Isola Farnese

The name Isola Farnese originates from two different eras. The first part of the name relates to the medieval terminology of “insula”, which serves to designate the number of places, common in the Roman countryside, surrounded by ditches or waterways: the rock upon which the village stands is in fact surrounded on the north side by the Fosso del Fiordo, right tributary of the torrent Valchetta. The second derivation of the name, as attested by the local tradition, is borrowed from the powerful family of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese as will be explained better later. If then it was the insula to take the name of the Farnese there is no ground for the thesis that was argued by some in the past claiming that the name “Farnese” derived from a type of oak at the time abundant in the surrounding woods called “fargne” or “farnia”. After the demise of the “Municipium Augustum Veiens”, built by the Romans after the conquest of the Etruscan city of Veii in the southern part of it, the site has had various names: in the papal bulls of 955 and 1074 and other documents of the 10th century, the only ones that exists after the period of silence that followed the death of the Roman municipium, the place on which there had been built in the meantime a fortified castle surrounded by poor houses, was cited with the name “Insula de Agella” then “Insula De Agolli” (in a Bull of Leo IX). Throughout the Middle Ages there was talk of the island “quae vocatur Agella“, i.e. called Agella: hence is derived the name that was given in the village of Isola Farnese to Via Agella, ranging from Via Isola Farnese to Piazza della Colonetta (the latter named after the Roman column that is found there). Following the place appeared under the name of “insula pontis veneni”, where “veneni” according to the Nibby may result from “Veienti”, badly transcribed by the amanuensis. Later the name became first “castrum pontis veneni” and then slowly “castrum insulae”, where “castrum”, as in many places in Lazio, is clearly indicating a fortified place: at the end in the years that followed, the name the “island castle” came to designate the entire district and the area around it. The castle built in the eleventh century is in fact mentioned in a document dated 1003 in which Pope John XVII (1003-1006) assigned ownership of a “Castellum insulae” to the Abbot of Saints Cosmas and Damian. During the papacy of Pope Paschal II (1099-1118), the castle gave hospitality to the hostages sent by the Emperor Henry V and in 1209 the Emperor Otto IV of Brunswick stayed there. In 1286 the castle became property of the Orsini, who in 1312 gave hospitality to the Emperor Henry VII: in 1502 the castle was taken from the Orsini by Cesare Borgia, only to be returned a year after the death of Alexander VI Borgia. In 1567, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese bought the castle for his nephew Ottavio from Paolo Giordano Orsini, and incorporated it into the Duchy of Castro: in that century the manor acquired its present appearance and has since been called Castle of Isola Farnese. In the seventeenth century the castle and lands were forfeited by the Apostolic Camera who left it in perpetual lease in 1753 to Count Leonardo Casoni: in 1820 it was sold to Princess Marianne of Savoy, Duchess of Chablais, form which it was inherited first by S. M. Maria Cristina, Queen of Sardinia, and then by the Rospigliosi and finally by the Marquis Ferraioli. The castle was abandoned and defaced by vandals, changes and superstructures, especially during the period 1915-1918, in which it was used as barracks for the prisoners of war: so the then owner Filippo Ferraioli decides to provide for its restoration, but though without seeing its completion because he dies on 1 February 1926. The work was completed in 1930 and the incisions of the work of Canina scrupulously run trough the whole complex: the restoration is remembered by a plaque in the courtyard, with an inscription dictated by Jesuit Father Pietro Tacchi Venturi. In a room on the ground floor was arranged the depository of the Ministry of National Education, to collect material from the excavations: later the restoration has been placed in the castle along with other local institutions, such as a kindergarten opened May 2, 1926 by Senator Pietro Fedele, then Minister of Education Today the castle is private property. The castle has the architectural characteristics of the sixteenth century: the medieval fortress, built in the seventeenth century building, is no longer recognizable. The few original structures are visible on the remains of the fence and some circular or square watchtowers. It was separated from the village by an artificial moat over which a drawbridge once came down. In the entrance arch there is the Cardinal emblem with the lilies of the Farnese. The castle has undergone monumental constraint imposed by Statutory Instrument issued September 15 1961 under Law 1089/1939.

