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Soriano nel Cimino

Description

It is a town in the province of Viterbo, set amidst the chestnut woods of the Cimini Mountains and surrounded by two rivers, both tributaries of the Tiber. From the urban point of view, it features the characteristics of medieval center, dominated by the predominant Orsini Castle, around which developed the civilian homes, that follow the slope of the hill. Mentioned for the first time by the Roman historian Titus Livius in his work "Ab Urbe Condita", which narrates how the Roman troops defeated those Etruscans who lived in the area, in the IV century A.D. A population that were evangelized by Sant'Eutizio, martyred by Diocletian and was buried in the catacombs of Soriano.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the town was the subject of raids of Barbarian invaders, until the territory was donated to the Pope by the Lombard king Liutprando. After being under the control of the Benedictine monks, it was ceded to the Orsini Family, who stated the construction of the castle, still visible. In 1420 the Breton troops, called by the Pope to quell some riots, established a period of calm and La Rocca and Soriano were assigned to the Colonna Family. This domination was followed by those of other local lords, often with a degree of kinship with the Pope on turn.
Sites of Interest:
- the Orsini Castle, the most representative building of the town, surrounded by high walls and battlements. It features a palace built by Pope Nicholas III Orsini, from an older tower and a series of smaller buildings that connected between each other. Around the castle spread the medieval village, with its narrow and winding streets;
- Palazzo Chigi, built in the second half of the XVI century by Cardinal Madruzzo, which is also responsible for the construction of the Fountain Papacqua, that adorns the terrace, accessible through the main front door. It consists of bas-reliefs carved into the rock with a series of representations, such as: Moses strikes the rock with a stick from which flows the water to quench a crowd of Jews pleading, a gigantic female figure that holds close three children away from a satyr; a shepherd with his flock that plays the flute while god Pan rips the ground waving a wand;
- the XVIII century Church of San Nicola di Bari, designed by Giulio Camporese in Neoclassical style. The interior features a Greek cross plan with rosettes in stucco, a fine wooden choir, a triptych and the Gothic statue of St. Anthony Abbot. The exterior features Doric columns on the first floor, and Ionic on the second, divided by a ledge in the middle of which opens a window;
- the Church of Sant'Eutizio, built in medieval times but rebuilt in the XVIII century, with a XIV century marble oil pix attributed to Andrea Bregno;
- the Church of San Giorgio, built in the XI century in Romanesque style, with elegant ornaments in the portal, in the apse and the tympanum;
- the Holy Trinity Church, built in the XVIII century, and within which is preserved an image of the Madonna and Child by the Art school of Siena;
- the Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Baroque style;
- the Church of the Madonna del Poggio, with its connecting Convent;
- Porta Romana, built by Prince Charles Albani in the XVIII century in order to set a limit to the boundaries of the town's center.

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