En Route to Genazzano

In summer 1856 Ferdinand Gregorovius spent three months in the small town of Genazzano; he described his stay there and in other nearby towns in Aus der Campagna von Rom (About the Roman Campagna); he started his account by describing the itinerary he followed to reach Genazzano; he left Rome at Porta Maggiore and took Via Labicana (today usually referred to as Via Casilina) along which he saw the arches of ancient Roman aqueducts; he then reached San Cesareo on the slopes of the Alban hills, a location notorious for the brigands' assaults on the stagecoaches which used this route. He then passed near Colonna and Zagarolo, two small towns which were fiefdoms of the Colonna before being sold to other families.

Palestrina

View of Palestrina (below) and Castel S. Pietro (above) from near Ponte di Nona (see them from Rome)

After a few miles, we reach the town of Palestrina, the old and renowned Praeneste of the Romans, where still, to a certain extent, the streets retain their ancient polygonal pavement. Here we must surely rest for a space. My readers would blame me if I passed through so old and memorable a spot with only the mention of its name. But I pledge myself to be brief. Praeneste - whose grandchild Palestrina now lies before us, a grey mass of houses set on the declivity of a limestone mountain - was once the mistress of Latium, older than Alba Longa, older, far, than Rome. Her Cyclopean walls bear witness to this. They rise above the present town in two concentric rings to fortify the arx, or citadel, crowning the mountain top; so inaccessible does it appear as to be almost impregnable. Gregorovius
At Colonna Gregorovius started to see Palestrina, the ancient Praeneste, a town which was conquered by the Romans in 338 BC; it was composed of an acropolis at the top of a hill and of a lower town at its foot; the two were protected by massive walls; the lower town housed the sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, a famous oracle; during the Middle Ages Praeneste split into two separate small towns: the acropolis became Castel S. Pietro, while the site of the sanctuary was turned into a walled town which retained the old name, although it was modified into Palestrina (page two covers the history and the monuments of the ancient town; pages three and four show its works of art inside museums).

(left) Bell tower of the cathedral; (centre) S. Antonio (redesigned in 1614 by Orazio Torriani); (right) S. Rosalia (1660 - designed by Francesco Contini)

A deed of gift exists, dated 970, by which Pope John XIII confers this Palestrina, in fief, on the Senatoress Stefania. Her granddaughter Emilia married the possessor of Colonna in 1050, and their son was possibly that Pietro de Colonna from whom the Colonna lordship of Palestrina may date. So much, at least, is indisputable, that this family was powerful in that district early in the twelfth century, their possessions reaching from the Latian to the Volscian Mountains, as well as to the territories of the ancient Aequi and Hernici. Gregorovius
The power of the Colonna was challenged by the Caetani of nearby Anagni; both families exerted great influence on the Roman Church; at the conclave of 1294 two Colonna cardinals were unable to prevent the election of Cardinal Benedetto Caetani who became Pope Boniface VIII.
Pope Boniface VIII, the bitter foe of the Colonna family, took this, their chief town, from them by force of arms in 1298, or, possibly, the two Cardinals of that family, Jacopo and Pietro, who had entrenched themselves there, may have delivered it up to him without awaiting the bursting of the storm, whereupon that furious Pope tore down the walls and the houses of the town, (..) strewing salt over the ruins, and causing a ploughshare to be passed through its soil. Gregorovius
This explains why the bell tower of the cathedral is almost the only monument of the old medieval town.

