Italy's Free Museums : Civita Castellana's Fortress

Edward Lear- Ponte Clementino and Fortezza Sangallo
with Monte Soratte in the background 

Recently  Italian  Culture Minister Franceschini  announced that museums in Italy  would be free  on the first Sunday of each month. At the same time he  annulled  the existing  free entrance for  citizens over  65, annoying   pensioners who  had been enjoying this valuable  cultural opportunity during the week.

one of many papal  monuments  

Julius II  fireplace 

 He is also  getting into  hot water  with other European member  states for cancelling  existing reciprocal agreements. Somehow it doesn’t make sense to be able to visit  state   museums in France, Spain and other European community  cities freely while paying a full price entrance ticket  to visit museums in  one's own  country. 

main courtyard  of the Fortezza di Sangallo 

It was a nice surprise then  to visit Civita Castellana’s  Museo dell'Agro Falisco  last Saturday  and also enjoy  a free hour-long  tour with  the  head of the museum for the past  30 years.   

with Claudio, Caposervizio  at the Museum for over 30 years 

Signor Claudio showed us and another couple around, explaining  the history, architecture and exhibits as if he were showing friends around his own home.

  The imposing  fortress/museum was built by Sangallo the Elder  for  the Borgia and Della Rovere popes (Alexander VI  and  Julius II) in  the  Renaissance  years  in order to guard the roads to  Rome, a day's march away.

Later it used as a prison for the Papal  States  and during the second world war numerous  homeless  families found refuge here  after  the city was bombed.   

The fortified castle has a very picturesque  setting  with   towers and moats overlooking  steep  gorges  and the  Clementino  bridge. Since it was  constructed  in 1712, the bridge  has been  a favorite subject for painters  of the  Grand Tour as well as those  contemporary artists who come to paint here each summer.

well head with Pope Julius II's coat of arms

crossing the drawbridge 

one of the painted loggias 

The museum’s collections include Etruscan and Greek vases once belonging to the local noble  Feroldi family, a unique Etruscan chariot, terracotta and marble sculpture  and funerary monuments.

bronze chariot 

Visitors  can  admire  objects of  the Faliscans  and realize what a shame it is that so  little is left  of  this  pre-Roman   civilization  which flourished   in Falerii Veteres, nowadays known as  Civita Castellana. 

Hill towns near Rome: Ronciglione

If you are watching  the TV series  “The Borgias”  you are taking a virtual tour of  some of the  hill towns in the area north of Rome.  

Main gateway entering Ronciglione 

  Last night’s episodes  featured  a bull fight in the amphitheatre of Sutri and   a visit to the Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano. See more about this castle on the blog posts of the past couple of weeks. 

gorge  and medieval quarter, Ronciglione 

  

laundry  with cupola and bell tower 

Vignola's   fountain of the Unicorns 

exploring the back streets  of Ronciglione  

  The  film director  used some  good camera work  to make the view from the castle gardens  look like  the Bay of Naples.

Ronciglione  once had a  ghetto 

garden on the street 

Those of us who live here  have our personal favorites: usually they are the towns we know best…where our friends live, or where our  favorite restaurants are located.

castle of Julius II 

 Many of  the hill towns  in the Etruria area  coincidentally  begin with the letter “V”: Vignanello, Vallerano, Vitorchiano and  of course Vetralla.  I’d love to hear why from  a specialist in  linguistics.  

medieval  alley way 

 Last weekend’s outing  brought me to  an “R”  town; Ronciglione, known familiarly  by  the natives  as “Ronciò”, which is also the name of a typical farming utensil used  to hoe and cut crops. 

It has also been used  as  a murder weapon  in the dark days  when families such as the Borgia   lived and ruled in this area. 

Entering  the town through an imposing doorway topped with papal coat of arms,  we walked along the main street where colorful Baroque period  facades  made a sharp contrast  with the  dark stone  of the medieval houses. 

 Each February a terrifying  rider-less horse race is held  along this street to celebrate  Carnival time .   

bright Baroque 

The town is dotted with churches,  bell towers, palazzi, convents and castles and the medieval quarter  is intact and  perfect for a stroll , but watch out for falling roof tiles.

a green corner of the medieval quarter 

Ronciò  cat  

cats rule

Being  originally  from the mill town of  Lowell, MA where the rushing waters of the Merrimack river created  the Industrial Revolution  in the 1840s-60s and the famous “Mile  of  Mills”, I felt  quite at home in Ronciglione.
Which is your favorite hill town in Italy? 

The streams  which rush through the gorges were used  as a primitive source of water power which made Ronciglione an early industrial center with production of metal objects and printing. Playing cards produced here were famous around the world. The tradition is continued by the Spada  printing company  which produced  my book Etruria.