. The door made ​​in 1710 by Joseph Dolle a Antibois includes figurines of St. Roch and St. Sebastian, which are both protective of Antibes. Inside are the altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary, painted in 1515, a marble Virgin of the xix th century, a baptismal font xvi e , a wooden Christ of 1447, lying in a wood xvi th century, the baptismal font from 1772 and a 1860 organ master Jungh.

 

Chronology

 

442

Saint Hermaire, monk of the Abbey of Lérins is the first bishop.

5th century

A cathedral is now at the foot of the Roman castrum. The second bishop of Antibes Valerius is murdered.

476

Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

6th century

Construction of a new cathedral whose remains are visible in the chapel of the Holy Spirit.

9th century

Rodoard family takes possession of the diocese.

1113

Election of the Bishop Manfred, former monk of Lérins monastery.

1124

Incursion of barbarian. They destroy the cathedral. All that remains of the previous cathedral a wall element near the Chapel of the Rosary.

1125

The Count of Provence Raimond Beranger made a significant donation to the Bishop Manfred to rebuild the cathedral.

1155

An act mentions the cloister of the canons.

1155 - 1181

The bishops get the counts of Provence suzerainty of all property held by the family of Grasse.

late 12th century early 13th century

Construction of the present cathedral with three naves. The plan of the Romanesque cathedral is similar to the churches of the order of Chalais, particularly in Valbonne located between Antibes and Grasse. Construction of the tower-hut 40 m high before the church.

1208 - 1237

The Count of Provence gives the bishop all the useful field.

1244

The bishop's seat was transferred to Grasse. From 1244 to 1385, the Apostolic Vicariate dependent on the bishopric of Grasse.

1385

Construction of the chapel of the Holy Spirit against the north side of the church for the White Penitents on the remains of the ancient cathedral of the 6th century. Excavations have revealed the remains of the 5th century cathedral.

1385 - 1732

The Apostolic Vicariate of Antibes depends on the Holy See. It becomes a collegiate diocesis nullius.

1593

Consecration of the chapel of the Holy Spirit.

1608

King Henry IV bought the city to the Grimaldi family. The cathedral is rebuilt.

1710

The portal is run by Jacques Dolle.

1746

The cathedral suffered extensive damage during a bombing of the city during the war of succession of Austria.

18th century

Construction of the four bays of the nave, aisles and the current facade.

1848

The Romanesque facade was modernized in Italian style.

 

Saracen Towers in Antibes

 

The tower near the cathedral housing the bells , 40 meters high

 

Located on the town walls of Antibes, the towers "said Saracen" which dates back to the eleventh and early twelfth century, had a protective role for the city of Antibes.

Indeed the devastating Saracen invasions forced the city to protect themselves.

One of the towers; next to the cathedral measures 40 meters high and houses the cathedral bells said.

Her neighbor is integrated into the Picasso Museum overlooking the waterfront.

To access either pass by the old city and the Provencal market or Promenade Admiral de Grasse, and mounted the Souchère Dor (near the cathedral).

Piglio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers.It has been identified with the ancient Roman Capitulum, a Hernican town. Its area was the seat of several Roman patrician towns.In 1088 it is mentioned as Castrum Pileum; according to a legend, the name would stem from the Latin pileum, the helmet of Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. In that period it depended from the bishop of Anagni and, from the late 12th century, it was first a fief of the De Pileo and then of the De Antiochia families. In 1347 it was captured by Cola di Rienzo and, from the late 14th century, it was under the Colonna family, who held it until 1816. In 1656 the town was decimated by plague.

Piglio became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1870. During World War II, it was bombed by Allied planes, with c. 30% of the edifices destroyed.

 

Piglio è un comune di 4.771 abitanti in provincia di Frosinone.Il paese si trova in posizione panoramica su una propaggine del monte Scalambra tra le valli dei fiumi Sacco e Aniene. Interessante il patrimonio naturalistico e storico-culturale.Inoltre diviso in due parti:piglio alto e romagnano.Il territorio era abitato da popolazioni erniche e potrebbe forse essere identificato con il Capitulum Hernicum o Hernicorum di cui parla Strabone, collocandolo tra Olibanum (Olevano) e Anagnia (Anagni). La zona fu in seguito conquistata dai Romani e fu sede di diverse ville rustiche di cui si conservano resti ("villa di Mecenate" nella località "Le Fattora", "villa di Sant'Eligio", villa della località "Fontana di Grano").Con il nome di Castrum Pileum è citato in un documento del 1088 e secondo una leggenda il nome deriverebbe dal pileum, l'elmo romano che sarebbe caduto per un forte vento al condottiero Quinto Fabio Massimo il Temporeggiatore mentre passava nel territorio.Nell'XI secolo dipendeva dal vescovo di Anagni e dalla fine del XII secolo fu in possesso prima dei De Pileo (o "Buccaporco"), probabilmente imparentati con i Caetani, e poi dei De Antiochia. Nel 1347 fu preso da Cola di Rienzo, Passò quindi alla fine del XIV secolo in possesso dei Colonna, che lo mantennero fino al 1816. Saccheggiato nel 1526 dalle truppe di papa Clemente VII, e dalla metà del XVI secolo era inserito nella provincia di "Campagna Marittima" dello Stato Pontificio. Nel 1656 la popolazione venne decimata da una pestilenza, che secondo la leggenda fu arrestata dalla miracolosa immagine della "Madonna delle Rose".Nel 1799 il paese subì distruzioni ad opera delle truppe francesi. Ritornato allo Stato Pontificio fece parte del "distretto di Tivoli". Nel 1849 vi passò Giuseppe Garibaldi, diretto alla difesa della Repubblica Romana. Dopo la presa di Roma nel 1870 fu annesso al Regno di Italia e fece parte del "mandamento" di Paliano nel "circondario" di Frosinone, che apparteneva alla allora provincia di Roma, unica per il Lazio. Agli inizi del XX secolo fu attraversato dalla ferrovia a scattamento ridotto che metteva in comunicazione Roma e Frosinone. Nel 1926 venne eretto il Municipio e nel 1927 entrò a far parte della provincia di Frosinone. Durante la seconda guerra mondiale e la liberazione dall'occupazione tedesca, fu bombardato dagli Alleati nel 1944, con la distruzione di circa il 30% degli edifici.Lo sperone roccioso è dominato nella parte più alta dal Castello Colonna, le cui origini risalgono probabilmente agli inizi dell'XI secolo. Il castello è suddiviso in una parte alta ("Palatium superiore"), costruita su una spianata alla sommità della collina e comprendente, secondo le antiche descrizioni, la rocca con una loggia, una cisterna, la piazza d'armi (platea curiae) e il palazzo baronale con salone di rappresentanza. Da qui si scendeva, superando un dislivello di circa 25 m, alla parte bassa (Palatium inferius o "Castellutium, con una corte su cui prospettavano camere ornate da pitture. Il castello controllava la strada di accesso agli Altipiani di Arcinazzo.

Della rocca superiore restano un torrione quadrato e un muro di cinta difeso da torri verso nord, mentre dagli edifici sul lato sud, a due piani si scende nella piazza dell'"Arringo". Attualmente vi è ospitato l'Antiquarium, comunale. Da esso si scendeva mediante una scala all'"Arringo". La parte bassa, risalente probabilmente agli inizi dell XIV secolo si sviluppa attualmente in una costruzione a due piani, con sistemazione esterna dovuta ad un rimaneggiamento ottocentesco e protegge la porta principale di accesso. L'"arco della Fontana che si apre nella parte inferiore del vecchio castello verso il paese è fiancheggiata da una trifora tardo-romanica.Il paese ("Borgo") si sviluppa sulla parte restante del rilievo: le case stesse costruite sui margini verso il dirupo ne costituiscono la struttura difensiva. La pianta assume la tipica forma "a fuso", con la via principale (via Maggiore" e "via dell'Arringo") che ne forma l'asse tra la "porta del Pei" di ingresso al paese e il castello.

La chiesa collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore o dell'Assunta, risalente alla fine del XIII secolo fu in gran parte distrutta dai bombardamenti del 1944 e ricostruita nel dopoguerra nelle forme originarie baroccheggianti: conserva su un fianco i resti dell'ogiva di un antico portale. Ha tre navate presenta la facciata con un rosone e chiusa da due campanili gemelli. Da maggio a ottobre vi viene conservata la statua della "Madonna delle Rose", che viene riportata in processione al suo santuario il 30 ottobre, anniversario della liberazione di Piglio dalla peste.

Il santuario della "Madonna delle Rose" o della "Madre Santissima" fu edificato nel XVII secolo intorno alla miracolosa icona bizantina (un affresco del XIV secolo), a cui si attribuisce il miracolo di aver arrestato la peste del 1656.La chiesa di San Rocco presenta un affresco quattrocentesco che raffigura la "Madonna, san Lorenzo, sant'Antonio Abate e altri santi".Il convento francescano di San Lorenzo venne fondato secondo la leggenda dallo stesso San Francesco in viaggio verso Subiaco, su un terreno donato dal cardinale Giovanni Colonna, vescovo di Sabina nel 1215. La chiesa di San Lorenzo, del XV secolo, su edificio forse precedente e con annessa cappella dedicata al beato Andrea Conti, venne ricostruita a pianta ellittica nel 1773 dall'architetto Giuseppe Ferroni, ma era in abbandono nel 1873. Subì gravi danni nel terremoto del 1915 e per i bombardamenti del 1944 e fu quindi ricostruita secondo le forme originarie nel 1954. Da qui si accede alla grotta in cui era vissuto in romitaggio il beato Andrea Conti, morto nel 1302.Il convento francescano di San Giovanni fu eretto nel 1620 presso una chiesa già nominata come esistente nel XIII secolo, rifatta nel 1632. Chiesa e convento abbandonati in seguito alla soppressione degli ordini religiosi nel 1870 e danneggiati in seguito al terremoto del 1915, furono restaurati nel 1923 e nuovamente distrutti nel 1944 dai bombardamenti. Gli attuali edifici furono ricostruiti in forme moderne tra il 1949 e il 1951.

 

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Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castrum) just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it originally pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, a set of wooden leaf-tablets that were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.

 

The first post-Roman record of the ruins at Vindolanda was made by the antiquarian William Camden, in his Britannia (1586). Occasional travellers reached the site over the next two hundred years, and the accounts they left predate much of the stone-stealing that has damaged the site. The military Thermae (bath-house) was still partly roofed when Christopher Hunter visited the site in 1702. In about 1715 an excise officer named John Warburton found an altar there, which he removed. In 1814 the first real archaeological work was begun, by the Rev. Anthony Hedley.

 

Hedley died in 1835, before writing up his discoveries. Little more was done for a long time, although in 1914 a workman found another altar at the site, set up by the civilians living at the fort in honour of the Divine House and Vulcan. Several names for the site are used in the early records, including "Chesters on Caudley", "Little Chesters", "The Bower" and "Chesterholm"; the altar found in 1914 confirmed that the Roman name for the site was "Vindolanda", which had been in dispute as one early source referred to it as "Vindolana".

 

The garrison consisted of infantry or cavalry auxilia, not components of Roman legions. From the early third century, this was the Cohors IV Gallorum equitata also known as the Fourth Cohort of Gauls. It had been presumed that this title was, by this time, purely nominal, with auxiliary troops being recruited locally but an inscription found in a recent season of excavations suggests that native Gauls were still to be found in the regiment and that they liked to distinguish themselves from British soldiers. The inscription reads:

 

CIVES GALLI

DE GALLIAE

CONCORDES

QUE BRITANNI

 

A translation of this is "The troops from Gaul dedicate this statue to the goddess Gallia with the full support of the British-born troops".

 

Among the troops were Basque-speaking soldiers of the Varduli.

 

The earliest Roman forts at Vindolanda were built of wood and turf. The remains are now buried as much as 13 ft (4 m) deep in the anoxic waterlogged soil. There are five timber forts, built (and demolished) one after the other. The first, a small fort, was probably built by the 1st Cohort of Tungrians about 85 AD. By about 95 AD this was replaced by a larger wooden fort built by the 9th Cohort of Batavians, a mixed infantry-cavalry unit of about 1,000 men. That fort was repaired in about 100 AD under the command of the Roman prefect Flavius Cerialis. When the 9th Cohort of Batavians left in 105 AD, their fort was demolished. The 1st Cohort of Tungrians returned to Vindolanda, built a larger wooden fort and remained here until Hadrian's Wall was built around 122 AD, when they moved, most likely to Vercovicium (Housesteads Roman Fort) on the wall, about two miles to the north-east of Vindolanda.

 

Soon after Hadrian's Wall was built, most of its men were moved north to the Antonine Wall. A stone fort was built at Vindolanda, possibly for the 2nd Cohort of Nervians. From 208 to 211 AD, there was a major rebellion against Rome in Britain, and the Emperor Septimius Severus led an army to Britain to cope with it personally. The old stone fort was demolished, and replaced by an unconventional set of army buildings on the west, and an unusual array of many round stone huts where the old fort had been. Some of these circular huts are visible by the north and the southwest walls of the final stone fort. The Roman army may have built these to accommodate families of British farmers in this unsettled period. Septimius Severus died at York in 211 AD; his sons paid off the rebels and left for Rome. The stone buildings were demolished, and a large new stone fort was built where the huts had been, for the 4th Cohort of Gauls.

 

A vicus, a self-governing village, developed to the west of the fort. The vicus contains several rows of buildings, each containing several one-room chambers. Most are not connected to the existing drainage system. The one that does was perhaps a butchery where, for health reasons, an efficient drain would have been important. A stone altar found in 1914 (and exhibited in the museum) proves that the settlement was officially a vicus and that it was named Vindolanda. To the south of the fort is a thermae (a large imperial bath complex), that would have been used by many of the individuals on the site. The later stone fort, and the adjoining village, remained in use until about 285 AD, when it was largely abandoned for unknown reasons.

 

About 300 AD, the fort was again rebuilt, but the vicus was not reoccupied, so most likely the area remained too unsafe for life outside the defended walls of the fort. In about 370, the fort was roughly repaired, perhaps by irregular soldiers. There is no evidence for the traditional view that Roman occupation ended suddenly in 410; it may have declined slowly.

 

In the 1930s, the house at Chesterholm where the museum is now located was purchased by archaeologist Eric Birley, who was interested in excavating the site. The excavations have been continued by his sons, Robin and Anthony, and his grandson, Andrew Birley, into the present day. They are undertaken each summer, and some of the archaeological deposits reach depths of six metres. The anoxic conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artefacts, such as 850 ink tablets and over 160 boxwood combs, that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life – military and otherwise – on the northern frontier. The study of these ink tablets shows a literacy among both the high born who there, as with the party invitation from one officer's wife to another and with soldiers and their families who send care packages with notes on the contents of the packages. A study of spindle whorls from the north-western quadrant has indicated the presence of spinners of low- and high- status in the fort in the 3rd and 4th century AD. Along with ongoing excavations (in season) and excavated remains, a full-size replica of a section of Hadrian's Wall in both stone and turf can be seen on the site. As of yet there is no reconstruction of the Vallum.

 

Nearly 2000-year-old Roman boxing gloves were uncovered at Vindolanda in 2017 by the Vindolanda Trust experts led by Dr Andrew Birley. According to the Guardian, being similar in style and function to the full-hand modern boxing gloves, these two gloves found at Vindolanda look like leather bands and date back to 120 AD. It is suggested that, based on their difference from gladiator gloves, warriors using this type of gloves had no purpose to kill each other. These gloves were probably used in a sport for promoting fighting skills. The gloves are currently displayed at Vindolanda's museum. According to Birley, they are not part of a matching pair:

 

The larger of the two gloves is cut from a single piece of leather and was folded into a pouch configuration, the extending leather at each side were slotted into one another forming a complete oval shape creating an inner hole into which a hand could still easily be inserted. The glove was packed with natural material acting as a shock absorber.