(above) Coats of arms of Cardinal Girolamo Basso della Rovere, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV (left) and of the Colonna family (right) on the lintel of the cathedral (in the centre St. Agapitus, the patron saint of Palestrina); (below-left) c.o.a. of Cornelia Baglioni Colonna at Chiesa dei Cappuccini (she belonged to a powerful family of Perugia); (below-centre) c.o.a. of the Barberini and Colonna family on the façade of Palazzo Barberini; (below-right) c.o.a. of Prince Maffeo Barberini and his wife Olimpia Giustiniani, a relative of Pope Innocent X on a side entrance to Palazzo Barberini

But Palestrina rose again from her ashes, only to be a second time destroyed. This destruction happened in 1436, when the patriarch Vitelleschi, at war with the Colonna, sacked the town and levelled even the cathedral with the ground. Two years later the fortress on the summit of the mountain was also demolished. Gregorovius
In 1448 the Colonna returned: the decoration of the lintel of the cathedral indicates that they were on good terms with the Della Rovere family; in 1630 Francesco Colonna di Sciarra sold Palestrina to Carlo Barberini, brother of Pope Urban VIII; his son Taddeo was given the title of prince by the Pope. Many monuments of the town bear the coats of arms of these two families.

Monument to Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) by Arnaldo Zocchi (1921) and behind it the former seminar which incorporated "Sala Absidata", an ancient building inside which fragments of a large mosaic were found during the XVIth century (see page three)

It is uncertain whether Pierluigi da Palestrina was actually born in the town; at the beginning of his career he held the post of organist at the cathedral and he married a woman from Palestrina. He became the most acclaimed composer of his time and he enjoyed the protection of popes of very different views; one of his best known works is Missa Papae Marcelli, a mass dedicated to Pope Marcellus II.

Gates: (left) Porta S. Croce (XVIth century built by the Colonna); (right) Porta del Sole (XVIIth century built by the Barberini)

Palestrina retains its four old gates; they were all opened at a time when defensive needs were not paramount; the Barberini decorated one of the gates with a relief showing a radiant sun, one of their heraldic symbols, which eventually gave its name to the gate.

Palazzo Barberini

The town is built in terraces on the hillside; it looks dull and dingy till. (..) At the upper end of this is the Palazzo Barberini, a large, but now quite dilapidated, building in the Decorated style of the seventeenth century. It describes a semicircle, following the foundations of the Temple of Fortune erected of old by Sulla. In this huge baronial edifice, with its great walls, and halls, and arcades, there is absolutely nothing to note, except a splendid mosaic pavement. Gregorovius
The ancient sanctuary was structured on a series of terraces; the highest one housed a sort of theatre with a small circular temple; the Colonna built their houses on the ancient structures; Prince Taddeo Barberini had these houses reshaped along the curved lines of the theatre; inside the palace it is still possible to see the location of the circular temple.

Palazzo Barberini: Frescoes decorating a room with the coats of arms of Stefano IV Colonna and his wife Elena Franciotti della Rovere through whom the Colonna acquired Bassanello (Vasanello) and Carbognano; the frescoes depict the wooden horse being brought inside the walls of Troy and Mutius Scaevola

Francesco Colonna di Sciarra who sold Palestrina to the Barberini, asked the Pope to retain its title of Prince with reference to Carbognano, a tiny fiefdom which the family had acquired in the XVIth century. The Colonna di Sciarra palace in Via del Corso was also known as Palazzo di Carbognano.

Palazzo Barberini: (left) XVIth century mantelpiece; (right) stone frame with the Barberini's heraldic symbols

The anonymous author (Cornelia Knight) of the "Description of Latium," who visited the city at the beginning of the nineteenth century, after it had enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity under the rule of the Barberini, gives a very interesting account of the baronial palace and court, just before the Napoleonic law abolishing feudal rights brought about a new era in the history of the Campagna. 'The prince's power," he says, "is even now very little inferior to that of the sovereign; he has the right of life and death, and administers justice without appeal. The prisons are beneath the palace. ... A regiment of infantry and one of cavalry compose the guard of the Prince of Palestrina, and Count Scutellari, his master of the horse, has the command of both.
Rodolfo Lanciani - Wanderings in the Roman Campagna - 1903

Palazzo Barberini: Main Hall with a fresco decoration resembling a hanging tapestry, similar to that which decorates the transept of S. Giovanni in Laterano

