Bracciano[4] is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, 30 kilometres (19 miles) northwest of Rome. The town is famous for its volcanic lake (Lago di Bracciano or "Sabatino", the eighth largest lake in Italy) and for a particularly well-preserved medieval castle Castello Orsini-Odescalchi. The lake is widely used for sailing and is popular with tourists; the castle has hosted a number of events, especially weddings of actors and singers.
The town is served by an urban railway (Line FR3) which connects it with Rome (stations of Ostiense and Valle Aurelia) in about 55 minutes. Close to it lie the two medieval towns of Anguillara Sabazia and Trevignano Romano.
Geography
Bracciano's territory lies on the western edge of the Sabatine Hills, a low volcanic hills range encircling Lake Bracciano.
History
There is no certain information about the origins of Bracciano, on the Via Cassia overlooking the lake.[5] It probably rose from one of the numerous towers built in the tenth century as a defence against the Saracen attacks, as implied by the ancient name of Castrum Brachiani. In the eleventh century the neighbouring territory was acquired by the Prefetti di Vico family, who turned the tower into a castle. Ferdinand Gregorovius dated the possession of Bracciano by the Orsini to 1234. The area was later acquired by the Roman hospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia and, from 1375, was a Papal possession.
In 1419 the ColonnaPope Martin V confirmed the fief of Bracciano in the Orsini family branch of Tagliacozzo. Under this powerful family the city developed into a flourishing town, famous in the whole of Italy for its castle, which was enlarged, starting from 1470, by Napoleone Orsini and his son Virginio. In 1481 it housed Pope Sixtus IV, who had fled from the plague in Rome; the Sala Papalina in one of the corner towers commemorates the event. Four years later, however, the city and the castle were ravaged by Papal troops under Prospero Colonna, and subsequently a new line of walls was built.
In 1494 Charles VIII of France and his troops marching against Rome stopped at Bracciano. This act led to the excommunication of the Orsini, and in 1496 the city was besieged by a papal army headed by Giovanni di Candia, son of Pope Alexander VI Borgia, though it resisted successfully. Cesare Borgia, another of Alexander's natural sons, was unsuccessful in his attempt to take the Orsini stronghold a few years later. The sixteenth century was a period of splendour for Bracciano. The notorious spendthrift and libertine Paolo Giordano I Orsini, having married in 1558 Isabella de' Medici, daughter of Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, received the title of duke of Bracciano in 1560. The castello received some modernization for the brief visit of the Medici that year. He hired the most prestigious painter available in Rome, Taddeo Zuccaro, to fresco with allegories and coats-of-arms the fortress's most prestigious room, the Sala Papalinia that had been occupied by Sixtus IV.[6] Isabella spent the remainder of her life avoiding a return to the castle, which a modern tourist tradition would have her haunting.[7]
The economy was boosted by the exploitation of sulphur and iron, the production of tapestries and paper. The latter was favoured by the construction of an aqueduct whose ruins can still be seen in the city. Bracciano in this period had some 4,500 inhabitants.
However, the expensive tenor of life of the Orsini eventually damaged the economic conditions of the city. The last great ruler was probably Paolo Giordano II, a patron of arts and literature who made Bracciano a center of culture in Italy. The decline culminated in 1696 when the castle was sold to Livio Odescalchi, nephew of Pope Innocent XI; the Odescalchi family still retain the castle.
In the castle, richly frescoed friezes and ceilings now contrast with blank walls, which were hung with richly coloured tapestries when the lords of Bracciano were in residence. The important late-15th century frieze showing the labours of Hercules[8] is still visible.
The castle seen from the hospital parking lot.
The main economic activities are tourism, services and agriculture. Until the twentieth century the region was notoriously unhealthy for its malaria, now eradicated; as a result, none of the fine villas were built at the water's edge, but all stood on healthier rises of ground.
Main sights
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008)
The main monument of Bracciano is its castle, Castello Orsini-Odescalchi, one of the most noteworthy examples of Renaissance military architecture in Italy.
3km (2mi) outside the city, alongside the road leading to Trevignano Romano, is the ancient church of San Liberato (ninth century). It occupies what was once the Roman settlement of Forum Clodii, now surrounded by an herb garden, part of the complex of English-style gardens at the adjoining Villa San Librato, designed by Russell Page in 1965 for the art historian conte Donato Sanminatelli and his contessa, Maria Odescalchi, and carried out over the following decade.
On the same road are the ruins of the Aquae Apollinaris, a complex of baths famous in the Roman age.
↑ Bracciano is pronounced in three syllables: "Bra-CHA-no"
↑ The modern history is Carla Micheli Giaccone, Bracciano e il suo castelloRome, 1990.
↑ Caroline P. Murphy, Murder of a Medici Princess 2008:80f.
↑ "Given that Isabella could not bear the idea of living in Bracciano when she was alive, it seems unlikely she would choose to haunt the castle dead," observes Caroline P. Murphy, Murder of a Medici Princess 2008:351.