 

Recent excavations have been accompanied by new archaeological methodologies. 3-D imaging has been used to investigate the use of an ox cranium in target practice.

 

In 2021, a carved sandstone artifact was discovered a few inches below the floor of the fort. It depicts a nude warrior or deity before a horse or similar animal. Early interpretations point to the figure being of a Roman deity, perhaps of Mars or Mercury.

 

In 2023 February, a 2,000 year-old disembodied 6.3 inches long wooden phallus toy was revealed, according to the research published in the journal Antiquity.

 

In addition to the older initial findings of ink tablets, shoes and combs, several more artifacts and discoveries of note have been covered by the media. In 2017, the British newspaper The Guardian focused on a discovery of cavalry barracks that were uncovered during the excavation season that held a large number of artifacts including swords, ink tablets, textiles, arrowheads, and other military paraphernalia. Relative dating of the barracks had determined that they were built around 105 AD. The Guardian also publicized the discovery of a cache of 25 ink tablets found earlier in the 2017 season. The tablets were discovered in a trench in one of the earliest layers of the fort, dating to the 1st century AD. This discovery was considered to be the second-largest discovery of ink tablets in the world, with the first being a cache that was also discovered at Vindolanda in 1992.

 

In the 2014 excavation season, BBC ran a story about the discovery of one of the few surviving examples of a wooden toilet seat to be found in the Roman Empire. In the same year, they also recorded the discovery of the only (very old, very worn) gold coin ever to be found on the site with a mint date of 64 or 65 AD, lying in a site layer dating to the 4th century AD.

 

In 2010, the BBC announced the discovery of the remains of a child between the ages of 8 and 10 years, which was uncovered in a shallow pit in a barrack room in a position suggesting that its arms may have been bound. Further archaeological analysis indicated that it could be female. She is believed to have died about 1,800 years ago.

 

Another find publicised on the BBC website in 2006 was a bronze and silver fibula modelled with the figure of Mars, with the name Quintus Sollonius punched into its surface.

 

In 2020, archaeologists discovered a 5th-century chalice covered in religious iconography within a collapsed church structure. The images include crosses, angels, a smiling priestly figure holding a crook, fish, a whale, ships, the Greek letters chi-rho. In addition, the chalice bears scripts written in Latin, Greek, and possibly Ogham.

 

The Vindolanda site museum, also known as Chesterholm Museum, conserves and displays finds from the site. The museum is set in gardens, which include full-sized reconstructions of a Roman temple, a Roman shop, a Roman house and Northumbrian croft, all with audio presentations. Exhibits include Roman boots, shoes, armour, jewellery and coins, infrared photographs of the writing tablets and, from 2011, a small selection of the tablets themselves, on loan from the British Museum. 2011 saw the reopening of the museum at Vindolanda, and also the Roman Army Museum at Magnae Carvetiorum (Carvoran), refurbished with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the cust

Piglio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers.It has been identified with the ancient Roman Capitulum, a Hernican town. Its area was the seat of several Roman patrician towns.In 1088 it is mentioned as Castrum Pileum; according to a legend, the name would stem from the Latin pileum, the helmet of Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. In that period it depended from the bishop of Anagni and, from the late 12th century, it was first a fief of the De Pileo and then of the De Antiochia families. In 1347 it was captured by Cola di Rienzo and, from the late 14th century, it was under the Colonna family, who held it until 1816. In 1656 the town was decimated by plague.

Piglio became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1870. During World War II, it was bombed by Allied planes, with c. 30% of the edifices destroyed.

 

Piglio è un comune di 4.771 abitanti in provincia di Frosinone.

Il paese si trova in posizione panoramica su una propaggine del monte Scalambra tra le valli dei fiumi Sacco e Aniene. Interessante il patrimonio naturalistico e storico-culturale.Inoltre diviso in due parti:piglio alto e romagnano.Il territorio era abitato da popolazioni erniche e potrebbe forse essere identificato con il Capitulum Hernicum o Hernicorum di cui parla Strabone, collocandolo tra Olibanum (Olevano) e Anagnia (Anagni). La zona fu in seguito conquistata dai Romani e fu sede di diverse ville rustiche di cui si conservano resti ("villa di Mecenate" nella località "Le Fattora", "villa di Sant'Eligio", villa della località "Fontana di Grano").Con il nome di Castrum Pileum è citato in un documento del 1088 e secondo una leggenda il nome deriverebbe dal pileum, l'elmo romano che sarebbe caduto per un forte vento al condottiero Quinto Fabio Massimo il Temporeggiatore mentre passava nel territorio.

Nell'XI secolo dipendeva dal vescovo di Anagni e dalla fine del XII secolo fu in possesso prima dei De Pileo (o "Buccaporco"), probabilmente imparentati con i Caetani, e poi dei De Antiochia. Nel 1347 fu preso da Cola di Rienzo, Passò quindi alla fine del XIV secolo in possesso dei Colonna, che lo mantennero fino al 1816. Saccheggiato nel 1526 dalle truppe di papa Clemente VII, e dalla metà del XVI secolo era inserito nella provincia di "Campagna Marittima" dello Stato Pontificio. Nel 1656 la popolazione venne decimata da una pestilenza, che secondo la leggenda fu arrestata dalla miracolosa immagine della "Madonna delle Rose".

Nel 1799 il paese subì distruzioni ad opera delle truppe francesi. Ritornato allo Stato Pontificio fece parte del "distretto di Tivoli". Nel 1849 vi passò Giuseppe Garibaldi, diretto alla difesa della Repubblica Romana. Dopo la presa di Roma nel 1870 fu annesso al Regno di Italia e fece parte del "mandamento" di Paliano nel "circondario" di Frosinone, che apparteneva alla allora provincia di Roma, unica per il Lazio. Agli inizi del XX secolo fu attraversato dalla ferrovia a scattamento ridotto che metteva in comunicazione Roma e Frosinone. Nel 1926 venne eretto il Municipio e nel 1927 entrò a far parte della provincia di Frosinone. Durante la seconda guerra mondiale e la liberazione dall'occupazione tedesca, fu bombardato dagli Alleati nel 1944, con la distruzione di circa il 30% degli edifici.Lo sperone roccioso è dominato nella parte più alta dal Castello Colonna, le cui origini risalgono probabilmente agli inizi dell'XI secolo. Il castello è suddiviso in una parte alta ("Palatium superiore"), costruita su una spianata alla sommità della collina e comprendente, secondo le antiche descrizioni, la rocca con una loggia, una cisterna, la piazza d'armi (platea curiae) e il palazzo baronale con salone di rappresentanza. Da qui si scendeva, superando un dislivello di circa 25 m, alla parte bassa (Palatium inferius o "Castellutium, con una corte su cui prospettavano camere ornate da pitture. Il castello controllava la strada di accesso agli Altipiani di Arcinazzo.

Della rocca superiore restano un torrione quadrato e un muro di cinta difeso da torri verso nord, mentre dagli edifici sul lato sud, a due piani si scende nella piazza dell'"Arringo". Attualmente vi è ospitato l'Antiquarium, comunale. Da esso si scendeva mediante una scala all'"Arringo". La parte bassa, risalente probabilmente agli inizi dell XIV secolo si sviluppa attualmente in una costruzione a due piani, con sistemazione esterna dovuta ad un rimaneggiamento ottocentesco e protegge la porta principale di accesso. L'"arco della Fontana che si apre nella parte inferiore del vecchio castello verso il paese è fiancheggiata da una trifora tardo-romanica.Il paese ("Borgo") si sviluppa sulla parte restante del rilievo: le case stesse costruite sui margini verso il dirupo ne costituiscono la struttura difensiva. La pianta assume la tipica forma "a fuso", con la via principale (via Maggiore" e "via dell'Arringo") che ne forma l'asse tra la "porta del Pei" di ingresso al paese e il castello.

La chiesa collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore o dell'Assunta, risalente alla fine del XIII secolo fu in gran parte distrutta dai bombardamenti del 1944 e ricostruita nel dopoguerra nelle forme originarie baroccheggianti: conserva su un fianco i resti dell'ogiva di un antico portale. Ha tre navate presenta la facciata con un rosone e chiusa da due campanili gemelli. Da maggio a ottobre vi viene conservata la statua della "Madonna delle Rose", che viene riportata in processione al suo santuario il 30 ottobre, anniversario della liberazione di Piglio dalla peste.

Il santuario della "Madonna delle Rose" o della "Madre Santissima" fu edificato nel XVII secolo intorno alla miracolosa icona bizantina (un affresco del XIV secolo), a cui si attribuisce il miracolo di aver arrestato la peste del 1656.La chiesa di San Rocco presenta un affresco quattrocentesco che raffigura la "Madonna, san Lorenzo, sant'Antonio Abate e altri santi".Il convento francescano di San Lorenzo venne fondato secondo la leggenda dallo stesso San Francesco in viaggio verso Subiaco, su un terreno donato dal cardinale Giovanni Colonna, vescovo di Sabina nel 1215. La chiesa di San Lorenzo, del XV secolo, su edificio forse precedente e con annessa cappella dedicata al beato Andrea Conti, venne ricostruita a pianta ellittica nel 1773 dall'architetto Giuseppe Ferroni, ma era in abbandono nel 1873. Subì gravi danni nel terremoto del 1915 e per i bombardamenti del 1944 e fu quindi ricostruita secondo le forme originarie nel 1954. Da qui si accede alla grotta in cui era vissuto in romitaggio il beato Andrea Conti, morto nel 1302.Il convento francescano di San Giovanni fu eretto nel 1620 presso una chiesa già nominata come esistente nel XIII secolo, rifatta nel 1632. Chiesa e convento abbandonati in seguito alla soppressione degli ordini religiosi nel 1870 e danneggiati in seguito al terremoto del 1915, furono restaurati nel 1923 e nuovamente distrutti nel 1944 dai bombardamenti. Gli attuali edifici furono ricostruiti in forme moderne tra il 1949 e il 1951.

 

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Il nome di Poli deriva da Castrum Poli o Castrum Pauli. Le sue origini risalgono al 992 e fu a lungo possedimento del monastero benedettino del Clivo di Scauro di Roma. Dal 1081 passò sotto il dominio dell'Abbazia di San Paolo fuori le mura, donazione voluta da Gregorio VII. Da qui in poi si ebbero continue lotte per conquistarne il potere tra i monaci dell'abbazia e la famiglia degli Oddoni, i quali ne ottennero il dominio nel 1157, tenendola fino al 1200, anno in cui si accese una nuova disputa con la famiglia dei Conti, che strapparono il feudo agli Oddoni e lo governarono per ben sei secoli. Quando poi, nel 1808, morì l'ultimo erede dei Conti, Poli passò agli Sforza Cesarini e da loro fino alla famiglia Torlonia, nel 1820.

Il paese ha 35 vicoli molto stretti ed è rimasto intatto nel corso dei secoli; possiede un'ossatura stradale a "spina di pesce" (lunga strada al centro che attraversa il paese nella sua longitudinalità).

Palazzo Conti fu costruito tra il XIII e il XIV secolo per volere del condottiero Torquato Conti. Il palazzo è passato in epoca recente fra le proprietà di privati che hanno donato parte dell'edificio alla sede del comune. La famiglia mantiene ancora in suo possesso il piano nobile del Palazzo Conti. Tra le curiosità è bene ricordare che, proprio al piano nobile, nell'ala affrescata nacque il futuro Papa Innocenzo XIII.

La chiesa di Santo Stefano ha origini precedenti al 1000, conserva affreschi di Taddeo Zuccari e altri affreschi settecenteschi di Antonio Rosati. La chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate, è del XV secolo con affreschi secenteschi. Dopo una serie di passaggi che videro il luogo, prima in mano a Stefano Stefaneschi, poi di nuovo al monastero ed ancora ad una certo Giovanni Conte, divenne possedimento del Monastero di Roma.

Nel 1467 a Poli successe un evento singolare, e cioè alcuni emissari di papa Paolo II si recarono nel feudo per catturare un gruppo di uomini e donne con l'accusa di eresia. In effetti intorno al 1300 a Poli si diffuse sempre più un gruppo di persone denominate "setta dei fraticelli", noti anche come fraticelli della vita povera o Fraticelli della Opinione. Si trattava di persone condannate più volte dalla Chiesa come eretici e come praticanti riti satanici e orgiastici. La setta dei fraticelli riscuoteva molti consensi, tra cui anche quella dei Conti che governavano il feudo, tra i vari insediamenti che essi possedevano vengono nominate in documenti storici Santa Maria del Monte, di Castel Sant'Angelo, così come di San Biagio o Santa Lucia a Casape, luoghi usati per gli incontri in segreto.[senza fonte]Papa Paolo II viene ricordato da Egidio da Viterbo come «...pontefice severo, che nei suoi atti faceva risplendere singolare giustizia.». Egli riuscì a sradicare la comunità dei Fraticelli di Poli infatti, dopo averli esortati a sconfessare le loro pratiche, decise di catturarli con la forza e processarli. Tra i maggiori accusati c'era il barone Stefano Conti che, colpevole di aver favorito vita facile alla setta nei suoi territori, venne imprigionato a Castel Sant'Angelo e costretto a rinunciare al suo feudo a favore dei figli. Con il popolo il papa fu più mite: inflisse a tutti una penitenza annuale, una processione che si doveva svolgere il primo giorno di Quaresima dedicato a San Rocco, e un pranzo per 12 poveri del paese, la pena fu poi revocata nel 1886.

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Esel und Narren mögen sich zanken.

Weise wissen, dass Friede ernährt.

Die Beilegung des Regastreits mit Treptow.

 

In den zwanziger Jahren des 14. Jahrhunderts brach der langanhaltende, sogenannte ‚Regastreit‘ zwischen der Stadt Greifenberg und dem Kloster Belbuck aus, eine Fehde, bei der es um die freie Schifffahrt auf der Rega von der Stadt Greifenberg bis zur Ostseeküste ging.[28] Für den Betrieb einer Wassermühle war unter dem Abt Nathan Wasser aus der Rega in einen Seitenkanal und ein Staubecken geleitet worden. Einerseits war der neue Seitenkanal für Schiffe nicht passierbar, andererseits war durch die Baumaßnahme der Wasserspiegel der Rega bei dem Kloster dermaßen tief abgesunken, dass das Flussbett dort für größere Schiffe unpassierbar geworden war. Im Laufe der Auseinandersetzung wurde auch Papst Johannes XXII. angerufen, der seinerzeit in Avignon residierte. Schließlich zerstörten Greifenberger Bürger die Stauanlage, und das Kloster war gezwungen, die Wassermühle durch eine Reihe von Windmühlen sowie Mühlen zu ersetzen, die von Pferden angetrieben wurden.

 

Das Kloster Belbuck (in älterer Literatur oft Kloster Belbog) war ein im späten 12. Jahrhundert gegründetes, ab 1208 auch castrum sancti Petri ("Burg des heiligen Petrus") genanntes und bis 1534 bestehendes Regularkanoniker-Stift des Prämonstratenserordens in Hinterpommern, nahe der Stadt Trzebiatów (Treptow an der Rega) im heutigen Powiat Gryficki (Kreis Greifenberg) der polnischen Woiwodschaft Westpommern.

[wikipedia]

Ausgerechnet mitten im Friaul, wo es nicht keltischer sein könnte, scheint sich ein beieibter Wikinger verlaufen zu haben ;)

Mittelalterlicher Tag in Erinnerung an die Schenkung des Lehns vom Patriarchen Marquard von Aquileia an Francesco aus Cernedum (Cergneu) im Jahr 1371. Die Burg wurde 1511 bei einem Erdbeben (hier relativ häufig) und auch infolge einer Revolte stark beschädigt und daher verlassen, jetzt besteht sie als Ruine.