The author then describes the apartment of Cardinal Sciarra, brother of the prince, protected by "two small French cannon of the most curious workmanship"; the drawing-room, with "a state canopy of crimson and gold"; and the state bedchamber. 'The bed," he says, 'which was that of Urban VIII, is an exact model of the high altar at St. Peter's; there are four twisted columns, the gilding of which must have been of great expense; but it is to be remembered that Urban reigned twenty-one years, and was not scrupulous in the matter of nepotism. (..) Five rooms compose the armory, which is kept in good order and contains many memorials of the bravery of the Sciarra Colonnas, such as arms taken from the Turks and Moors. (..) There is even a cuirass which belonged to a young lady of the family; the shape of it is very pretty, but there is a hole made by a musket ball so near the heart that it must certainly have occasioned the death of the fair Amazon." The visitor would look in vain now for these family relics, these exquisite works of art, these glorious memorials of the past. The palace is deserted, the roof and the vaulted ceilings are no longer waterproof, and the family relics have been sold. Lanciani

Palazzo Barberini: detail of the decoration of the Main Hall

To the left of the hall of entrance is another of very considerable size painted with trophies and the Barberini arms. (..) The apartments of the prince and princess are on the floor above and are each composed of a suite of noble rooms, but the first has only a few pictures and a little furniture, the second is totally unfurnished as when the princess resided at Palestrina she lived in a smaller house belonging to the family at the bottom of the hill, besides which they have two other houses in the town.
Cornelia Knight - Description of Latium - 1805
In 1956 the palace was turned into a national archaeological museum (Museo Nazionale Prenestino) which displays reliefs, statues, mosaics and other exhibits found at Palestrina; prior to this change the building was abandoned for a very long period and it retains only small parts of its XVIIth century decoration.

Renaissance well and view of the Castelli Romani from Palazzo Barberini

What distinguishes the palace yet more than this ancient work of art is its incomparable position on an acclivity, where fresh and balmy breezes always fan it, and the dwellers in its houses can enjoy a prospect the beauty of which is not to be expressed in words. (..) Looking upon this noble landscape, and up into the azure sky and clear air, it is easy to imagine that Palestrina was the birthplace of one of the greatest musical geniuses the world has known. Gregorovius
Gregorovius described the view from the palace: Rome to the north, some of the Castelli Romani and Segni to the west and Anagni and Ferentino to the south.

Monument to Cardinal Antonio Barberini by Bernardino Cametti in Santa Rosalia: the angel writes "aeternitati vixit" meaning that the Cardinal lived having in mind his eternal life

In the sacristy of the chapel of Santa Rosalia beneath this terrace is a very valuable collection: fine vestments; relics richly set in silver; a pieta engraved on rock crystal, set in silver with emeralds and other precious stones on a base of jasper; small cabinets of various sizes, etc. Lanciani
The Barberini built a small church near their palace, where several members of the family were buried; unlike the main building, the church fully retains its lavishly decorated interior, with two striking baroque monuments which show angels apparently floating in the air; the icon of this website is based on a detail of one of these statues.

Cathedral (S. Agapito): (left) inscription celebrating a 1706 renovation of the building promoted by Cardinal Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Archbishop of Toledo, who played a major role in favouring the succession of Philippe de Bourbon to the Spanish throne; (right) marble pulpit

