It stands on the western crest of the volcanic crater of
the Volsini hills, in a beautiful position above Lake Bolsena. The historic
centre is characterised by the pointed bell tower of the collegiate church and
by the tower of the fortress known as the Rocca Farnese. Its period of
greatest prosperity began in the second half of the fourteenth century, when
the area was handed over by the Holy See to Ranuccio and Puccio Farnese and
was strengthened with the ascent of Paul III to the papal throne. The collegiate
church of San Giovanni Evangelista (dating to the twelfth century) houses,
among other things, an eighteenth-century canvas of the school of Maratta (Madonna
of the Rosary) and a sixteenth-century fresco depicting the Crucifixion.
In the church of Santa Croce we can appreciate a fifteenth-century
fresco with the Madonna and Child, Angels and Flagellants. The fortress
has an elegant fifteenth-century courtyard leading to various rooms restored
for cultural and social activities, with remains of frescoes of various epochs,
including the depiction of the Holy Stairway of 1750. The building houses the
Museo della preistoria della Tuscia e della Rocca Farnese, subdivided into
various parts: the section on prehistoric Tuscia (with an exhibit of findings
from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age) and the Rocca Farnese section (medieval
and Renaissance ceramics and other finds). Of noteworthy importance are the
treasures found in the "tips" (dumping pits in the fortress),
including the small wedding plate of Pier Luigi Farnese (son of the future
Pope Paul III) and Gerolama Orsini. Another section contains Etruscan
archaeological finds. In the portico of the Palazzo Comunale we can see
the fifteenth-century coats of arms of the Farnese family and of Martin V
Colonna, the arms of Paul III and a stone "bushel" (ancient measure
used in the Duchy of Castro). The communal library houses the
Historical Archives of the city of Castro. A short way from the historic
centre stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Salute with a crèche
with eighteenth-century polychrome wooden figures. The mathematician Paolo
Ruffini was born in Valentano on 22nd September 1765.
The “solco dritto”
This is a ritual symbolically performed for centuries in
Valentano on the fourteenth of August each year: men spur on the oxen that
pull the plough, marking out a long, sharp, straight furrow, amidst the
wide expanse of the fields. This is the final effort of the summer season
to thank heaven and earth for the gifts received.
Lake Mezzano
A few kilometres from the town: Lake Mezzano, of volcanic
origin, at an altitude of 452 metres (47 hectares in size, a perimeter of 2 km
and a maximum depth of 36 metres). As some would have it, it is the “lacus
Statoniensis” described by Seneca and Pliny. It seems that the ancient city
of Statonia stood on its shores: underwater surveys have made it possible to
establish the limits of two anthropic settlements consisting of lake-dwellings
fixed on the lake bed.
;)
;)
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