Google Maps spinnt total, es heißt doch CERGNEU und nicht Gergneu! :(

 

Burg Cergneu / castello di Cergneu

Castrum Cernedum Burg Cergneu

Proprio nel cuore del Friuli, dove non si può essere più celtici, si è smarrito questo robusto vichingo ;)

Nel 1371 il Patriarca di Aquileia Marquardo conferma a Francesco di Cergneu l’investitura del feudo al quale si aggiungerà, un secolo dopo, il castello di Brazzacco.Il castello rimarrà abitato almeno fino al 1511 quando, a seguito di un violento sisma e della violenta rivolta del giovedì grasso, venne gravemente danneggiato e quindi abbandonato.

Il 17 giugno 2012 in località Cergneu a Nimis (Ud) rivivono quei giorni accompagnati dai cantastorie e libagioni alla tavola dei Nobili di Cernedum riccamente imbandita di cibi prelibati (minestra de orzo et verzure, cinghialo en umido, pollo allo spiedo).

Google Maps è fuori, mica si chiama Gergneu! :(

 

Il castello Brancaccio di san Gregorio da Sassola sorge sull’alto di una pittoresca rupe. Un primitivo castrum venne costruito alla fine del VI secolo per volere di papa Gregorio Magno, da cui il nome al paese.

Sorge ai limiti dell’abitato del paese ed è oggi formato da una lunga facciata che prospetta verso la piazza composta da due corpi separati da un ponte e terminanti alle estremità con tre torri, due quadrate e l’altra circolare. Il primo edificio, quello occidentale era il più antico mentre il secondo venne edificato nel XIX secolo dai Brancaccio, che, oltre ad aggiungere il cavalcavia, aggiunsero anche la seconda torre per dare simmetria alla facciata. Era originariamente preceduto da un ponte levatoio, da un cortile interno e da un’alta torre centrale quadrata che assolveva alle funzioni di mastio. La facciata si compone di un bel piano nobile con finestre crociate e bella serliana centrale con un piano ammezzato cieco e un secondo piano, culminanti con merlature di restauro. L’ingresso al cortile avviene per mezzo di un portone a bugne ancora preceduto da un ponte levatoio. La parte destra con le due torri segue le curve di livello dell’abitato con le fondamenta di queste poste ad un livello più basso e corrispondente a quello del fossato, mentre la parte di sinistra, riedificata nell’Ottocento, oltre al già citato cavalcavia con motivi neoromanici della finestra bifora e delle arcatelle, presenta un più piccolo edificio anch’esso decorato con finestre crociate e culminante con merlature.

Il castello si presenta attualmente quale frutto di oltre quattro diverse fasi di ristrutturazioni avvenute dal Medioevo fino alla fine dell’Ottocento.

Dai Brancaccio nel 1991 il castello fu acquistato dal Comune e sottoposto a nuovi interventi di restauro.

Della struttura originaria ben poco rimane, soprattutto a seguito dei rifacimenti del XV e del XVI secolo. Sorge ai limiti dell’abitato del paese ed è oggi formato da una lunga facciata che prospetta verso la piazza composta da due corpi separati da un ponte e terminanti alle estremità con tre torri, due quadrate e l’altra circolare

Alcune sale interne sono degne di rilievo grazie alle decorazioni ad affresco eseguite nel XVI secolo ed attribuite alla scuola degli Zuccari, mentre nella metà dell’Ottocento vennero qui trasferite quattro tele di Andrea Appiani datate 1784.

   

In the Middle Ages, the town was called Castrum Berzoriacum. During the Hundred Years' War, it was temporarily caught between the English and French fronts; it was destroyed during the Huguenot Wars. It was also fought over during the Vendée Uprising at the time of the French Revolution.

 

The chapel is located below the castle, on the banks of the River Dolo. It was founded in the 10th century by the Viscount of Thouars, who donated it to the Abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers. It was rebuilt in the 13th century but later fell into disrepair. It got rebuild again and was sold as state property during the Revolution and used as an agricultural building.

   

Sighișoara (Romanian pronunciation: [siɡiˈʃo̯ara]; German: Schäßburg; Hungarian: Segesvár, Hungarian pronunciation: [’ʃɛɡɛʃvaːr] ( listen); Latin: Castrum Sex) is a city on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, Romania. Located in the historic region of Transylvania, Sighișoara has a population of 28,102 according to the 2011 census.

 

During the 12th century, German craftsmen and merchants known as the Transylvanian Saxons were invited to Transylvania by the King of Hungary to settle and defend the frontier of his realm. The chronicler Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in present-day Sighișoara by 1191.[citation needed] A document of 1280 records a town built on the site of a Roman fort as Castrum Sex or "six-sided camp", referring to the fort's shape of an irregular hexagon.[1] Other names recorded include Schaäsburg (1282), Schespurg (1298) and Segusvar (1300).[2] By 1337 Sighișoara had become a royal center for the kings, who awarded the settlement urban status in 1367 as the Civitas de Segusvar.

 

The city played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of Central Europe for several centuries. Sighișoara became one of the most important cities of Transylvania, with artisans from throughout the Holy Roman Empire visiting the settlement. The German artisans and craftsmen dominated the urban economy, as well as building the fortifications protecting it. It is estimated that during the 16th and 17th centuries Sighișoara had as many as 15 guilds and 20 handicraft branches. The Baroque sculptor Elias Nicolai lived in the city. The Wallachian prince Vlad Dracul (father of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), who lived in exile in the town, had coins minted in the city (otherwise coinage was the monopoly of the Hungarian kings in the Kingdom of Hungary) and issued the first document listing the city's Romanian name, Sighișoara.[citation needed] The Romanian name is first attested in 1435, and derives from the Hungarian Segesvár, where vár is "fort".[1][2]

 

The city was the setting for George I Rákóczi's election as Prince of Transylvania and King of Hungary in 1631. Sighișoara suffered military occupation, fires, and plagues during the 17th and 18th centuries. An important source for the history of 17th-century Transylvania, for the period of 1606-1666, are the records of Georg Kraus, the town's notary.[3]

 

The nearby plain of Albești was the site of the Battle of Segesvár, where the revolutionary Hungarian army led by Józef Bem was defeated by the Russian army led by Luders on 31 July 1849. A monument was constructed in 1852 to the Russian general Skariatin, who died in the battle. The Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi is generally believed to have been killed in the battle, and a monument was constructed in his honor at Albești in 1897. After World War I Sighișoara passed with Transylvania from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania.

 

Central Sighișoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city. It has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sighi%C8%99oara

Castel Gandolfo, oder lateinisch Castrum Gandulphi liegt in den Albaner Bergen etwa 25 Km südöstlich von Rom am Albaner See. Hier, wo sich jetzt die Kleinstadt an einem ehemaligen Vulkankrater befindet lag die sagenumwobenen Stadt Alba Longa. Diese Stadt wurde etwa 1152 v. Chr von Ascanius, ein Sohn des Trojaners Aeneas gegründet. Die beiden Stadtgründer von Rom Romulus und Remus waren die Söhne der Rhea Silvia, einer Tochter des Alba Longa Königs Numitor Silvius.

Der dritte König Roms, Tullus Hostilius hat die Stadt 665 v. Chr. zerstört, die Bewohner verschleppt und auf dem Mons Caelius, einer der sieben Hügel Roms angesiedelt.

Das Patriziergeschlecht der Julier, von dem Cäsar abstammte kam ursprünglich aus Alba Longa.

Heute ist Castel Gandolfo der Sommersitz der Päpste.

        

Castel Gandolfo, or Latin Castrum Gandulphi located in the Alban Hills about 25 km southeast of Rome on the Alban Lake. Here, where now the town is located on a former volcanic crater was the fabled city of Alba Longa. This city was founded around 1152 BC by Ascanius, the son of the Trojan Aeneas. The two founders of the city of Rome, Romulus and Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia, daughter of the king Numitor Silvius from Alba Longa.

The third king of Rome, Tullus Hostilius has destroyed the city 665 BC, the inhabitants deported and settled on the Mons Caelius, one of the seven hills of Rome.

The patrician Julian clan, descended from the Caesar was originally from Alba Longa.

Today, Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes.

Heribert Pohl

Hinweisschild - Hinweistafel : Kastell Augusta Raurica ( Castrum Rauracense - Erbaut um 300 nach Christus - verüstet um 351 - 352 nach Christus durch germanischen Alemannen - Teil der spätrömischen Rheinbefestigung Limes - Römische Ruinen Heidenmauer ) der ehemaligen Stadt der Römer - Römerstadt Augusta Raurica im heutigen Kaiseraugst im Kanton Aargau der Schweiz

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Ausflug nach B.asel am Samstag den 06. August 2016

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Mit dem Z.ug von B.ern über B.asel nach K.aiseraugst

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Besichtigung der r.ömischen R.uinen in K.aiseraugst

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Mit dem S.chiff C.hristoph M.erian von K.aiseraugst bis B.asel D.reiländereck

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S.paziergang durch die A.ltstadt B.asel

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Mit dem Z.ug von B.asel zurück nach B.ern

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Kamera : Canon EOS 550D N

 

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Hurni160806 AlbumZZZZ160806AusflugBasel KantonAargau AlbumRömerinderSchweiz AlbumRömerstadtAugustaRaurica

 

E- Mail : chrigu.hurni@bluemail.ch

 

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Letzte Aktualisierung - Ergänzung des Textes : 110816

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NIF

Da un mio piccolo repertorio di ricordi scolastici quale insegnante dell’Istituto:

Istituto Comprensivo “Dino Campana” MARRADI

A.S.2000-2001

Notizie Storiche

LA ROCCA DI CASTIGLIONCHIO

 

Sopra l’abitato di Biforco, in posizione dominante, sono i resti del castello di Castiglionchio, chiamato anticamente “Castrum leonis”. Il Castello, di cui si parla in un documento del 1123, apparteneva ai Pagani, signori della Valle del Senio. Distrutto dai faentini in lotta con quella famiglia , il castello risorse e per la sua importanza strategica i Pagani lo posero sotto la protezione della Repubblica di Firenze che ne auspicava il possesso. Nel 1279 il castello subì gravi danni per uno spaventoso terremoto che colpì il territorio di Marradi. Alla morte di Maghinardo Pagano ( avvenuta nel castello di Benclaro a SantAdriano nel 1302) la rocca passò al nipote Bandino, priore di Popolano e attraverso i suoi eredi nelle mani di un Manfredi.

Giovanni Manfredi, in lotta con i suoi parenti, signori di Faenza, continuò la politica di alleanza con i fiorentini, ma questi desideravano impossessarsi del suo territorio e lo imprigionarono. Nel 1428 inviarono le loro truppe ad assediare Castiglionchio, difeso dai fratelli del povero Giovanni, ma in breve fu conquistato con conseguente annessione di Marradi a Firenze. Il castello, negli anni seguenti, seguì le sorti di Firenze e dei suoi Signori, i Medici, che cacciati dalla città nel 1494 cercarono di riconquistarne il dominio con l’aiuto dei Veneziani. Invadendo parte della Romagna, le truppe giunsero a Marradi e posero l’assedio a Castiglionchio. I difensori del castello, stremati per mancanza di viveri e di acqua, riuscirono a sopravvivere con l’aiuto di alcuni valligiani e di un’abbondante pioggia che riempì le cisterne del fortilizio. Alla fine i veneziani, non riuscendo ad espugnarlo, si ritirarono. Quando Cosimo de’ Medici venne eletto duca, concesse ai Fabbroni di Marradi, suoi fedeli sostenitori, il controllo della rocca di Castigliuonchio, che successivamente venne disarmata perché non ne servissero i nemici dei Medici.

Così cominciò la lenta agonia del castello che un po’ alla volta venne spogliato delle armi e degli arredi: si ricordi ad esempio la supplica da parte degli operai della fabbrica del Monastero di Marradi al Granduca, perché facesse loro grazia delle due campane che si trovavano nella rocca ( 1565 ). Il tempo e i terremoti hanno ridotto il Castellone (così chiamato popolarmente) in un rudere; sono rimasti attualmente: un torrione quadrangolare sbrecciato, resti di un edificio rettangolare, resti di una base della cinta muraria e le uscite del camminamento sotterraneo, anche se interrate.

Bibliografia

M.Cappelli,E.Nannini, l’architettura ai confini del Granducato. Il caso della Romagna Toscana. Tesi di laurea della Facoltà di Architettura di Firenze.1971-72;G.Matulli, breve storia di Marradi, Firenze 1965;A.Metelli, Storia di Brisighella e della valle di Amone.

La F.O. prof. Mirna Gentilini

 

Altre Roccaforti su questo crinale Tosco-Romagnolo : SAN MARTINO IN GATTARA

E’ la Prima Frazione Comune di Brisighella.Nucleo rurale ancora con popolazione in prevalenza dedita ai lavori agricoli,oppure esercitante un pendolarismo quotidiano verso la Toscana e la bassa faentina.Qui sorgeva il “CastrumGattariae”, celebrata roccaforte.Già dal 1192 il “Castrum” apparteneva alla Chiesa che lo aveva concesso, per un censo annuo di una marca d’argento a due celebri Personaggi del Tempo:Ugo e Raniero,Signori Conti di Carpinio. Il Tolosano, Storico Faentino del 1300, scrive che all’inizio del XIII° secolo il castello era tenuto da un certo Amatore,figlio di Ugolino di Teodorico,personaggio assai bellicoso che fidando della forza delle sue Torri”recava disturbo ai vicini Fiorentini,ai Faentini e ad altre limitrofe popolazioni”.Nel 1216 i faentini,stanchi dei suoi soprusi,assalirono il “CastrumGattariae” e distrussero le due alte Torri e vari centri adiacenti.Nell’anno 1289,il castello venne venduto a Maghinardo Pagani da Susinana che,morendo,lo lascivio eredità alla figlia Francesca.Nel XIV° secolo esso divenne di proprietà dei Manfredi di Faenza.

Il Cardinale Anglico,nel suo censimento dell'anno 1371 scrive che il “Castrum Gattariae” aveva alle sue dipendenze otto famiglie e il castellano riceveva uno stipendio di ventisei fiorini;come giurisdizione religiosa era soggetto nell'ambito plebale di San Giovanni in Ottavo(Pieve Tho).Nel 1376 il fortilizio venne venduto al Comune di Firenze che ne diede il comando ai Signori Manfredi del Ramo di Marradi. Nel 1400 fu al centro di aspre lotte fra faentini,fiorentini,Manfredi del Ramo Faentino e Marradese.Nel Secolo XVI°(esattamente nel 1506)i veneziani occuparono il “Castrum” e lo rafforzarono rendendolo consono alle nuove esigenze dell'Arte bellica.Il territorio e relativa fortezza passarono poi alle dipendenze della Santa Sede e da questo momento la loro importanza come località strategica politico-militare venne sempre diminuendo.

L'importanza di San Martino in Gattara dal punto di vista storico-archeologico:Martino è una località che si trova nella fascia medio collinare nella parte finale romagnola della Valle del Lamone. Vari lavori agricoli effettuati negli anni sessanta permisero alla Sovrintendenza ai Monumenti di Ravenna di effettuare nel 1963-1968-1970-1972-1978 vaste campagne di scavi e di individuare ,in località “Ospedale”,in un terrazzo fluviale sulla riva sinistra del fiume Lamone,una grande necropoli con 70 tombe a inumazione,del tipo a fossa,coperte da cumuli di ciotti a volte,databili fra la fine del VI° e gli inizi del IV° secolo avanti Cristo Le sepolture scoperte,lungo un tragitto circolare,,alcune all'esterno,altre all'interno,formavano un cerchio.

Quali popoli hanno abitato questo luogo?Domanda che porta a formulare varie ipotesi:1°CELTI(perla statura degli inumati,per il modo di deporre le armi di offesa alle spalle del guerriero),2°ETRUSCHI(per i reperti collegati allo stanziamento rinvenuto nel colle di Persolino,alle porte di Faenza),3°UMBRI(per il modo di disporre le tombe in circolo,per la struttura di alcuni reperti,per certe armi ritrovate).Da rilevare gli ampi corredi funerari che nel loro insieme si possono così raggruppare:1.ornamenti personali(fibule,armille,anelli,collane,..);2.armi di varie tipologie:3.elementi riferiti al ciclo del banchetto o simposio composto da contenitori di vino,brocche per servirlo a tavola,coppe per berlo ed in più,ciotole e piatti...(note di Piero Malpezzi).. Si ringrazia caldamente il Sig. Piero Malpezzi per il dettagliato e circostanziato riferimento alla Storia di S. Martino piccolo Borgo, che tanto ha di comune con Marradi.

