Its mythological origins go back to Noah, who supposedly
settled in these parts after the flood to found a village and recover his
strength, after all his efforts, with the wine of Vetralla. Proof of
Etruscan settlements can be found in various necropolises in the environs (Cerracchio
and Grotta Porcina). Records of the Roman age remain in a statio in
the area of Forum Cassii along the stretch of the ancient consular
road, the Via Cassia. The present-day town, with a medieval layout, lies
huddled along a road that winds its way between the ancient houses where the
fortress used to be and of which modest remains are visible (a
lavishly restored cylindrical tower).
The cathedral of Sant'Andrea has an
eighteenth-century appearance and preserves an authentic gallery of
eighteenth-century Roman painting: Madonna of the Rosary attributed
to Ludovico Mazzanti, Crucifixion of St. Andrew by Domenico Muratori
(also responsible for the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of
the Assumption), the Baptist and Saints Giacomo Triga and the Transfiguration
by Marco Benefial. There is an outstanding panel (perhaps from the
twelfth century) of the Madonna Intercessor (on the reverse, the Head
of the Saviour). A small crystal shrine houses several reliquaries (including
one in silver gilt done in 1433 by Giovanni Anastasio di Vitale and a small
silvered urn with the relics of St. Hippolytus).
It is worth noting the organ and the choir, Baroque in
aspect, and the wooden statue of the Immaculate Conception.
The church or San Francesco, an estimable
Romanesque construction dating to the eleventh century, has an elegant
Cosmati portal with a finely decorated lunette. Inside, with a nave and two
aisles divided by columns surmounted by ornate capitals of free Corinthian
inspiration, we can admire the remains of the mosaic floor, the Cosmati
mosaic antependium on the high altar, the fifteenth-century sepulchral
monument of Briobris di Vico (a work by Paolo Romano), a marble tabernacle
of the fifteenth century and a series of frescoes of various epochs. In the
intradoses of the presbytery and the triumphal arch and in the apse, the
paintings date to the fourteenth century. In the four niches in the side
aisles, the paintings date to the fifteenth century. The frescoes on the
walls of the central nave and in the presbytery, with stories on the life of
St. Francis, date to the sixteenth and seventeenth century (Francesco
Villamena 1566-1624).
There is a fine crypt (dating to the seventh-eighth
century), with three aspes and six aisles, entirely dug out of the rock,
with cross-vaults supported by columns consist ing of classical fragments
and surmounted by capitals, some of which are archaic.
Of the other churches, those most worthy of mention are Sant’Egidio
(Madonna attributed to the school of Lorenzo of Viterbo), San
Pietro (sixteenth-century canvas with the Madonna of Redemption), and
Santi Filippo e Giacomo (Madonna and Child of the
fifteenth-sixteenth century).
The aristocratic-looking Palazzo Comunale, done
in a Vignola style, and other palazzi show details that recall the incisive
presence of the Farnese family.
The Museo della Città e del Territorio has been
set up in premises in the historic centre, near the castle walls, and puts
on exhibits dedicated to the historic centres and traditional handicrafts of
Tuscia. The town of Vetralla extends for all practical purposes as far as
the nearby hamlet of Cura, whose parish church or Maria Santissima del
Soccorso contains an eighteenth-century altarpiece of the Visitation and
a fifteenth-century fresco depicting the Madonna and Child and Saints.
Near the town, amidst the age-old woods of Mount Fogliano,
stands the convent of Sant'Angelo, converted into its present form by
the Passionists after 1744. It contains the mortal remains of St. Paul of
the Cross and of Brother Giovan Battista Danei. Among others, it gave
hospitality to the Blessed Domenico Barberi (Viterbo 1792 - Sutton 1849),
who contributed a great deal to the "conversion" to Catholicism
(1845) of the Protestant Cardinal Newmann.
Wedding of the tree
On the 8th May, for the feast of the Apparition of St.
Michael the Archangel the mayor of Vetralla, together with other
representatives of the Commune and a crowd of "witnesses", goes
into the woods opposite the convent of Sant'Angelo on Mount Fogliano to draw
up the deed of recognition and ownership by the people of Vetralla over
Sant'Angelo and the entire forest. The ritual takes place in the presence of
an old-age turkey oak, festively wreathed with flowers, broom, narcissus and
a bridal veil. This is an excellent opportunity to stroll in the woods and
visit the convent. History recounts that in 1432 Pope Eugenius IV accorded
the estate of Mount Fogliano to the people of Vetralla. The ownership of the
woods, the object of long and bitter disputes by Viterbo and the Anguillara
family, was confirmed in 1544 and by a judgement of the Sacred Rota three
centuries later.
Since 1470, on the 8th May each year it has become a
custom to confirm the ownership of Fogliano by the people of Vetralla
through a public deed.
;)
;)