↑ Malcolm Bull, The Mirror of the Gods, How Renaissance Artists Rediscovered the Pagan Gods, Oxford UP, 2005, ISBN0-19-521923-6
The House of Colonna, also known as Sciarrillo or Sciarra, is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope and many other church and political leaders. The family is notable for its bitter feud with the Orsini family over influence in Rome, until it was stopped by papal bull in 1511. In 1571, the heads of both families married nieces of Pope Sixtus V. Thereafter, historians recorded that "no peace had been concluded between the princes of Christendom, in which they had not been included by name".
The House of Orsini is an Italian noble family that was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and Renaissance Rome. Members of the Orsini family include five popes: Stephen II (752–757), Paul I (757–767), Celestine III (1191–1198), Nicholas III (1277–1280), and Benedict XIII (1724–1730). The family also included 34 cardinals, numerous condottieri, and other significant political and religious figures. The Orsini are part of the Black nobility who were Roman aristocratic families who supported the Popes in the governance of the Papal States.
The House of Erba-Odescalchi and the House of Odescalchi are branches of an Italian noble family formed by the union of the Erba and Odescalchi families. The Odescalchi family was, since the election of Benedetto Odescalchi as Pope Innocent XI in 1676, part of the highest Roman aristocracy.
Trevignano Romano is a small town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. With a population of about 5,000, it is located on the volcanic Lake Bracciano. It is about 47 kilometres (29 mi) away from Rome.
Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario was an Italian cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the person who invited Michelangelo to Rome. He was a patron of the arts. He was also the first adolescent to be elevated in the College of Cardinals in the history of the Holy See.
Marcantonio II Colonna, Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was a Roman aristocrat who served as Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, general of the Spanish forces, and Captain General of the Church. He is best remembered for his part as the admiral of the Papal fleet in the Battle of Lepanto. He was "one of the most illustrious land and sea captains of the 16th century."
Gentile Virginio Orsini was an Italian condottiero and vassal of the papal throne and the Kingdom of Naples, mainly remembered as the powerful head of the Orsini family during its feud with Pope Alexander VI. Though best known as Lord of Bracciano, during his lifetime he bore many titles, among which Count of Tagliacozzo, Vicovaro and Anguillara, Lord of Cerveteri, Knight of the Order of Emellino (1463), Constable of the Kingdom of Naples and Gonfalonier of the Roman Church. The aforesaid fiefs were all confiscated in favor of the Colonna or the Borgia family during Virginio's conflict with Naples and the Pope.
Paolo Giordano Orsini was an Italian nobleman, and the first duke of Bracciano from 1560. He was a member of the Roman family of the Orsini.
Felice della Rovere, also known as Madonna Felice, was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II. One of the most powerful women of the Italian Renaissance, she was born in Rome around 1483 to Lucrezia Normanni and Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. Felice was well educated, became accepted into close courtly circles of aristocratic families, and formed friendships with scholars and poets through her education and genuine interest in humanism. Through the influence of her father, including an arranged marriage to Gian Giordano Orsini, she wielded extraordinary wealth and influence both within and beyond the Roman Curia. In particular, she negotiated peace between Julius II and the Queen of France, and held the position of Orsini Signora for over a decade following the death of her husband in 1517. Felice further increased her power through a castle that she bought with money received from her father, the Castle at Palo, and through her involvement in the grain trade.
The 1484 papal conclave elected Pope Innocent VIII after the death of Pope Sixtus IV.
Castello Orsini-Odescalchi is a castle in Bracciano, Lazio, Italy. It is located on the southern shore of Lake Bracciano. It was built in the 15th century, and combines the functions of a military defence structure and a civilian residence of the feudal lords of the period, the Orsini and Borgia, both papal families. As one of the largest and best-maintained castles in Italy, it also houses a museum; as a centre of cultural events, the Castello has hosted several high-profile weddings such as those of Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes, Eros Ramazzotti/Michelle Hunziker, and Petra Ecclestone/James Stunt.
Cosma Orsini was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.
Giambattista Orsini was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal. He served as papal legate to the Marches of Ancona.
Medici is a historical drama television series created by Frank Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer. The series was produced by Italian companies Lux Vide and Rai Fiction, in collaboration with Spotnitz's Big Light Productions. The series follows the House of Medici, bankers of the Pope, in 15th-century Florence. Each season follows the events of a particular moment of the family's history exploring the political and artistic landscape of Renaissance Italy.
Paolo Giordano II Orsini was an Italian nobleman, Patron of arts, poet, and amateur painter.
The Duchy of Bracciano was a fief of the Papal States, centred on lago di Bracciano and the town of Bracciano itself and ruled by a branch of the Orsini family with the title of Lord and Duke (1560–1696).
Paolo Orsini was an Italian condottiero in the service of the Papal States, Ferdinand of Aragon and the Republic of Florence. He was marquess of Atripalda and lord of Mentana, Palombara Sabina and Selci.
Giacomo Orsini was an Italian nobleman and condottiero of the Orsini family. He was the count of Tagliacozzo from 1394 until his death, sometimes loyal to the Kingdom of Naples, other times to the Papal State.
Gian Giordano Orsini, IV Lord of Bracciano was an Italian nobleman and condottiero. He married Felice della Rovere and was the son-in-law of Pope Julius II.
Flavia Damasceni Peretti, Duchess of Bracciano was an Italian noblewoman, niece of Pope Sixtus V and duchess consort of Bracciano as wife of Virginio Orsini. She is also known as the patroness of several poets, writers and musicians.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