  

Piglio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers.It has been identified with the ancient Roman Capitulum, a Hernican town. Its area was the seat of several Roman patrician towns.In 1088 it is mentioned as Castrum Pileum; according to a legend, the name would stem from the Latin pileum, the helmet of Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. In that period it depended from the bishop of Anagni and, from the late 12th century, it was first a fief of the De Pileo and then of the De Antiochia families. In 1347 it was captured by Cola di Rienzo and, from the late 14th century, it was under the Colonna family, who held it until 1816. In 1656 the town was decimated by plague.Piglio became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1870. During World War II, it was bombed by Allied planes, with c. 30% of the edifices destroyed.

 

Piglio è un comune di 4.771 abitanti in provincia di Frosinone.Il paese si trova in posizione panoramica su una propaggine del monte Scalambra tra le valli dei fiumi Sacco e Aniene. Interessante il patrimonio naturalistico e storico-culturale.Inoltre diviso in due parti:piglio alto e romagnano.Il territorio era abitato da popolazioni erniche e potrebbe forse essere identificato con il Capitulum Hernicum o Hernicorum di cui parla Strabone, collocandolo tra Olibanum (Olevano) e Anagnia (Anagni). La zona fu in seguito conquistata dai Romani e fu sede di diverse ville rustiche di cui si conservano resti ("villa di Mecenate" nella località "Le Fattora", "villa di Sant'Eligio", villa della località "Fontana di Grano").Con il nome di Castrum Pileum è citato in un documento del 1088 e secondo una leggenda il nome deriverebbe dal pileum, l'elmo romano che sarebbe caduto per un forte vento al condottiero Quinto Fabio Massimo il Temporeggiatore mentre passava nel territorio.Nell'XI secolo dipendeva dal vescovo di Anagni e dalla fine del XII secolo fu in possesso prima dei De Pileo (o "Buccaporco"), probabilmente imparentati con i Caetani, e poi dei De Antiochia. Nel 1347 fu preso da Cola di Rienzo, Passò quindi alla fine del XIV secolo in possesso dei Colonna, che lo mantennero fino al 1816. Saccheggiato nel 1526 dalle truppe di papa Clemente VII, e dalla metà del XVI secolo era inserito nella provincia di "Campagna Marittima" dello Stato Pontificio. Nel 1656 la popolazione venne decimata da una pestilenza, che secondo la leggenda fu arrestata dalla miracolosa immagine della "Madonna delle Rose".Nel 1799 il paese subì distruzioni ad opera delle truppe francesi. Ritornato allo Stato Pontificio fece parte del "distretto di Tivoli". Nel 1849 vi passò Giuseppe Garibaldi, diretto alla difesa della Repubblica Romana. Dopo la presa di Roma nel 1870 fu annesso al Regno di Italia e fece parte del "mandamento" di Paliano nel "circondario" di Frosinone, che apparteneva alla allora provincia di Roma, unica per il Lazio. Agli inizi del XX secolo fu attraversato dalla ferrovia a scattamento ridotto che metteva in comunicazione Roma e Frosinone. Nel 1926 venne eretto il Municipio e nel 1927 entrò a far parte della provincia di Frosinone. Durante la seconda guerra mondiale e la liberazione dall'occupazione tedesca, fu bombardato dagli Alleati nel 1944, con la distruzione di circa il 30% degli edifici.Lo sperone roccioso è dominato nella parte più alta dal Castello Colonna, le cui origini risalgono probabilmente agli inizi dell'XI secolo. Il castello è suddiviso in una parte alta ("Palatium superiore"), costruita su una spianata alla sommità della collina e comprendente, secondo le antiche descrizioni, la rocca con una loggia, una cisterna, la piazza d'armi (platea curiae) e il palazzo baronale con salone di rappresentanza. Da qui si scendeva, superando un dislivello di circa 25 m, alla parte bassa (Palatium inferius o "Castellutium, con una corte su cui prospettavano camere ornate da pitture. Il castello controllava la strada di accesso agli Altipiani di Arcinazzo.Della rocca superiore restano un torrione quadrato e un muro di cinta difeso da torri verso nord, mentre dagli edifici sul lato sud, a due piani si scende nella piazza dell'"Arringo". Attualmente vi è ospitato l'Antiquarium, comunale. Da esso si scendeva mediante una scala all'"Arringo". La parte bassa, risalente probabilmente agli inizi dell XIV secolo si sviluppa attualmente in una costruzione a due piani, con sistemazione esterna dovuta ad un rimaneggiamento ottocentesco e protegge la porta principale di accesso. L'"arco della Fontana che si apre nella parte inferiore del vecchio castello verso il paese è fiancheggiata da una trifora tardo-romanica.Il paese ("Borgo") si sviluppa sulla parte restante del rilievo: le case stesse costruite sui margini verso il dirupo ne costituiscono la struttura difensiva. La pianta assume la tipica forma "a fuso", con la via principale (via Maggiore" e "via dell'Arringo") che ne forma l'asse tra la "porta del Pei" di ingresso al paese e il castello.La chiesa collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore o dell'Assunta, risalente alla fine del XIII secolo fu in gran parte distrutta dai bombardamenti del 1944 e ricostruita nel dopoguerra nelle forme originarie baroccheggianti: conserva su un fianco i resti dell'ogiva di un antico portale. Ha tre navate presenta la facciata con un rosone e chiusa da due campanili gemelli. Da maggio a ottobre vi viene conservata la statua della "Madonna delle Rose", che viene riportata in processione al suo santuario il 30 ottobre, anniversario della liberazione di Piglio dalla peste.

Il santuario della "Madonna delle Rose" o della "Madre Santissima" fu edificato nel XVII secolo intorno alla miracolosa icona bizantina (un affresco del XIV secolo), a cui si attribuisce il miracolo di aver arrestato la peste del 1656.La chiesa di San Rocco presenta un affresco quattrocentesco che raffigura la "Madonna, san Lorenzo, sant'Antonio Abate e altri santi".Il convento francescano di San Lorenzo venne fondato secondo la leggenda dallo stesso San Francesco in viaggio verso Subiaco, su un terreno donato dal cardinale Giovanni Colonna, vescovo di Sabina nel 1215. La chiesa di San Lorenzo, del XV secolo, su edificio forse precedente e con annessa cappella dedicata al beato Andrea Conti, venne ricostruita a pianta ellittica nel 1773 dall'architetto Giuseppe Ferroni, ma era in abbandono nel 1873. Subì gravi danni nel terremoto del 1915 e per i bombardamenti del 1944 e fu quindi ricostruita secondo le forme originarie nel 1954. Da qui si accede alla grotta in cui era vissuto in romitaggio il beato Andrea Conti, morto nel 1302.Il convento francescano di San Giovanni fu eretto nel 1620 presso una chiesa già nominata come esistente nel XIII secolo, rifatta nel 1632. Chiesa e convento abbandonati in seguito alla soppressione degli ordini religiosi nel 1870 e danneggiati in seguito al terremoto del 1915, furono restaurati nel 1923 e nuovamente distrutti nel 1944 dai bombardamenti. Gli attuali edifici furono ricostruiti in forme moderne tra il 1949 e il 1951.

 

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Piglio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers.It has been identified with the ancient Roman Capitulum, a Hernican town. Its area was the seat of several Roman patrician towns.In 1088 it is mentioned as Castrum Pileum; according to a legend, the name would stem from the Latin pileum, the helmet of Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. In that period it depended from the bishop of Anagni and, from the late 12th century, it was first a fief of the De Pileo and then of the De Antiochia families. In 1347 it was captured by Cola di Rienzo and, from the late 14th century, it was under the Colonna family, who held it until 1816. In 1656 the town was decimated by plague.Piglio became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1870. During World War II, it was bombed by Allied planes, with c. 30% of the edifices destroyed.

 

Piglio è un comune di 4.771 abitanti in provincia di Frosinone.Il paese si trova in posizione panoramica su una propaggine del monte Scalambra tra le valli dei fiumi Sacco e Aniene. Interessante il patrimonio naturalistico e storico-culturale.Inoltre diviso in due parti:piglio alto e romagnano.Il territorio era abitato da popolazioni erniche e potrebbe forse essere identificato con il Capitulum Hernicum o Hernicorum di cui parla Strabone, collocandolo tra Olibanum (Olevano) e Anagnia (Anagni). La zona fu in seguito conquistata dai Romani e fu sede di diverse ville rustiche di cui si conservano resti ("villa di Mecenate" nella località "Le Fattora", "villa di Sant'Eligio", villa della località "Fontana di Grano").Con il nome di Castrum Pileum è citato in un documento del 1088 e secondo una leggenda il nome deriverebbe dal pileum, l'elmo romano che sarebbe caduto per un forte vento al condottiero Quinto Fabio Massimo il Temporeggiatore mentre passava nel territorio.Nell'XI secolo dipendeva dal vescovo di Anagni e dalla fine del XII secolo fu in possesso prima dei De Pileo (o "Buccaporco"), probabilmente imparentati con i Caetani, e poi dei De Antiochia. Nel 1347 fu preso da Cola di Rienzo, Passò quindi alla fine del XIV secolo in possesso dei Colonna, che lo mantennero fino al 1816. Saccheggiato nel 1526 dalle truppe di papa Clemente VII, e dalla metà del XVI secolo era inserito nella provincia di "Campagna Marittima" dello Stato Pontificio. Nel 1656 la popolazione venne decimata da una pestilenza, che secondo la leggenda fu arrestata dalla miracolosa immagine della "Madonna delle Rose".Nel 1799 il paese subì distruzioni ad opera delle truppe francesi. Ritornato allo Stato Pontificio fece parte del "distretto di Tivoli". Nel 1849 vi passò Giuseppe Garibaldi, diretto alla difesa della Repubblica Romana. Dopo la presa di Roma nel 1870 fu annesso al Regno di Italia e fece parte del "mandamento" di Paliano nel "circondario" di Frosinone, che apparteneva alla allora provincia di Roma, unica per il Lazio. Agli inizi del XX secolo fu attraversato dalla ferrovia a scattamento ridotto che metteva in comunicazione Roma e Frosinone. Nel 1926 venne eretto il Municipio e nel 1927 entrò a far parte della provincia di Frosinone. Durante la seconda guerra mondiale e la liberazione dall'occupazione tedesca, fu bombardato dagli Alleati nel 1944, con la distruzione di circa il 30% degli edifici.Lo sperone roccioso è dominato nella parte più alta dal Castello Colonna, le cui origini risalgono probabilmente agli inizi dell'XI secolo. Il castello è suddiviso in una parte alta ("Palatium superiore"), costruita su una spianata alla sommità della collina e comprendente, secondo le antiche descrizioni, la rocca con una loggia, una cisterna, la piazza d'armi (platea curiae) e il palazzo baronale con salone di rappresentanza. Da qui si scendeva, superando un dislivello di circa 25 m, alla parte bassa (Palatium inferius o "Castellutium, con una corte su cui prospettavano camere ornate da pitture. Il castello controllava la strada di accesso agli Altipiani di Arcinazzo.Della rocca superiore restano un torrione quadrato e un muro di cinta difeso da torri verso nord, mentre dagli edifici sul lato sud, a due piani si scende nella piazza dell'"Arringo". Attualmente vi è ospitato l'Antiquarium, comunale. Da esso si scendeva mediante una scala all'"Arringo". La parte bassa, risalente probabilmente agli inizi dell XIV secolo si sviluppa attualmente in una costruzione a due piani, con sistemazione esterna dovuta ad un rimaneggiamento ottocentesco e protegge la porta principale di accesso. L'"arco della Fontana che si apre nella parte inferiore del vecchio castello verso il paese è fiancheggiata da una trifora tardo-romanica.Il paese ("Borgo") si sviluppa sulla parte restante del rilievo: le case stesse costruite sui margini verso il dirupo ne costituiscono la struttura difensiva. La pianta assume la tipica forma "a fuso", con la via principale (via Maggiore" e "via dell'Arringo") che ne forma l'asse tra la "porta del Pei" di ingresso al paese e il castello.La chiesa collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore o dell'Assunta, risalente alla fine del XIII secolo fu in gran parte distrutta dai bombardamenti del 1944 e ricostruita nel dopoguerra nelle forme originarie baroccheggianti: conserva su un fianco i resti dell'ogiva di un antico portale. Ha tre navate presenta la facciata con un rosone e chiusa da due campanili gemelli. Da maggio a ottobre vi viene conservata la statua della "Madonna delle Rose", che viene riportata in processione al suo santuario il 30 ottobre, anniversario della liberazione di Piglio dalla peste.

Il santuario della "Madonna delle Rose" o della "Madre Santissima" fu edificato nel XVII secolo intorno alla miracolosa icona bizantina (un affresco del XIV secolo), a cui si attribuisce il miracolo di aver arrestato la peste del 1656.La chiesa di San Rocco presenta un affresco quattrocentesco che raffigura la "Madonna, san Lorenzo, sant'Antonio Abate e altri santi".Il convento francescano di San Lorenzo venne fondato secondo la leggenda dallo stesso San Francesco in viaggio verso Subiaco, su un terreno donato dal cardinale Giovanni Colonna, vescovo di Sabina nel 1215. La chiesa di San Lorenzo, del XV secolo, su edificio forse precedente e con annessa cappella dedicata al beato Andrea Conti, venne ricostruita a pianta ellittica nel 1773 dall'architetto Giuseppe Ferroni, ma era in abbandono nel 1873. Subì gravi danni nel terremoto del 1915 e per i bombardamenti del 1944 e fu quindi ricostruita secondo le forme originarie nel 1954. Da qui si accede alla grotta in cui era vissuto in romitaggio il beato Andrea Conti, morto nel 1302.Il convento francescano di San Giovanni fu eretto nel 1620 presso una chiesa già nominata come esistente nel XIII secolo, rifatta nel 1632. Chiesa e convento abbandonati in seguito alla soppressione degli ordini religiosi nel 1870 e danneggiati in seguito al terremoto del 1915, furono restaurati nel 1923 e nuovamente distrutti nel 1944 dai bombardamenti. Gli attuali edifici furono ricostruiti in forme moderne tra il 1949 e il 1951.

 

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKXkgcEulTo

Hardknott Pass '18

Esta imagen participó en el juego En otro lugar de Flickr

Si no perteneces al grupo, no contestes, por favor.

Si quieres contestar, únete. :-)

  

Y el ábside de Sant Feliu al fondo.

 

La iglesia de Sant Lluc está ubicada en el inicio del Paseo Arqueológico, entre la ex-colegiata de Sant Fèlix y el portal de Sobreportes.

 

La comunidad de beneficiados de la Catedral compró en el año 1724 el solar donde solo había las runas del beneficiado de la Virgen de les Puelles y con la autorización del Obispo Taberner, el abad, el Capítulo de Sant Fèlix y los Jurados de la ciudad se edifico la iglesia actual. Las obras empezaron el 9 de septiembre de 1724 y la bendición de la iglesia tuvo lugar el 5 de febrero de 1729.

 

El altar Mayor es obra del maestro escultor Morató de Vic, y desapareció entre los años 1936-1939.

 

Actualmente es el castrum de los Manaies de Girona.

