Altitude 332 m (1,090 feet). 50,000 inhabitants
It is
located on a spur of MOUNT ARTEMISIO
It is of
ancient origin, known as Velcester in
Volscan language, as Velitrae in
Latin language
It used to
be a holiday resort of the ancient Romans with beautiful villas
It gave rise
to the Octavia family from which Augustus (27 BC/14 AD) descended. He was born
in Rome, but he spent his childhood here
The city underwent
massive aerial bombardment during the Second World War
Neapolitan
Gate
1511 built
by workers from Lombardy region
S. Maria del
Trivio
St.
Mary of the Trivium
1622 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629), but completed only in 1726
Façade 1840
Giuseppe Andreoli
The bell
tower is known as the Tower of the
Trivium 1353 in Romanesque-Gothic style
Town
Hall
1572 Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) designed by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/13)
Finished in
1741 by Filippo Barigioni (about 1680/1753)
Rebuilt
after its destruction in World War Two
Home to the
CIVIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
The jewel
of the museum is the incredibly wonderful "Sarcophagus with the labors of
Hercules"
"Volscian
Terracotta"
"Slab
of the Praying Man" Christian tombstone of the fourth century AD
Diocesan
Museum
SEVEN ROOMS
in the cloister of the Cathedral of St. Clement
"Madonna
and Child with Angels” 1427 masterpiece by Gentile di Niccolò aka Gentile da Fabriano (about 1370/1427)
"Madonna
and Child" about 1482 Antonio Aquili aka Antoniazzo Romano (about 1435-40/1508)
"There
are influences of Piero Della Francesca and Melozzo Da Forlì, combined with
memories of the archaic tradition of Roman liturgy" (Antonio Paolucci)
"One of
the finest works of the Roman painter, possibly dated at an advanced stage of
his production closer to the paintings of the 1480s, influenced by Melozzo
(...) The theme of 'Our Lady of the Sill' is a theme that is native of
Florence, appearing in artistic production during the mid fifteenth century
(...) and then widely propagated even in the Umbrian and Roman areas. (...) The
first influences from Melozzo da Forli are felt in the roundness of the faces
and in the monumental expansion of the precious Virgin Mary" (Anna
Cavallaro)
"Madonna
and Child copy of the icon of St. Augustine" 1486 also by Antonio Aquili aka
Antoniazzo Romano, with small board at the base defining
it as a votive offering after the plague that had hit Velletri during the years
1483-1486
"The board
shows the Madonna (...) according to the Byzantine iconography of the Odigitria
(She Who Leads the Way), the child wearing a robe highlighted with gold and
blessing in the Greek manner. (...) It is one of the most interesting piece of
evidence of Antoniazzo being a copyist of Marian icons: it is in fact a copy offered
for the devotion of the citizens of Velletri, painted with a modern language,
of the medieval icon that is located on the main altar of the Roman church of
St. Augustine. (...) Antoniazzo saves at the same time the purpose of worship
and the expression of the latest
artistic trends: the figures are in fact regulated by a precise proportional scale
which is missing in the original" (Anna Cavallaro)
"Four
fragments of Exultet" membrane of the twelfth century
"History
of the Passion" French membrane of the XIII century
"Reliquary
of the Cross" in gold of the eleventh century, known as Croce Veliterna
(Cross of Velletri). It was stolen and recovered in 1998
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