Tuscania

Infobox CityIT
img_coa = tuscania-Stemma.png official_name = Comune di Tuscania
region = Lazio
province = Viterbo (VT)
elevation_m = 165
area_total_km2 = 208.03
population_as_of = December 31, 2004
population_total = 7857
population_density_km2 = 27.10
timezone = CET, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|42|25|N|11|52|E|
frazioni =
telephone = 0761
postalcode = 01017
gentilic = Tuscaniesi, Tuscanesi or Toscanellesi
saint = Sts. Secondianus, Verianus and Marcellianus Martyrs
day = August 8
mayor = Alessandro Cappelli (since May 2006)
website = [http://www.comune.tuscania.vt.it www.comune.tuscania.vt.it]

Tuscania is a town and "comune" in the province of Viterbo, Latium Region, Italy.

History

Ancient times

According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, where he had found twelve dog pups (whence the Etruscan name "Tus"-"Cana", "cana" begin similar to Latin "canis" for "dog"). Another legend attributes the foundation to one Tusco, son of Hercules and Araxes. Evidence of human presence in the area dates from the Neolithic age, but probably the city proper was built around the 7th century BCE when the acropolis on St. Peter Hill was surrounded by a line of walls. Villages existed in the neighbourhood. In the following years the strategical position granted Tuscania a leader role in the Etruscan world. After the defeat of the coastal cities by the Greeks (4th century BCE), Tuscania became also a maritime trade center through the port of "Regas" (next today's Montalto di Castro).There are no record of Tuscania being involved in the battles that led to the Roman conquest of the Etruscan northern Lazio (280 BCE), as the city probably entered into the Roman orbit in a Pacific way. The agricultural development and construction of the Via Clodia, further boosted the economic situation of the city. It became a "municipium" in 88 BCE.

Middle Ages

In the 5th century CE Tuscania became one of the first bishopric seat in Italy, maintaining it until 1653.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it fell to the Lombards in 569 or 574. In 781 it became part of the Papal States. In 967-1066 it was a fief of the Anguillara family and then of the marquises of Tuscany. In 1081 it was besieged by Emperor Henry IV.

In the following century it became a free commune with authority over a wide territory including numerous castles. The inner struggles within Tuscania led to a loss of prestige, in favour of the nearby Viterbo, which was elevated as diocese in 1192. In 1222 St. Francis of Assisi soujourned to the city. During the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, it was captured by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen on March 2, 1240, and provided with a line of walls.

A failed military expedition against Pope Boniface VIII (early 14th century), led to the submission to Rome, with the pejorative name of Tuscanella. In 1348-49 a bubonic plague struck Tuscania very hard. Shortly thereafter, in 1354, Cardinal Gil Alvarez De Albornoz definitively returned the town to the Papal States. In 1421 it became a county under the condottiero Angelo Broglio da Lavello.

In 1495 it was ravaged by the French troops of King Charles VIII during his march towards the Kingdom of Naples, much thanks to the destruction of the walls ordered by Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi in reply to the continue inner struggles and riots of the citizens. The city lived thenceforth a long decline which lasted until the annexion to the new unified Kingdom of Italy in 1870.

On February 6, 1971 an earthquake caused 31 deaths.

Main sights

The main monument of the city is the church of Saint Peter, in Lombard-Romanesque style, begun in the 8th century and renovated in the 11th-12th centuries. The interior has a nave and two aisles divided by low columns and pilasters incorporating half-columns, with antique and mediaeval capitals.

Other sights include:
*The Romanesque church of Santa Maria Maggiore
*The Tower of Lavello
*Fontana delle Sette Cannelle a Roman fountain
*Etruscan necropolises, including the Tomb of the Queen.

External links

* [http://www.romeartlover.it/Tuscania.html History of Tuscania]
* [http://www.tuscia360.it/scheda.php?l=en&q=tuscania Tuscia 360 about Tuscania with VR panoramas]