 

Els Manaies de Girona

 

Antecedentes

El primer dato documental sobre la existencia de los Manaies en Girona es del año 1751, a pesar de que los últimos trabajos retroceden esta fecha hasta 1723. De hecho, en la segunda mitad del siglo XVII se generalizaron por toda Catalunya los grupos de manaies y armats (armados). Según el historiador Ramon N. Comas y el folklorista Valeriano Serra i Boldú, los manaies y armats, aparecieron en las procesiones de Semana Santa cuando el padre Epifiano Cedó, de la Orden de Servitas, hacia 1663 estableció, en su convento de Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso de Barcelona, la Cofradía de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.

 

Con esta fecha (1751) consta que cuatro manaies custodiaban el "misterio" del Santo Sepulcro en la iglesia del Carmen durante todo el Jueves Santo y que también abrian la procesión. A partir de este momento, los Manaies participaban, encabezandolas, en las dos procesiones que tenían lugar durante la Semana Santa gerundense: la del Jueves Santo (organizada por la Real Cofradía de la Purísima Sangre, fundada en Girona en 1568) y la del Viernes Santo (organizada por la Archicofradía de la Pasión y Muerte, fundada en 1684).

Los Manaies, en este período inicial de los siglos XVIII-XIX, no formaban parte de una cofradía exclusiva, a diferencia del momento actual en el que estan incorporados, como sección aparte, en la Cofradía de Jesús Crucificado. Su número oscilaba entre la veintena y la cuarentena. Vestían coraza y casco con cimera, una capa, roja para la procesión del Jueves y azul para la del Viernes santos y, además, largos mostachos y impresionantes barbas postizas, negras, grises o blancas, para ocultar su identidad. Iban armados con escudo, espada i lanza. Golpeaban el suelo con la lanza, característica que, de hecho, se ha mantenido hasta hoy, y probablemente realizaban ya la tradicional figura de la estrella.

 

El capitán manaia portaba el pendón rojo de la cohorte, en el que se leían las clásicas iniciales SPQR, que, según Alegret y Pérez, el pueble descifraba fácilmente: Soldat, Pollós, Quc i Ronyós (Soldado, Piojoso, Gusano i Roñoso), aun cuando también existia otra fórmula: Sastres Pobres Que Robais, i su inverso Robad Que Pobres Sereis.

 

Además de encabezar las dos procesiones, iban a buscar los pendonistas respectivos, e incluso habían llegado a participar en las funciones religiosas de la Catedral hasta que el obispo lo prohibió en 1851. Se acompañaban con música de flautas y timbales para la marcha lenta, y una cobla los acompañaba para los desplazamientos rápidos, hasta mediados del siglo XIX, cuando parece que se amplió el número de flautines y se compuso, probablemente, lo que hoy es la marcha rápida. La que conocemos como marcha lenta fue compuesta, seguramente, a finales del siglo XVIII, sin que quede claro cual es el origen de esta antigua melodía.

 

En este primer período, parece que la condición de Manaia se fue convirtiendo en hereditaria y de forma más o menos tácita el cargo iba pasando de padres a hijos, con el tiempo muchos Manaies acabaron procediendo de el Valle de San Daniel (los capitanes manaies En Vilaroja, En Baldiri y En Feliu fueron vecinos del lugar). Alrededor de 1840 se quiso sustituir el que entonces era capitán manaia, el heredero Cla, de Celrà, pero éste interpuso un pleito y lo ganó.

 

Explican diversas anécdotas que algunas veces el comportamiento de los Manaies en el transcurso de la procesión había sido un tanto irregular y, algunos de ellos, ya conocidos de todo el mundo por su afición a los excesos, habían llegado a assistir bebidos. Según Grahit i Grau, el último capitán manaia gerundense, Feliu, el nombre del cual era Salip, era muy popular por sus maneras improcedentes durante la procesión, consecuencia del aguardiente con que le invitaban, con los suyos, en los lugares donde precisaban de sus servicios. Tal vez por esto, en el imaginario popular gerundense (tal como en otras poblaciones de nuestro entorno) la palabra "Manaia" se convirtió, con una injusta generalización, sinónimo de "tronera". Pensamos, de todas formas, que el elemento lúdico en las procesiones religiosas de época moderna en general es un hecho frecuente i casi inseparable, que las fuestes nos testifican sobradamente.

Los "nuevos" Manaies

 

La Guerra Civil detuvo todas las manifestaciones religiosas públicas. Inmediatamente después de la entrada de las tropas franquistas en Girona (en febrero de 1939) hubo la iniciativa de restaurar la procesión de Semana Santa, pero esto no fue posible por la penuria del momento. No obstante, el entusiasmo de los veintiseis Manaies refundadores y el soporte episcopal permitieron que la procesión saliese de nuevo en 1940, Manaies incluídos: los primeros equipos se alquilaron en un almacén de teatro de Barcelona, y la música formada por un flautín, una ocarina, un pífano, éste a cargo de Joaquim Pla i Dalmau, y un tambor.

 

Para la procesión de 1941 se elaboraron ya unos equipos nuevos, de momento de hojalata, que quisieron inspirarse en los relieves de la Columna Trajana, de Roma (113-117 dC), pero conservando el espíritu estético tradicional del Manaia gerundense, uniforme estudiado y diseñado por Josep M. Solà y Joaquim Pla i Dalmau, con el asesoramiento del Dr. Luis Pericot. Para esta primera salida con el nuevo uniforme, se entabló una discusión sobre la necesidad o no de que los Manaies portasen el pantaloncito debajo de la túnica; la solución adoptada fue la peor: llevarian medias, unas medias de hilo teñidas de color rojizo, un color carne muy defectuoso.

En el año 1942 ya se había ampliado el manípulo a 35 manaies, con cinco equipos nuevos: uno de centurión, con la parte metálica de latón repujado, dos de manaia y dos de manaia pequeño o infante. Con fecha 5 de octubre de este año quedó constituída la Pia Unión de Jesús Crucificado.

 

La dinámica del grupo de Manaies había cambiado: de un grupo de famílias que conservaban unas funciones ejercidas de forma más o menos mecánica, los Manaies se habían convertido en un grupo de jóvenes creyentes con ganas de reformar la figura del Manaia y dotarla de un nuevo sentido. Fruto de esto, y desligándose de la tutela inicial de la Real Cofradía de la Purísima Sangre durante la inmediata posguerra, los nuevos Manaies se constituyeron primer en Pia Unión (1942) y después en Cofradía (1947) bajo la advocación de Jesús Crucificado. En 1944 se creó la sección de "vestes" (nazarenos).

 

Este mismo año de 1944 se encargó a los talleres Sacrest de Olot la elaboración de un paso que representaba una de las caidas de Jesús, con un manaia en actitud compasiva delante de la de un sayón muy airado, paso que era portado por nueve hombres. Las figuras fueron retocadas por el artista gerundense Juan Orihuel.

 

El Manípulo de Manaies experimentó, a partir de esta etapa inicial, toda una serie de ampliaciones graduales y mejora de los equipamientos: corazas de latón, ampliación y estructuración de la banda, creación de dos y luego tres optíadas, creación de la sección de équites (caballeria), etc., hasta alcanzar las características del equipo y la estructura del Manípulo actual, con una plantilla de 114 efectivos en el año 1999. La Cofradía ha ocupado diversos locales: desde la iglesia del Carmen, en un primer momento, pasando por los sótanos de la Catedral y el primer piso de Casa Carles (actual sede de las oficinas del Obispado), hasta el actual Castrum, en la iglesia de San Lucas, inaugurada en 1991 coincidiendo con el 50 aniversario de la Cofradía. A partir de 1956, y de forma ininterrumpida, la Cofradía de Jesús Crucificado-Manaies de Girona se encarga también de la organización anual de la Cabalgata de Reyes.

 

En 1959, después de muchos años en que la sección de vestes reclamase su propio paso, el artista gerundense Domènec Fita esculpió el que representa Jesús ante Pilatos. el Ecce Homo, que fue bendecido por el obispo ante los Manaies, las vestas y el paso antiguo.

 

A pesar de las pequeñas dificultades que tuvo la procesión gerundense en general, ligadas a las nuevas corrientes inmediatamente posteriores al Concilio Vaticano II (1962-65), la Cofradía se estabilizó definitivamente, se consolidó en su papel dentro de la procesión del Viernes Santo y celebró sus XLV (1985) y L (1990) aniversarios totalmente integrada en la Girona actual.

Pedres de Girona

Boat Street Antibes French Riviera Rue du Bateau Antibes

Picasso Museum Place Mariejol 06600 Antibes

opened

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Based on the ancient acropolis of the Greek city of Antipolis, Roman castrum, residence of the bishops of the Middle Ages (from 442-1385), the Grimaldi castle was inhabited from 1385 by the Monegasque family who gave it its name. King became mansion of the governor, then from 1792, City Hall, the building is transformed into a barracks in 1820, marking the taking possession of the premises by military engineers until 1924.

 

PicassoProfessor of French, Greek and Latin at Lycee Carnot in Cannes, Romuald Dor de la Souchère began in 1923 archaeological research in Antibes. On March 29, 1924, the Dor Souchère created the company of friends who Antibes museum is to establish a historical and archaeological museum and to work to publicize the history of the region.

 

In 1925, the Grimaldi castle was bought by the city of Antibes and becomes the first to Grimaldi museum curator, Romuald Dor de la Souchère. In September 1945, Pablo Picasso went to Grimaldi museum in 1946, Romuald Dor de la Souchère asked him to use part of the castle as a workshop.

Picasso ....

 

Picasso, enthusiastic, works at the castle and created numerous works, drawings and paintings. Following his stay in 1946, Pablo Picasso left on deposit at the Antibes 23 paintings and 44 drawings. Among the most famous paintings: La Joie de vivre, Satyr, centaur fauna and trident, Slimer The sea urchin, sea urchin Woman, Still life with owl and three urchins, The Goat ...

 

The September 22, 1947 saw the official opening of the Picasso room on the first floor, together with a first hooking works of Antibes.

The September 7, 1948, an exhibition confirms the significant enrichment of 78 ceramics workshop conducted in Madura Vallauris.

On September 13, 1949, on the occasion of the inauguration of the "French Paintings" exhibition, new rooms devoted to paintings, ceramics and drawings by Picasso are open to the public. And December 27, 1966, the city of Antibes makes new tribute to Pablo Picasso and Grimaldi Castle officially became the Picasso Museum, the first museum dedicated to the artist. Finally, in 1991, the giving Jacqueline Picasso authorizes a new enrichment of Picasso collections.

 

... To Nicolas de Stael

 

Picasso1The works of Nicolas de Staël also presented in the museum bear witness to the painter's stay in Antibes, from September 1954 to March 1955. A first donation made by his widow to the Picasso museum after the exhibition devoted to the artist in 1955 and from 1982, the city acquired important works of his last period.

 

To modern art

 

In 2001, a donation made by Hans Hartung Foundation and Anna-Eva Bergman allows the opening of two rooms, the ground floor of the museum. A permanent attachment offers a journey in the work of each of these artists.

 

Finally, the modern art collection, begun in 1951 by Dor La Souchère was created from exceptional donations from the artists. Important artists from the mainstream art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are represented: Arman, Atlan, Balthus, Ben, Bioules, Bloch, Buraglio, Bury, Calder, Cane, Castellas, Caesar, Chillida, Clavé, Combas, Cornelius , Crotti, Debre, Dezeuze, Ernst, Gleizes, Goetz, Hantaï, Hartung, Jaccard, Klein, Leppien, Magnelli, Malaval Mansouroff, Mathieu, Meurice, Modigliani, Music, Picabia, Pincemin, Raynaud, Raysse, Sarkis, Spoerri, Viallat ...

 

Cathedral of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception

1 Rue du Saint-Esprit

06600 Antibes

The Notre-Dame-de-la-Platea is the former cathedral of the Diocese of Antibes and the largest church in the city of Antibes , in Alpes-Maritimes ( France ). Its doors, the xviii th century, are the work of sculptor Joseph Dolle Antibes.

History

The Cathedral was destroyed by the Saracens in 1124 and rebuilt in 1125. The facade was damaged in 1746 and restored by Louis XV with funds from the Royal cassette. The door made ââin 1710 by Joseph Dolle a Antibois includes figurines of St. Roch and St. Sebastian, which are both protective of Antibes. Inside are the altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary, painted in 1515, a marble Virgin of the xix th century, a baptismal font xvi e , a wooden Christ of 1447, lying in a wood xvi th century, the baptismal font from 1772 and a 1860 organ master Jungh.

 

Chronology

 

442

Saint Hermaire, monk of the Abbey of Lérins is the first bishop.

5th century

A cathedral is now at the foot of the Roman castrum. The second bishop of Antibes Valerius is murdered.

476

Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

6th century

Construction of a new cathedral whose remains are visible in the chapel of the Holy Spirit.

9th century

Rodoard family takes possession of the diocese.

1113

Election of the Bishop Manfred, former monk of Lérins monastery.

1124

Incursion of barbarian. They destroy the cathedral. All that remains of the previous cathedral a wall element near the Chapel of the Rosary.

1125

The Count of Provence Raimond Beranger made a significant donation to the Bishop Manfred to rebuild the cathedral.

1155

An act mentions the cloister of the canons.

1155 - 1181

The bishops get the counts of Provence suzerainty of all property held by the family of Grasse.

late 12th century early 13th century

Construction of the present cathedral with three naves. The plan of the Romanesque cathedral is similar to the churches of the order of Chalais, particularly in Valbonne located between Antibes and Grasse. Construction of the tower-hut 40 m high before the church.

1208 - 1237

The Count of Provence gives the bishop all the useful field.

1244

The bishop's seat was transferred to Grasse. From 1244 to 1385, the Apostolic Vicariate dependent on the bishopric of Grasse.

1385

Construction of the chapel of the Holy Spirit against the north side of the church for the White Penitents on the remains of the ancient cathedral of the 6th century. Excavations have revealed the remains of the 5th century cathedral.

1385 - 1732

The Apostolic Vicariate of Antibes depends on the Holy See. It becomes a collegiate diocesis nullius.

1593

Consecration of the chapel of the Holy Spirit.

1608

King Henry IV bought the city to the Grimaldi family. The cathedral is rebuilt.

1710

The portal is run by Jacques Dolle.

1746

The cathedral suffered extensive damage during a bombing of the city during the war of succession of Austria.

18th century

Construction of the four bays of the nave, aisles and the current facade.

1848

The Romanesque facade was modernized in Italian style.

 

Saracen Towers in Antibes

 

The tower near the cathedral housing the bells , 40 meters high

 

Located on the town walls of Antibes, the towers "said Saracen" which dates back to the eleventh and early twelfth century, had a protective role for the city of Antibes.

Indeed the devastating Saracen invasions forced the city to protect themselves.

One of the towers; next to the cathedral measures 40 meters high and houses the cathedral bells said.

Her neighbor is integrated into the Picasso Museum overlooking the waterfront.

To access either pass by the old city and the Provencal market or Promenade Admiral de Grasse, and mounted the Souchère Dor (near the cathedral).

Presepe allestito nell'ex Castrum Novum di Fara Novarese (oggi Casa di Cura i Cedri) dall'Associazione Italiana Amici del Presepio, sezione di Fara Novarese.

 

Il presepe è aperto al pubblico e visitabile.

Statuine splendide!!!!!

The Warp and Weft of Memory

 

Exhibition Opening at Castrum Peregrini

August 24th, 2018

 

'There are stains. What are we to do with them? Her sweat has turned brown with time and its acid has etched itself into her white cotton shirts and the lining of dresses. Skin oil has darkened the fingers of leather gloves, and her idiosyncratic walk has shaped the heels of her shoes. Her clothes have been recording devices.'

 

Excerpt from The Warp and Weft of Memory: www.warpweftmemory.net

 

In her latest multi-faceted work, Renée Turner explores the contents of Gisèle d'Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht’s closet. Although Gisèle passed away in 2013 at the age of one hundred, the traces of her figure can still be sensed through the shape and wear of her clothes. Spanning decades, the range of garments illustrates her fascination with travel, textiles, and design. There are Greek woollen vests, a Chinese silk jacket and several dresses fashioned by the renowned Dutch designer Dick Holthaus. All were meticulously itemized in Gisèle’s own wardrobe inventories. As Turner notes, “Gisèle was a taxonomist of her own life.”