Gregorovius made Palestrina popular among German readers and spending a summer in one of the towns described in his books became fashionable. Among others, Thomas and Heinrich Mann spent a summer in Palestrina in 1895 and 1897.
In the long vacation of 1912, I, with my young bride, visited Adrian and Schildknapp in the nest they had found in the Sabine Hills. It was the second summer the friends had spent there. They had wintered in Rome, and in May, as the heat strengthened, they had again sought the mountains and the same hospitable house where, in a sojourn lasting three months, they had learned to feel at home the year before. The place was Palestrina, birthplace of the composer; ancient Praeneste, and a citadel of the Colonna princes, mentioned by Dante in the twenty-seventh canto of the Inferno: a picturesque hillside settlement, reached from the church below by a lane of shallow steps, overhung by houses and not even of the cleanest. A sort of little black pig ran about on the steps, and one of the pack-mules that passed up and down with its projecting load might push the unwary pedestrian to the wall. The street continued on above the village as a mountain road, past a Capuchin friary, up to the top of the hill and the acropolis, only surviving in a few ruins and the remnant of an ancient theatre.
Thomas Mann - Doctor Faustus (a novel written in 1943) - 1949 translation by H.T. Lowe-Porter

See page two: The Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia or pages three and four: Palestrina in the Museums.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:

Giuseppe Vasi Digressione breve e deliziosa per ritrovare Alcuni luoghi celebri ne' contorni di Roma. Città di Pelestrina Fuori della porta Maggiore lungi 24. miglia, da Roma è questa città, fabbricata al dire de' Poeti da Preneste figliuolo di Latino e nipote di Ulisse, o da Telegone figliuolo di Vulcano, e dicesi, che così la chiamasse l'Oracolo dalle corone, colle quali si videro la prima volta quelli abitatori, o pure dalla preminenza del sito, che quasi praest agli altri monti. Su questo fu il celebre tempio della Fortuna primogenita, a cui ricorrevano i Gentili, non solo nelle loro pretensioni, ed elezioni di ufizj, cariche, ed onori messi a forte; ma ancora ne' loro viaggi, specialmente per mare. Perciò i marinari e viandanti, passando dal mare tirreno, e scoprendo quel tempio da lontano, solevano riconoscere con dimostrazione di ossequio il simolacro di quella Dea, acciò conseguissero prospera navigazione. Fu ristaurato quel magnifico tempio da Lucio Silla in emenda dell'empietà commessa contro C. Mario il giovane, e altri suoi nemici, che ivi si erano rifugiati, parendogli di aver profanata la santità di quel tempio. E perchè vide, che la città era rimasta vuota di cittadini, parte uccisi da esso nel lungo assedio, e parte fuggiti dalla sua crudeltà, egli vi mandò da Roma molti ad abitare, e fecela colonia Romana. Dipoi per la salubrità dell'aria, ed amenità del paese fu frequentata quella città da Augusto, ed Orazio insieme con Mecenate; da Aulo Gellio, da Marc'Antonio Imperatore e da molti altri: ma sopra tutto è notabile, che in essa città s. Agapito, giovinetto di 15. anni dopo vari tormenti sofferse il martirio nel medesimo luogo, ove oggi è la chiesa cattedrale. Rimane di quel tempio non piccolo argomento vicino a questa chiesa, ed altresì nel palazzo superiore, osservandosi l'ammirabile mosaico noto a tutte le nazioni. E' ancora notabile la città o castello, che sta sulla cima del monte, perchè ivi dimorò per qualche tempo s. Pietro Apostolo, perciò si dice castel di s. Pietro, e vi si vede la famosa torre, in cui stette prigione il B. Japocone.

Introductory page on Ferdinand Gregorovius
Next pages (in Gregorovius' walks): Cave, Genazzano, Olevano, Paliano and Anagni
Next page (in Giuseppe Vasi's Environs of Rome): Frascati
Other walks:
The Ernici Mountains: Ferentino; Frosinone; Alatri; Fiuggi (Anticoli di Campagna); Piglio and Acuto
The Volsci Mountains: Valmontone; Segni; Norma; Cori
On the Latin shores: Anzio; Nettuno and Torre Astura
Circe's Cape: Terracina; San Felice
The Orsini Castle in Bracciano
Subiaco, the oldest Benedictine monastery
Small towns near Subiaco: Cervara and Rocca Canterano; Trevi and Filettino.