Veii

Was one of the richest and most famous cities of Etruria. The ancient sources insisted on stressing the breadth and richness of its territory, strategically located along the west bank of the Tiber, just 15 km from Rome. The rivalry between the two powerful cities was ancient, and is probably connected with their attempts to control the salt marshes near the outfall of the Tiber, and thus the salt trade, vital product in the economy of ancient societies. Military skirmishes and border attacks had to be, since very ancient times, the order of the day, so much so that the first war against Veii is traced to the principate of Romulus. The latest chapter in the saga between Rome and Veii is handed down by the sources with great richness in details and a highly epic tone. Not all data seem worthy of the tradition of faith, however, stripped the story of particular suspicion; it clearly reflects the historical substratum. In 406 B.C. immediately after the expiration of twenty years of peace concluded with Veii, the hostilities between the two cities were renewed. The Romans, who had regained momentum after the victorious campaign against the Volsci, were seriously intending to get rid of that thorn in the side, once and for all. For the first time, instead of waiting for the enemy’s actions and simply dismiss their attacks, they led an army all the way to the walls of Veii and laid siege there. The conquest of the city was not easy, because the attackers showed very early a tenacious resistance, transforming operations into a long and exhausting war of position. Despite repeated requests for help, none of the Etruscan cities came to the rescue of the besieged city, either for lack of a sense of national cohesion or because they had not yet fully understood the danger of the formation of the power of Rome.. Only the Capenati and the Falisci, populations of the Latin race but related to the Etruscan on the political level, fearing that the defeat of Veii would have overwhelmed also them, sent two armies to defend the city. Veii repeatedly tried to break the siege with the help of their allies, but the Romans were able to repel the enemy sorties and keep their locations intact.. This war of attrition was to continue for an infinite time, and if the Romans had not conquered Veii rapidly, the arrival of the Gauls in Rome could turn the tide of the war, in favor of Veii. In 396 B.C, the freedom of Veii vanished forever, but the city did not disappear altogether, as the Roman sources claim.

Church Isola Farnese

The Parish Church, located in Piazza della Colonnetta, is dedicated to St. Pancras the Martyr. The Portal is made from ancient reused material and presents, inserted in the outer left corner, a marble memorial, funerary stele from the Roman period. The Church, which is from the 1400, consists of three naves, has little light that comes from small windows overhead. On the portal there is a rose window of stained glass. Interesting interior frescoes have been found from the same period. Next to the central door on the left side, looking from the inside, you can admire a beautiful fresco by the Viterbo school from the fifteenth century representing the Blessed Virgin holding the Child Jesus, St. John the Evangelist and Saint Anthony Abbot. On the opposite side, always next to the portal, there is a crib from the same period. It is noteworthy in the latter composition, the intense, bearded figure of the dwarf (with a striped tunic), following the King. This fresco is from Roman times and there is this inscription: “This Chapel has been painted by Giulio of Cola della Bordella inhabitant of the Island for his devotion, A.D. 1520 day XXIV of May”. Walking from the door toward the altar, painted on one of the pillars you will find Mary nursing the Child, a beautiful representation of the Virgin Mother, with an intense expression that recalls the Madonnas of Raffaello. In the nave on the right, in a chapel that has been recently restored, you will find an interesting Christ on the cross in wood by the Tuscan school. The work, of magnificent workmanship, dates back to 1450 and, given the rigidity of the body suggests that it is from the school of Giotto. In the apse of the nave, there is a large fresco by the school of Melozzo from Forlì that represents the “Death of Virgin Mary” (Dormitio Mariae) who appears on a bed surrounded by the Apostles; at the top you can admire the Assumption of Mary. On the right (with his back to the main altar) there is the altar of St. Pancras the Martyr. The canvas of Cristoforo Roncalli, the so-called Pomarancio, represents St. Pancras the Martyr; in the background is the Roman countryside, medieval towers and a cluster of houses, the few which at the time formed the township around the castle of Isola. On the left of the main altar, there is the altar of Our lady of the Rosary. The oil painting on canvas by Cavalier D’Aquino is dated 1639 and was ordered by Margherita De Satis. The canvases representing the 15 mysteries that ones surrounded the picture have by the most part been stolen and replaced by others recently donated to the parish of St. Pancras. On another altar, more on the far right, there is the image of Saint Anthony the Abbot, patron saint of the animals, represented with a boar at his feet and on his left side an angel holding a stick with a bell. The baptismal font bears the emblem of the Farnese family. The holy water font is made of two Corinthian capitals united by a fine marble motif that represents on the three sides two pigeons that drink inside a hollow.