 

Her clothes and taxonomical fervour are mirrored in her photographic archive as well, which Turner has selectively digitized to create a semantically-driven, online narrative. Combining writing, photographs of her clothes, videos, and illustrations, she personally reflects on her direct encounter with Gisèle’s belongings, the intimacy of the closet and how its content reflects her remarkable life, the history of the Netherlands before, during, and after the War, women and their clothing, the privileges of class, and the persona of the female artist. While each garment has its own story, it can be woven into a larger tapestry of other narratives past and present. In The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard writes: “Every poet of furniture—even if he be a poet in a garret, and therefore has no furniture—knows that the inner space of an old wardrobe is deep.” Turner’s online project and exhibition at Castrum Peregrini traces the depths of those echoes and reverberations and contemplates what will be remembered and what will be reduced to dust.

 

The Warp and Weft of Memory has contributions by: Frans-Willem Korsten, Kate Pullinger, Andre Castro, Manufactura Independente, Cristina Cochior and Cesare Davolio. The related public program will be posted on the Castrum Peregrini website and facebook page.

 

Renée Turner is an artist, writer and Research Lecturer at the Willem de Kooning Academy and Piet Zwart Institute. Since 2016, she has been an artist in residence at Stichting Castrum Peregrini. Her research over the past two years has resulted in public lectures, the exhibition and online narrative.

 

This project was generously supported by the Mondriaan Foundation through the awarding of a two-year grant, Stipendium for Established Artists with Commissioner (WerkbijdrageBewezen Talent + Opdrachtgever). The initial research phase was funded through a Start-Up Grant from the Creative Industry Funds (Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie).

 

Boat Street Antibes French Riviera Rue du Bateau Antibes

Picasso Museum Place Mariejol 06600 Antibes

opened

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Based on the ancient acropolis of the Greek city of Antipolis, Roman castrum, residence of the bishops of the Middle Ages (from 442-1385), the Grimaldi castle was inhabited from 1385 by the Monegasque family who gave it its name. King became mansion of the governor, then from 1792, City Hall, the building is transformed into a barracks in 1820, marking the taking possession of the premises by military engineers until 1924.

 

PicassoProfessor of French, Greek and Latin at Lycee Carnot in Cannes, Romuald Dor de la Souchère began in 1923 archaeological research in Antibes. On March 29, 1924, the Dor Souchère created the company of friends who Antibes museum is to establish a historical and archaeological museum and to work to publicize the history of the region.

 

In 1925, the Grimaldi castle was bought by the city of Antibes and becomes the first to Grimaldi museum curator, Romuald Dor de la Souchère. In September 1945, Pablo Picasso went to Grimaldi museum in 1946, Romuald Dor de la Souchère asked him to use part of the castle as a workshop.

Picasso ....

 

Picasso, enthusiastic, works at the castle and created numerous works, drawings and paintings. Following his stay in 1946, Pablo Picasso left on deposit at the Antibes 23 paintings and 44 drawings. Among the most famous paintings: La Joie de vivre, Satyr, centaur fauna and trident, Slimer The sea urchin, sea urchin Woman, Still life with owl and three urchins, The Goat ...

 

The September 22, 1947 saw the official opening of the Picasso room on the first floor, together with a first hooking works of Antibes.

The September 7, 1948, an exhibition confirms the significant enrichment of 78 ceramics workshop conducted in Madura Vallauris.

On September 13, 1949, on the occasion of the inauguration of the "French Paintings" exhibition, new rooms devoted to paintings, ceramics and drawings by Picasso are open to the public. And December 27, 1966, the city of Antibes makes new tribute to Pablo Picasso and Grimaldi Castle officially became the Picasso Museum, the first museum dedicated to the artist. Finally, in 1991, the giving Jacqueline Picasso authorizes a new enrichment of Picasso collections.

 

... To Nicolas de Stael

 

Picasso1The works of Nicolas de Staël also presented in the museum bear witness to the painter's stay in Antibes, from September 1954 to March 1955. A first donation made by his widow to the Picasso museum after the exhibition devoted to the artist in 1955 and from 1982, the city acquired important works of his last period.

 

To modern art

 

In 2001, a donation made by Hans Hartung Foundation and Anna-Eva Bergman allows the opening of two rooms, the ground floor of the museum. A permanent attachment offers a journey in the work of each of these artists.

 

Finally, the modern art collection, begun in 1951 by Dor La Souchère was created from exceptional donations from the artists. Important artists from the mainstream art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are represented: Arman, Atlan, Balthus, Ben, Bioules, Bloch, Buraglio, Bury, Calder, Cane, Castellas, Caesar, Chillida, Clavé, Combas, Cornelius , Crotti, Debre, Dezeuze, Ernst, Gleizes, Goetz, Hantaï, Hartung, Jaccard, Klein, Leppien, Magnelli, Malaval Mansouroff, Mathieu, Meurice, Modigliani, Music, Picabia, Pincemin, Raynaud, Raysse, Sarkis, Spoerri, Viallat ...

 

Cathedral of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception

1 Rue du Saint-Esprit

06600 Antibes

The Notre-Dame-de-la-Platea is the former cathedral of the Diocese of Antibes and the largest church in the city of Antibes , in Alpes-Maritimes ( France ). Its doors, the xviii th century, are the work of sculptor Joseph Dolle Antibes.

History

The Cathedral was destroyed by the Saracens in 1124 and rebuilt in 1125. The facade was damaged in 1746 and restored by Louis XV with funds from the Royal cassette. The door made ââin 1710 by Joseph Dolle a Antibois includes figurines of St. Roch and St. Sebastian, which are both protective of Antibes. Inside are the altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary, painted in 1515, a marble Virgin of the xix th century, a baptismal font xvi e , a wooden Christ of 1447, lying in a wood xvi th century, the baptismal font from 1772 and a 1860 organ master Jungh.

 

Chronology

 

442

Saint Hermaire, monk of the Abbey of Lérins is the first bishop.

5th century

A cathedral is now at the foot of the Roman castrum. The second bishop of Antibes Valerius is murdered.

476

Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

6th century

Construction of a new cathedral whose remains are visible in the chapel of the Holy Spirit.

9th century

Rodoard family takes possession of the diocese.

1113

Election of the Bishop Manfred, former monk of Lérins monastery.

1124

Incursion of barbarian. They destroy the cathedral. All that remains of the previous cathedral a wall element near the Chapel of the Rosary.

1125

The Count of Provence Raimond Beranger made a significant donation to the Bishop Manfred to rebuild the cathedral.

1155

An act mentions the cloister of the canons.

1155 - 1181

The bishops get the counts of Provence suzerainty of all property held by the family of Grasse.

late 12th century early 13th century

Construction of the present cathedral with three naves. The plan of the Romanesque cathedral is similar to the churches of the order of Chalais, particularly in Valbonne located between Antibes and Grasse. Construction of the tower-hut 40 m high before the church.

1208 - 1237

The Count of Provence gives the bishop all the useful field.

1244

The bishop's seat was transferred to Grasse. From 1244 to 1385, the Apostolic Vicariate dependent on the bishopric of Grasse.

1385

Construction of the chapel of the Holy Spirit against the north side of the church for the White Penitents on the remains of the ancient cathedral of the 6th century. Excavations have revealed the remains of the 5th century cathedral.

1385 - 1732

The Apostolic Vicariate of Antibes depends on the Holy See. It becomes a collegiate diocesis nullius.

1593

Consecration of the chapel of the Holy Spirit.

1608

King Henry IV bought the city to the Grimaldi family. The cathedral is rebuilt.

1710

The portal is run by Jacques Dolle.

1746

The cathedral suffered extensive damage during a bombing of the city during the war of succession of Austria.

18th century

Construction of the four bays of the nave, aisles and the current facade.

1848

The Romanesque facade was modernized in Italian style.

 

Saracen Towers in Antibes

 

The tower near the cathedral housing the bells , 40 meters high

 

Located on the town walls of Antibes, the towers "said Saracen" which dates back to the eleventh and early twelfth century, had a protective role for the city of Antibes.

Indeed the devastating Saracen invasions forced the city to protect themselves.

One of the towers; next to the cathedral measures 40 meters high and houses the cathedral bells said.

Her neighbor is integrated into the Picasso Museum overlooking the waterfront.

To access either pass by the old city and the Provencal market or Promenade Admiral de Grasse, and mounted the Souchère Dor (near the cathedral).

Le castrum de Merle. Un ensemble représentatif de la coseigneurie en Limousin et généralement dans le sud ouest de la France. Les noms sont ceux des seigneurs dans la seconde moitié du XIV° siècle.

Castel Gandolfo, oder lateinisch Castrum Gandulphi liegt in den Albaner Bergen etwa 25 Km südöstlich von Rom am Albaner See. Hier, wo sich jetzt die Kleinstadt an einem ehemaligen Vulkankrater befindet lag die sagenumwobenen Stadt Alba Longa. Diese Stadt wurde etwa 1152 v. Chr von Ascanius, ein Sohn des Trojaners Aeneas gegründet. Die beiden Stadtgründer von Rom Romulus und Remus waren die Söhne der Rhea Silvia, einer Tochter des Alba Longa Königs Numitor Silvius.

Der dritte König Roms, Tullus Hostilius hat die Stadt 665 v. Chr. zerstört, die Bewohner verschleppt und auf dem Mons Caelius, einer der sieben Hügel Roms angesiedelt.

Das Patriziergeschlecht der Julier, von dem Cäsar abstammte kam ursprünglich aus Alba Longa.

Heute ist Castel Gandolfo der Sommersitz der Päpste.

  

Castel Gandolfo, or Latin Castrum Gandulphi located in the Alban Hills about 25 km southeast of Rome on the Alban Lake. Here, where now the town is located on a former volcanic crater was the fabled city of Alba Longa. This city was founded around 1152 BC by Ascanius, the son of the Trojan Aeneas. The two founders of the city of Rome, Romulus and Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia, daughter of the king Numitor Silvius from Alba Longa.

The third king of Rome, Tullus Hostilius has destroyed the city 665 BC, the inhabitants deported and settled on the Mons Caelius, one of the seven hills of Rome.

The patrician Julian clan, descended from the Caesar was originally from Alba Longa.

Today, Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes.

Heribert Pohl

Der Bildhauer und Medailleur Eberhard Linke wurde 1937 in Lauban, Schlesien, geboren und lebt in Rheinland-Pfalz.

 

Ein drei Meter hoher Koloss steht oben auf dem Gebäude, das hinter ihm nochmals ansteigt. Er hat die Mauer im Rücken, steht jedoch dicht an der Kante, strebt weiter ohne den Blick zu senken. Hinter ihm eine zweite Gestalt, die zu großen Teilen noch im Mauerwerk steckt. Ein Schatten? Oder doch ein Nachahmer, vielleicht ein Verfolger? Eberhard Linkes Skulptur Mann vom Castrum steckt voller Energie und Anspielungen, aber auch voller Widersprüche. So kraftvoll die Skulptur auch erscheint, fehlen ihr doch die Arme, die dem Kriegerischen im Weg stehen. Und wozu dieser Helm, der nur durch einen senkrechten Schlitz nach vorne geöffnet ist und das Antlitz des Mannes verbirgt? Man sieht sich einem Akteur aus lang vergangenen Zeiten gegenübergestellt und tatsächlich erinnert der Titel an die Zeit als Mainz noch ein römisches Militärlager war. Am Standpunkt des Werkes befanden sich früher Befestigungsanlagen. Den Blick hat der Mann vom Castrum zur Zitadelle gerichtet. Über diese historische Reminiszenz hinaus, scheint die Skulptur die Stärke, die hier vor allem in der Entschlossenheit, der Willenskraft zu liegen scheint in unsere heutige Zeit tragen zu wollen. Als Modell des unnachgiebigen Menschen ist sie gerade in ihrer Verschlossenheit beeindruckend und fordert den Betrachter auf, sich zu ihr in Beziehung zu setzen.

Quelle: kunstundbau.rlp.de/de/kunstwerke/kunstwerk/kunst_am_bau/k...

Montreal, auch Mons Regalis, Castrum Saboach, arabisch قلعة الشوبك, DMG qalʿat aš-Šawbak, ist eine ehemalige Kreuzfahrerburg in „Idumäa“ (Edom) südöstlich des Toten Meeres im heutigen Jordanien. Die Ruinen der Höhenburg liegen auf einem kegelförmigen Berg über der Ebene von Edom an der Pilger- und Karawanenstraße von Syrien nach Arabien. Der wichtige Handelsweg führte an dieser Stelle vom Toten Meer zur Arava-Senke und von dort weiter nach Akaba am Roten Meer. Die Burg wurde 1115 von Balduin I. von Jerusalem als erste Burg östlich des Jordans und des Toten Meers errichtet. Anlass war ein Feldzug, bei dem er 1116 Akaba eroberte; die neue Festung sollte die Route von Jerusalem nach Akaba sichern. Die günstige Lage der Burg erlaubte es Balduin, zudem die Wirtschaft der Gegend zu kontrollieren, da Pilger und Händler eine Erlaubnis brauchten, die Straße zu benutzen. Die Burg war von relativ fruchtbarem Land umgeben, was die Versorgung ihrer Besatzung erleichterte. Zudem wurden zwei Brunnen gegraben und mit langen und steilen Treppen versehen.

 

König Balduin II. vergab die Burg 1118 als Zentrum der Herrschaft Oultrejordain als Lehen an Roman von Le Puy. Als dieser sich 1134 an einem Aufstand gegen König Fulko von Jerusalem beteiligte, wurde das Lehen eingezogen und an Pagan den Mundschenk vergeben. Nach Pagans Tod um 1147 beerbte ihn sein Neffe Moritz von Montreal. Nach dessen Tod fiel die Herrschaft an König Balduin III. von Jerusalem zurück. 1161 vergab dieser die Oultrejordain als Lehen an Philipp von Milly, der dafür sein bisheriges Lehen, die Herrschaft Nablus, zurückgab. Zu dieser Zeit wurde das Zentrum der Herrschaft Oultrejordain nach Kerak verlegt, einer stärkeren Festung, die unter Pagan nördlich von Montreal errichtet worden war, doch blieb auch Montreal bedeutend. Ebenso wie Kerak hatte es dem Königreich Jerusalem sechzig Ritter zu stellen.

 

Nach Philipps Tod übernahm seine Tochter Stephanie von Milly die Herrschaft, die nacheinander von ihren insgesamt drei Ehegatten ausgeübt wurde. Der letzte von ihnen war ab 1176 Rainald von Chatillon. Rainald nutzte Montreal, um die reichen Karawanen anzugreifen, die bisher die Straße ohne Schaden zu nehmen passieren konnten. Auch ließ er hier Schiffe bauen, die er über Land ans Rote Meer transportieren ließ, um Mekka anzugreifen. Der Ayyubiden-Sultan Saladin griff aufgrund dieser Provokationen das Königreich 1187 an, eroberte Jerusalem und ließ seinen Bruder al-Adil im gleichen Jahr auch Montreal belagern. Den Verteidigern wird nachgesagt, während der langen Belagerung ihre Frauen und Kinder für Nahrung verkauft zu haben, und dass sie aus Mangel an Salz blind geworden seien. Wegen des Hügels konnten die Angreifer keine Belagerungsmaschinen einsetzen, so dass die Burg erst nach zwei Jahren, im Mai 1189, fiel. (Wikipedia)

  

Puig Castellar és una fortalesa romana (castellum) del moment de la conquesta d’Hispania; va ser un important establiment militar de control de la vall del riu Llobregós, per on passava un antic camí, utilitzat pels romans per desplaçar les tropes des de la costa fins als fronts de guerra del centre de la Península, per exemple el de Numància.

