Il Tufo di Oggi

Civita Castellana is a town of 16.362 inhabitants in the province of Viterbo in Lazio. It is 37 km from the provincial capital and about 65 km from Rome.

It is famous for being in the pre-Roman era the capital of the population of the Faliscan Falerii Veteres.

Pope Gregory V gave it the name of civitas (city - citizenship), from which "Civita". "Castellana" refers to the domain that the place had on the surrounding castles. Civita Castellana is also known by the name of Massa Castellania.

At the National Gallery in London there is a painting depicting Civita Castellana, created by Edouard Bertin (1797-1871). The painting is part of the prestigious Gere Collection.

The city is located on a tufaceous spur, between the deep gorges of two tributaries of the Treja, at the foot of the Cimini mountains, along the Via Flaminia. It is located in an area originated by the volcanoes of the Vicano volcano that have generated the red tuff, which characterizes the territory. Following the rise of the area, the erosive action of the waters has given rise to the deep gorges which are one of the most evocative features of the landscape. "The city is built on volcanic tuff, in which it seemed to me to see ashes, pumice and fragments of lava. Beautiful view of the castle: Mount Soratte, a limestone mass that is probably part of the Apennine range, stands solitary and picturesque. The volcanic areas are much lower than the Apennines, and only the water courses, rushing impetuous, have carved them creating reliefs and precipices in stupendously plastic forms, precipitous rocks and a landscape all discontinuity and fractures.

 

» (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Italienische Reise)

 

Civita Castellana preserves a remarkable artistic and archaeological heritage, in fact Falerii Veteres is one of the main sites of the Iron and Bronze Age. It is rich in templar areas, necropolis and sanctuaries.