 

Els treballs d’excavació que hi porta a terme la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona han deixat al descobert un recinte fortificat de 1,5 hectàrees d’extensió protegit per una muralla amb torres de defensa, que encara es pot resseguir. A tocar d’aquesta muralla es poden veure habitacions, magatzems i tallers relacionats amb la tropa i serveis; també les restes d’un gran edifici a la part de dalt del turó identificat com el centre de comandament del complex militar (principia).

 

D’aquest edifici cal destacar-ne: una gran cisterna, parets de carreus, pintures murals, motllures decoratives i paviments de terratzo de diferents colors. Aquest conjunt arquitectònic constitueix un dels testimonis més antics d’arquitectura sumptuària romana trobats a Hispania dins d’un context militar. La ceràmica trobada en el jaciment marca un horitzó cronològic molt precís que situem entre els anys 180 i el 120 abans de Crist.

DSCF1249

Deva Fortress. was built in the XIIIth century, on a volcanic hilltop bordering the Mures River valley in central Transylvania. "Castrum Deva" is first mentioned in 1269, in a document of Stefan, king of Hungary: it was part of a defensive system against the scourge of the Tartar invasion which devastated Central Europe in 1241 .Between the 14th and 15th centuries it becomes the princely residence of the local Wallach (Romanian) voyevodes.

In 1453, Iancu de Hunedoara, mindful of the rise of Ottoman power, takes up residence in the castle. The Turkish, in their expansion towards Central Europe, besiege the castle on several occasions, first in 1550, then in 1552 and finally they take it in 1557, during the invasion of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The Sultan gives the castle to Queen Isabella of Hungary and her son John Sigismund.

Deva castle held as prisoners some illustrious leaders of Transylvanian history such as David Ferencz, the founder of the Unitarian church and Moise Szekely, leader of the Transylvanian nobles hostile to the Austrian imperial power, which annexed Transylvania from 1686 until the first world war.

 

The last siege of Deva castle took place in 1786, the year of the great peasant uprising whose leaders were Romanian from the Transylvanian Alps: they were trying to regain ancient civil freedoms and were demanding to be enfranchised from serfdom.

By the end of the XVIIIth century, the fortress loses it's strategic importance, and is abandoned for some time, until 1817, when emperor Francis I, passing through Deva decides to restore it and makes it a garrison castle. The revival of the castle is short-lived as it comes under threat from the 1848 revolutionaries. At this point, the garrison commander of the castle decides to have the fortress blown up, as a pre-emptive strike, rather than having it surrendered.

 

What we see here, in this set of photographs, is all that remains today from this old castle-fortress, still very impressive, with a lot of the curtain walls intact.

 

The Deva volcanic hill which dominates the town below and the whole of the Mures river Valley is a natural reserve, known for its micro flora and fauna.

Here one could find the Horned Vipers (Vipera Amonytes). At the northern foot of the hill there are still signs of post-volcanic activity in the thermal springs of bicarbonate chlorosodic mineral waters, whose medical cure was used since the 17th century for "salt baths".

Nouâtre (Indre-et-Loire)

 

Les ruines du château.

 

Le village porte le nom du château. Le nom du château de Nouâtre est mentionné pour la première fois en 925, à l’occasion d’un jugement de Dieu sous la forme «Nogastrum castrum» . Nogastrum venant soit de Nocastrum (novum castrum = le nouveau château) soit de Nucastrum (nucum castrum = le château des noyers). Au XIIIe siècle, la commune portait le nom de Noastre (De "nucaster"? Le péjoratif "aster" pouvant signifier le "mauvais ou le vilain noyers"?).

 

Initialement, le castrum est vraisemblablement une motte féodale avec donjon de bois. Au début du XIe siècle, le seigneur de Nouâtre, un nommé "Guennon" (ou "Guannelon"?), devient vassal du Comte d'Ajou Foulques III Nerra. Celui-ci fera reconstruire le château en pierre.

 

Au XIe siècle, les seigneurs de vendôme deviennent seigneurs de Nouâtre.

 

Au XIIe siècle, le fief de Nouâtre fut joint à celui de Sainte-Maure.

 

Au XIIIe siècle, malgré la prise de possession de la Touraine par Philippe Auguste, le château restera chez les Plantagenêts.

 

Au XIVe siècle, les deux fiefs de Nouâtre et Sainte-Maure sont joint à celui de Montbazon. L'ensemble devient duché.

 

Le château fut en grande partie restauré au XVe siècle, d'abord par Jean d'Estouteville*, puis, par son beau-frère Jean du Fou*, seigneur de Montbazon, de Sainte Maure et de Nouâtre, chambellan de Louis XI.

 

Le village médiévale était protégé par des murs et des douves alimentées en eau par un ruisseau, le "Réveillon". En 1483, dans un aveu qu’il rend au nouveau roi Charles VIII, Jean du Fou parle de «la ville de Noastre, anciennement close et fermée».

 

Au XVIe siècle, Nouâtre passe dans la famille des Rohan-Guéméné qui préfèrent résider à la cours en abandonnant le château. Lorsque qu'il fut vendu comme bien national, à la Révolution, le château était déjà une ruine.

 

Un donjon situé hors du château disparu en 1832, lors de la construction du premier pont.

 

Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Nouâtre possède un camp de l'intendance militaire allemande surveillé par près de 300 soldats. Bien qu'ils aient été mis hors de cause par les enquêteurs, les soldats du camp de Nouâtre auraient joué un rôle dans le massacre de Maillé* (25 août 1944). Ils auraient servi de sentinelles en encerclant le village de Maillé pour empêcher la fuite de ses habitants.

  

*Jean d’Estouteville (1405-1494), seigneur de Torcy et de Blainville (en Seine Maritime), prévôt de Paris, conseiller et chambellan de Charles VII , grand-maître des arbalétriers de France sous Louis XI, lieutenant-général entre la Seine et la Somme sous Charles VIII, avait épousé Françoise de la Rochefoucauld, fille d’Aymar IV de la Rochefoucauld (mort en 1455), seigneur de Montbazon, de Sainte-Maure et de Nouâtre. En 1450, son beau-père lui vend la seigneurie de Nouâtre pour 15 000 écus d’or et en 1453, Charles VII autorisa Jean d’Estouteville à relever les fortifications du château, qui était alors en fort mauvais état. Mais la vente de la seigneurie de Nouâtre fut annulée en 1467 à la demande de Jean du Fou, beau-frère de Jean d’Estouteville (www.litteratur.fr/nouatre/gens-de-nouatre/19/). La famille d'Estouteville trouve ses racines en Angleterre, après les invasions normandes. On retrouve de même origine: des Stuteville en Grande-Bretagne et des Tuttavilla en Italie.

 

*Jean du Fou était un descendant de la famille bretonne des Faou. Il fut successivement gouverneur de Bretagne puis de Touraine et chambellan du roi Louis XI. Il épousera Jeanne de la Rochefoucauld, dame de Montbazon, de Sainte Maure et de Nouâtre.

 

*Le massacre de Maillé est le meurtre, le 25 août 1944, de 124 (dont 44 enfants de moins de 14 ans et 42 femmes) des 500 habitants de la commune de Maillé (Indre-et-Loire). Massacre en représailles contre les actions de la Résistance locale. Sur place, on retrouvera deux billets marqués dans un français approximatif : "C’est la punition des terroristes et de leurs assistants". Le massacre est l’œuvre d’une vengeance. Le lieutenant-colonel Stenger, reconnaît avoir donné l'ordre des représailles (C'est également la colonne du lieutenant-colonel Stenger qui se livrera au massacre de Dampierre (Gargilesse-Dampierre dans l'Indre), le 27 juillet 1944). Un seul homme a été condamné par contumace par la justice militaire française en 1952 : Il s'agit du sous-lieutenant Gustav Schlüter présent sur place. Il est mort à Hambourg en 1965.

   

Voir :Succession des seigneurs de Nouâtre d'après Pierre Marie Danquigny (Maire de Nouâtre depuis 2014, Président du MRAP): www.litteratur.fr/nouatre/seigneurs-de-nouatre/

Il castel dell'Ovo (castrum Ovi, in latino), è il castello più antico della città di Napoli ed è uno degli elementi che spiccano maggiormente nel celebre panorama del golfo. Si trova tra i quartieri di San Ferdinando e Chiaia, di fronte alla zona di Mergellina.

A causa di diversi eventi che hanno in parte distrutto l'originario aspetto normanno e grazie ai successivi lavori di ricostruzione avvenuti durante il periodo angioino ed aragonese, la linea architettonica del castello mutò drasticamente fino a giungere allo stato in cui si presenta oggi.

 

it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_dell'Ovo

El castell de Granera és un edifici de Granera (Moianès). Resta tot el perímetre dels seus murs aixecats sobre un penyal i bona part de les dependències interiors, alguna d'elles amb volta, altres sense sostres. És un castell medieval majoritàriament del segle xi, amb elements de castell roquer probablement anteriors, bastit en el cim del turó que rep el mateix nom del castell. El barri del Castell del poble de Granera s'estén als peus del castell, pel seu costat meridional. És una obra declarada bé cultural d'interès nacional per un Decret del 22 d'abril del 1949, publicat al BOE del 5 de maig d'aquell mateix any.

 

Descripció

 

El castell de Granera es conserva en part, ja que ha estat consolidat i en part refet pels seus actuals propietaris. Té una planta irregular, adaptada al relleu de la roca on és assentat, amb elements constructius molt interessants, com uns arcs en gradació fets per tal de sostenir el mur en la irregularitat de la roca que en fa de basament. L'aparell dels murs és fet de carreus regulars rejuntants amb molt de morter de calç, però conserva fragments, a la part de ponent, d'obra més antiga, amb paraments d'opus spicatum. La part llevantina, on hi ha l'arc d'entrada, sembla obra del segle xiv, però en el sector nord-occidental hi ha força mostres de segles anteriors.

 

Les restes de l'interior remeten a un castell renovat ja a l'edat moderna, en la qual destaca la capella de Santa Maria, ja del segle xvii, tot i que té una part del parament possiblement romànic. Malgrat tot, l'estat ruïnós s'estén a tot el conjunt del castell. A la dècada dels setanta del segle xx, es féu un intent de reconstrucció, per tal de dedicar el conjunt a hostatgeria, però no va prosperar. Tanmateix, es va refer una part del sector nord.

Història

 

És un castell termenat documentat el 971,documentat com a Castrum de Granaria, quan aleshores pertanyia al comtat de Manresa. De jurisdicció reial, el 1023 la comtessa Ermessenda de Carcassona l'empenyorà al seu fill Berenguer Ramon I com a garantia de pau. També els mateixos anys, abans del 1025, la mateixa comtessa l'infeudà a favor de Guifré de Balsareny o del seu fill Bernat Guifré. Aquest darrer el llegà el 1046 a Guisla, a través de la qual passà a la casa vescomtal de Barcelona. A finals del segle xii els vescomtes barcelonins el cediren a Albert de Castellvell, però al cap de poc en recuperaven el domini. Ja al segle xiii fou infeudat als Bell-lloc, i més tard als Gravalosa, que en consten senyors entre 1310 i 1345. El 1375 se'n féu amo i senyor Pere de Planella, moianenc que era conseller reial. El rei li va vendre el ple domini, jurisdicció i drets.

 

Pertangué a la família de Planella, també senyors de Castell de Clarà i Castellnou de la Plana (del terme de Moià) i Castellcir, emparentats amb els de Planella de Talamanca i Calders, i a finals del segle XVI fou venut als Despalau, fins que el 1642 Maria de Despalau el va vendre a Jacint de Sala i Cervera, ciutadà honrat de Barcelona. Esdevingué seu de la baronia de Granera per concessió de Felip IV de Castella el 17 de juliol del 1643. Posteriorment castell i títol passaren altre cop als Planella, després als Amat i més tard als Castellbell, sempre per aliances matrimonials. Actualment, aquest títol nobiliari està en mans del Marquès de Castellbell, com la resta de baronies esmentades.

 

El castell es mantingué dins del patrimoni d'aquesta família fins a la dècada dels 60 del segle xx, quan se'l van vendre a un particular de la comarca, el qual al cap d'una vintena d'anys el revenia a un prestigiós metge sabadellenc, la família del qual encara en té la possessió del 2011.

 

ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell_de_Granera

  

Resta tot el perímetre dels seus murs aixecats sobre un penyal i bona part de les dependències interiors, alguna d'elles amb volta, altres sense sostres.

Notícies històriques

Castell termenat. Documentat el 971.

 

invarquit.cultura.gencat.cat/Cerca/Fitxa?index=0&cons...

Nouâtre (Indre-et-Loire)

 

Les ruines du château.

 

Le village porte le nom du château. Le nom du château de Nouâtre est mentionné pour la première fois en 925, à l’occasion d’un jugement de Dieu sous la forme «Nogastrum castrum» . Nogastrum venant soit de Nocastrum (novum castrum = le nouveau château) soit de Nucastrum (nucum castrum = le château des noyers). Au XIIIe siècle, la commune portait le nom de Noastre (De "nucaster"? Le péjoratif "aster" pouvant signifier le "mauvais ou le vilain noyers"?).

 

Initialement, le castrum est vraisemblablement une motte féodale avec donjon de bois. Au début du XIe siècle, le seigneur de Nouâtre, un nommé "Guennon" (ou "Guannelon"?), devient vassal du Comte d'Ajou Foulques III Nerra. Celui-ci fera reconstruire le château en pierre.

 

Au XIe siècle, les seigneurs de vendôme deviennent seigneurs de Nouâtre.

 

Au XIIe siècle, le fief de Nouâtre fut joint à celui de Sainte-Maure.

 

Au XIIIe siècle, malgré la prise de possession de la Touraine par Philippe Auguste, le château restera chez les Plantagenêts.

 

Au XIVe siècle, les deux fiefs de Nouâtre et Sainte-Maure sont joint à celui de Montbazon. L'ensemble devient duché.

 

Le château fut en grande partie restauré au XVe siècle, d'abord par Jean d'Estouteville*, puis, par son beau-frère Jean du Fou*, seigneur de Montbazon, de Sainte Maure et de Nouâtre, chambellan de Louis XI.

 

Le village médiévale était protégé par des murs et des douves alimentées en eau par un ruisseau, le "Réveillon". En 1483, dans un aveu qu’il rend au nouveau roi Charles VIII, Jean du Fou parle de «la ville de Noastre, anciennement close et fermée».

 

Au XVIe siècle, Nouâtre passe dans la famille des Rohan-Guéméné qui préfèrent résider à la cours en abandonnant le château. Lorsque qu'il fut vendu comme bien national, à la Révolution, le château était déjà une ruine.

 

Un donjon situé hors du château disparu en 1832, lors de la construction du premier pont.

 

Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Nouâtre possède un camp de l'intendance militaire allemande surveillé par près de 300 soldats. Bien qu'ils aient été mis hors de cause par les enquêteurs, les soldats du camp de Nouâtre auraient joué un rôle dans le massacre de Maillé* (25 août 1944). Ils auraient servi de sentinelles en encerclant le village de Maillé pour empêcher la fuite de ses habitants.

  

*Jean d’Estouteville (1405-1494), seigneur de Torcy et de Blainville (en Seine Maritime), prévôt de Paris, conseiller et chambellan de Charles VII , grand-maître des arbalétriers de France sous Louis XI, lieutenant-général entre la Seine et la Somme sous Charles VIII, avait épousé Françoise de la Rochefoucauld, fille d’Aymar IV de la Rochefoucauld (mort en 1455), seigneur de Montbazon, de Sainte-Maure et de Nouâtre. En 1450, son beau-père lui vend la seigneurie de Nouâtre pour 15 000 écus d’or et en 1453, Charles VII autorisa Jean d’Estouteville à relever les fortifications du château, qui était alors en fort mauvais état. Mais la vente de la seigneurie de Nouâtre fut annulée en 1467 à la demande de Jean du Fou, beau-frère de Jean d’Estouteville (www.litteratur.fr/nouatre/gens-de-nouatre/19/). La famille d'Estouteville trouve ses racines en Angleterre, après les invasions normandes. On retrouve de même origine: des Stuteville en Grande-Bretagne et des Tuttavilla en Italie.

 

*Jean du Fou était un descendant de la famille bretonne des Faou. Il fut successivement gouverneur de Bretagne puis de Touraine et chambellan du roi Louis XI. Il épousera Jeanne de la Rochefoucauld, dame de Montbazon, de Sainte Maure et de Nouâtre.

 

*Le massacre de Maillé est le meurtre, le 25 août 1944, de 124 (dont 44 enfants de moins de 14 ans et 42 femmes) des 500 habitants de la commune de Maillé (Indre-et-Loire). Massacre en représailles contre les actions de la Résistance locale. Sur place, on retrouvera deux billets marqués dans un français approximatif : "C’est la punition des terroristes et de leurs assistants". Le massacre est l’œuvre d’une vengeance. Le lieutenant-colonel Stenger, reconnaît avoir donné l'ordre des représailles (C'est également la colonne du lieutenant-colonel Stenger qui se livrera au massacre de Dampierre (Gargilesse-Dampierre dans l'Indre), le 27 juillet 1944). Un seul homme a été condamné par contumace par la justice militaire française en 1952 : Il s'agit du sous-lieutenant Gustav Schlüter présent sur place. Il est mort à Hambourg en 1965.

   

Voir :Succession des seigneurs de Nouâtre d'après Pierre Marie Danquigny (Maire de Nouâtre depuis 2014, Président du MRAP): www.litteratur.fr/nouatre/seigneurs-de-nouatre/

Piglio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers.It has been identified with the ancient Roman Capitulum, a Hernican town. Its area was the seat of several Roman patrician towns.In 1088 it is mentioned as Castrum Pileum; according to a legend, the name would stem from the Latin pileum, the helmet of Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. In that period it depended from the bishop of Anagni and, from the late 12th century, it was first a fief of the De Pileo and then of the De Antiochia families. In 1347 it was captured by Cola di Rienzo and, from the late 14th century, it was under the Colonna family, who held it until 1816. In 1656 the town was decimated by plague.Piglio became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1870. During World War II, it was bombed by Allied planes, with c. 30% of the edifices destroyed.

 

Piglio è un comune di 4.771 abitanti in provincia di Frosinone.Il paese si trova in posizione panoramica su una propaggine del monte Scalambra tra le valli dei fiumi Sacco e Aniene. Interessante il patrimonio naturalistico e storico-culturale.Inoltre diviso in due parti:piglio alto e romagnano.Il territorio era abitato da popolazioni erniche e potrebbe forse essere identificato con il Capitulum Hernicum o Hernicorum di cui parla Strabone, collocandolo tra Olibanum (Olevano) e Anagnia (Anagni). La zona fu in seguito conquistata dai Romani e fu sede di diverse ville rustiche di cui si conservano resti ("villa di Mecenate" nella località "Le Fattora", "villa di Sant'Eligio", villa della località "Fontana di Grano").Con il nome di Castrum Pileum è citato in un documento del 1088 e secondo una leggenda il nome deriverebbe dal pileum, l'elmo romano che sarebbe caduto per un forte vento al condottiero Quinto Fabio Massimo il Temporeggiatore mentre passava nel territorio.Nell'XI secolo dipendeva dal vescovo di Anagni e dalla fine del XII secolo fu in possesso prima dei De Pileo (o "Buccaporco"), probabilmente imparentati con i Caetani, e poi dei De Antiochia. Nel 1347 fu preso da Cola di Rienzo, Passò quindi alla fine del XIV secolo in possesso dei Colonna, che lo mantennero fino al 1816. Saccheggiato nel 1526 dalle truppe di papa Clemente VII, e dalla metà del XVI secolo era inserito nella provincia di "Campagna Marittima" dello Stato Pontificio. Nel 1656 la popolazione venne decimata da una pestilenza, che secondo la leggenda fu arrestata dalla miracolosa immagine della "Madonna delle Rose".Nel 1799 il paese subì distruzioni ad opera delle truppe francesi. Ritornato allo Stato Pontificio fece parte del "distretto di Tivoli". Nel 1849 vi passò Giuseppe Garibaldi, diretto alla difesa della Repubblica Romana. Dopo la presa di Roma nel 1870 fu annesso al Regno di Italia e fece parte del "mandamento" di Paliano nel "circondario" di Frosinone, che apparteneva alla allora provincia di Roma, unica per il Lazio. Agli inizi del XX secolo fu attraversato dalla ferrovia a scattamento ridotto che metteva in comunicazione Roma e Frosinone. Nel 1926 venne eretto il Municipio e nel 1927 entrò a far parte della provincia di Frosinone. Durante la seconda guerra mondiale e la liberazione dall'occupazione tedesca, fu bombardato dagli Alleati nel 1944, con la distruzione di circa il 30% degli edifici.Lo sperone roccioso è dominato nella parte più alta dal Castello Colonna, le cui origini risalgono probabilmente agli inizi dell'XI secolo. Il castello è suddiviso in una parte alta ("Palatium superiore"), costruita su una spianata alla sommità della collina e comprendente, secondo le antiche descrizioni, la rocca con una loggia, una cisterna, la piazza d'armi (platea curiae) e il palazzo baronale con salone di rappresentanza. Da qui si scendeva, superando un dislivello di circa 25 m, alla parte bassa (Palatium inferius o "Castellutium, con una corte su cui prospettavano camere ornate da pitture. Il castello controllava la strada di accesso agli Altipiani di Arcinazzo.Della rocca superiore restano un torrione quadrato e un muro di cinta difeso da torri verso nord, mentre dagli edifici sul lato sud, a due piani si scende nella piazza dell'"Arringo". Attualmente vi è ospitato l'Antiquarium, comunale. Da esso si scendeva mediante una scala all'"Arringo". La parte bassa, risalente probabilmente agli inizi dell XIV secolo si sviluppa attualmente in una costruzione a due piani, con sistemazione esterna dovuta ad un rimaneggiamento ottocentesco e protegge la porta principale di accesso. L'"arco della Fontana che si apre nella parte inferiore del vecchio castello verso il paese è fiancheggiata da una trifora tardo-romanica.Il paese ("Borgo") si sviluppa sulla parte restante del rilievo: le case stesse costruite sui margini verso il dirupo ne costituiscono la struttura difensiva. La pianta assume la tipica forma "a fuso", con la via principale (via Maggiore" e "via dell'Arringo") che ne forma l'asse tra la "porta del Pei" di ingresso al paese e il castello.La chiesa collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore o dell'Assunta, risalente alla fine del XIII secolo fu in gran parte distrutta dai bombardamenti del 1944 e ricostruita nel dopoguerra nelle forme originarie baroccheggianti: conserva su un fianco i resti dell'ogiva di un antico portale. Ha tre navate presenta la facciata con un rosone e chiusa da due campanili gemelli. Da maggio a ottobre vi viene conservata la statua della "Madonna delle Rose", che viene riportata in processione al suo santuario il 30 ottobre, anniversario della liberazione di Piglio dalla peste.

Il santuario della "Madonna delle Rose" o della "Madre Santissima" fu edificato nel XVII secolo intorno alla miracolosa icona bizantina (un affresco del XIV secolo), a cui si attribuisce il miracolo di aver arrestato la peste del 1656.La chiesa di San Rocco presenta un affresco quattrocentesco che raffigura la "Madonna, san Lorenzo, sant'Antonio Abate e altri santi".Il convento francescano di San Lorenzo venne fondato secondo la leggenda dallo stesso San Francesco in viaggio verso Subiaco, su un terreno donato dal cardinale Giovanni Colonna, vescovo di Sabina nel 1215. La chiesa di San Lorenzo, del XV secolo, su edificio forse precedente e con annessa cappella dedicata al beato Andrea Conti, venne ricostruita a pianta ellittica nel 1773 dall'architetto Giuseppe Ferroni, ma era in abbandono nel 1873. Subì gravi danni nel terremoto del 1915 e per i bombardamenti del 1944 e fu quindi ricostruita secondo le forme originarie nel 1954. Da qui si accede alla grotta in cui era vissuto in romitaggio il beato Andrea Conti, morto nel 1302.Il convento francescano di San Giovanni fu eretto nel 1620 presso una chiesa già nominata come esistente nel XIII secolo, rifatta nel 1632. Chiesa e convento abbandonati in seguito alla soppressione degli ordini religiosi nel 1870 e danneggiati in seguito al terremoto del 1915, furono restaurati nel 1923 e nuovamente distrutti nel 1944 dai bombardamenti. Gli attuali edifici furono ricostruiti in forme moderne tra il 1949 e il 1951.

 

Font : Wikipedia

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKXkgcEulTo

Piglio is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about 50 km east of Rome and about 30 km northwest of Frosinone, offering a panoramic view on the valleys of the Sacco and Aniene rivers.It has been identified with the ancient Roman Capitulum, a Hernican town. Its area was the seat of several Roman patrician towns.In 1088 it is mentioned as Castrum Pileum; according to a legend, the name would stem from the Latin pileum, the helmet of Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. In that period it depended from the bishop of Anagni and, from the late 12th century, it was first a fief of the De Pileo and then of the De Antiochia families. In 1347 it was captured by Cola di Rienzo and, from the late 14th century, it was under the Colonna family, who held it until 1816. In 1656 the town was decimated by plague.Piglio became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy in 1870. During World War II, it was bombed by Allied planes, with c. 30% of the edifices destroyed.

 

Piglio è un comune di 4.771 abitanti in provincia di Frosinone.Il paese si trova in posizione panoramica su una propaggine del monte Scalambra tra le valli dei fiumi Sacco e Aniene. Interessante il patrimonio naturalistico e storico-culturale.Inoltre diviso in due parti:piglio alto e romagnano.Il territorio era abitato da popolazioni erniche e potrebbe forse essere identificato con il Capitulum Hernicum o Hernicorum di cui parla Strabone, collocandolo tra Olibanum (Olevano) e Anagnia (Anagni). La zona fu in seguito conquistata dai Romani e fu sede di diverse ville rustiche di cui si conservano resti ("villa di Mecenate" nella località "Le Fattora", "villa di Sant'Eligio", villa della località "Fontana di Grano").Con il nome di Castrum Pileum è citato in un documento del 1088 e secondo una leggenda il nome deriverebbe dal pileum, l'elmo romano che sarebbe caduto per un forte vento al condottiero Quinto Fabio Massimo il Temporeggiatore mentre passava nel territorio.Nell'XI secolo dipendeva dal vescovo di Anagni e dalla fine del XII secolo fu in possesso prima dei De Pileo (o "Buccaporco"), probabilmente imparentati con i Caetani, e poi dei De Antiochia. Nel 1347 fu preso da Cola di Rienzo, Passò quindi alla fine del XIV secolo in possesso dei Colonna, che lo mantennero fino al 1816. Saccheggiato nel 1526 dalle truppe di papa Clemente VII, e dalla metà del XVI secolo era inserito nella provincia di "Campagna Marittima" dello Stato Pontificio. Nel 1656 la popolazione venne decimata da una pestilenza, che secondo la leggenda fu arrestata dalla miracolosa immagine della "Madonna delle Rose".Nel 1799 il paese subì distruzioni ad opera delle truppe francesi. Ritornato allo Stato Pontificio fece parte del "distretto di Tivoli". Nel 1849 vi passò Giuseppe Garibaldi, diretto alla difesa della Repubblica Romana. Dopo la presa di Roma nel 1870 fu annesso al Regno di Italia e fece parte del "mandamento" di Paliano nel "circondario" di Frosinone, che apparteneva alla allora provincia di Roma, unica per il Lazio. Agli inizi del XX secolo fu attraversato dalla ferrovia a scattamento ridotto che metteva in comunicazione Roma e Frosinone. Nel 1926 venne eretto il Municipio e nel 1927 entrò a far parte della provincia di Frosinone. Durante la seconda guerra mondiale e la liberazione dall'occupazione tedesca, fu bombardato dagli Alleati nel 1944, con la distruzione di circa il 30% degli edifici.Lo sperone roccioso è dominato nella parte più alta dal Castello Colonna, le cui origini risalgono probabilmente agli inizi dell'XI secolo. Il castello è suddiviso in una parte alta ("Palatium superiore"), costruita su una spianata alla sommità della collina e comprendente, secondo le antiche descrizioni, la rocca con una loggia, una cisterna, la piazza d'armi (platea curiae) e il palazzo baronale con salone di rappresentanza. Da qui si scendeva, superando un dislivello di circa 25 m, alla parte bassa (Palatium inferius o "Castellutium, con una corte su cui prospettavano camere ornate da pitture. Il castello controllava la strada di accesso agli Altipiani di Arcinazzo.Della rocca superiore restano un torrione quadrato e un muro di cinta difeso da torri verso nord, mentre dagli edifici sul lato sud, a due piani si scende nella piazza dell'"Arringo". Attualmente vi è ospitato l'Antiquarium, comunale. Da esso si scendeva mediante una scala all'"Arringo". La parte bassa, risalente probabilmente agli inizi dell XIV secolo si sviluppa attualmente in una costruzione a due piani, con sistemazione esterna dovuta ad un rimaneggiamento ottocentesco e protegge la porta principale di accesso. L'"arco della Fontana che si apre nella parte inferiore del vecchio castello verso il paese è fiancheggiata da una trifora tardo-romanica.Il paese ("Borgo") si sviluppa sulla parte restante del rilievo: le case stesse costruite sui margini verso il dirupo ne costituiscono la struttura difensiva. La pianta assume la tipica forma "a fuso", con la via principale (via Maggiore" e "via dell'Arringo") che ne forma l'asse tra la "porta del Pei" di ingresso al paese e il castello.La chiesa collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore o dell'Assunta, risalente alla fine del XIII secolo fu in gran parte distrutta dai bombardamenti del 1944 e ricostruita nel dopoguerra nelle forme originarie baroccheggianti: conserva su un fianco i resti dell'ogiva di un antico portale. Ha tre navate presenta la facciata con un rosone e chiusa da due campanili gemelli. Da maggio a ottobre vi viene conservata la statua della "Madonna delle Rose", che viene riportata in processione al suo santuario il 30 ottobre, anniversario della liberazione di Piglio dalla peste.

Il santuario della "Madonna delle Rose" o della "Madre Santissima" fu edificato nel XVII secolo intorno alla miracolosa icona bizantina (un affresco del XIV secolo), a cui si attribuisce il miracolo di aver arrestato la peste del 1656.La chiesa di San Rocco presenta un affresco quattrocentesco che raffigura la "Madonna, san Lorenzo, sant'Antonio Abate e altri santi".Il convento francescano di San Lorenzo venne fondato secondo la leggenda dallo stesso San Francesco in viaggio verso Subiaco, su un terreno donato dal cardinale Giovanni Colonna, vescovo di Sabina nel 1215. La chiesa di San Lorenzo, del XV secolo, su edificio forse precedente e con annessa cappella dedicata al beato Andrea Conti, venne ricostruita a pianta ellittica nel 1773 dall'architetto Giuseppe Ferroni, ma era in abbandono nel 1873. Subì gravi danni nel terremoto del 1915 e per i bombardamenti del 1944 e fu quindi ricostruita secondo le forme originarie nel 1954. Da qui si accede alla grotta in cui era vissuto in romitaggio il beato Andrea Conti, morto nel 1302.Il convento francescano di San Giovanni fu eretto nel 1620 presso una chiesa già nominata come esistente nel XIII secolo, rifatta nel 1632. Chiesa e convento abbandonati in seguito alla soppressione degli ordini religiosi nel 1870 e danneggiati in seguito al terremoto del 1915, furono restaurati nel 1923 e nuovamente distrutti nel 1944 dai bombardamenti. Gli attuali edifici furono ricostruiti in forme moderne tra il 1949 e il 1951.

 

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