1.
Province of Viterbo
–
The province of Viterbo is a province in the region of Lazio in Italy. Its provincial capital is the city of Viterbo, as of 2015, the province has a total population of 321,955 inhabitants over an area of 3,615.24 square kilometres, giving it a population density of 89.05 inhabitants per square kilometre. The provincial president is Marcello Meroi and the province contains 60 comuni, the area of the province of Viterbo contained a number of Etruscan cities including Tuscina, Vetralla, Tarquinia, and Viterbo. Matilda of Tuscany gifted the city to the papacy in the eleventh century, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor was based in Viterbo as he planned to invade Rome in 1153, and Frederick I conquered the city in 1160 while preparing to attack Rome. The Knights of Saint John were expelled from Rhodes in the 16th century and were granted refuge in Viterbo before they could travel to Malta. Pope Paul III described himself as a citizen of Viterbo and formed a university in the city and it joined the Kingdom of Italy on 12 September 1870 and during World War II, Viterbo was heavily bombed
Province of Viterbo
–
Viterbo, the Palace of the Popes.
Province of Viterbo
–
Map highlighting the location of the province of Viterbo in Italy
Province of Viterbo
–
Panorama of the walls of
Civita Castellana.
Province of Viterbo
–
Tarquinia, wall painting in the
Tomb of the Leopards
2.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
3.
Body of water
–
Body of Water is a musical conceived by Tony Kienitz and Tanna Herr with music by Jim Walker. It entails the life of fourteen teens left behind in a war crisis. The show was the production of A Theatre Near U. The show was adapted from music written by Jim Walker, the music for the show was nominated for Best Original Music by the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Excellence in Theatre Awards. The album is available on iTunes here, the overall reception of Body of Water was positive. He also praised the music by Jim Walker as wonderfully raw, cryptic, richard Conema of Talkin Broadway and member of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle agreed with Jarrett on the music and choreography. He also said that the actors of the show are the adult performers of the future. These young people are doing work and many aspire to be professional actors. He also commended producing theatre company A Theatre Near U, saying that A Theatre Near U may have just fired the first shot in a revolution to determine the future of Youth Theatre
Body of water
–
The original poster for Body of Water, the Musical.
Body of water
4.
Crater lake
–
Crater Lake is a caldera lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color. The lake partly fills a nearly 2, 148-foot -deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake, with a depth of 1,949 feet, the lake is the deepest in the United States. In the world, it ranks tenth for maximum depth, Crater Lake is also known for the Old Man of the Lake, a full-sized tree which is now a stump that has been bobbing vertically in the lake for over a century. The low temperature of the water has slowed the decomposition of the wood, hence the longevity of the bobbing tree. Two islands are in Crater Lake, Wizard Island, formed from a cone that erupted after Crater Lake began to fill with water, and the smaller Phantom Ship. There are also colonies of violet-green swallows and several varieties of wildflowers, while having no indigenous fish population, the lake was stocked from 1888 to 1941 with a variety of fish. Several species have formed self-sustaining populations, since 2002, one of the states regular-issue license plate designs has featured Crater Lake. The commemorative Oregon State Quarter, which was released by the United States Mint in 2005, Crater Lake is in Klamath County, approximately 60 miles northwest of the county seat of Klamath Falls, and about 80 miles northeast of the city of Medford. In June 1853, John Wesley Hillman became the first non-Native American explorer to report sighting the lake he named the Deep Blue Lake, the lake was renamed at least three times, as Blue Lake, Lake Majesty, and finally Crater Lake. The lake is 5 by 6 miles across, with a caldera rim ranging in elevation from 7,000 to 8,000 feet, the lakes maximum depth has been measured at 1,949 feet, which fluctuates slightly as the weather changes. On the basis of maximum depth, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, the second-deepest in North America, and the tenth-deepest lake in the world. When considering the mean, or average depth of lakes, Crater Lake becomes the deepest lake in the Western Hemisphere and the third-deepest in the world. Crater Lake Institute Director and limnologist Owen Hoffman states Crater Lake is the deepest, the average depths of Lakes Baikal and Tanganyika are deeper than Crater Lake, however, both have basins that extend below sea level. Mount Mazama, part of the Cascade Range volcanic arc, was built up mostly of andesite, dacite, the caldera was created in a massive volcanic eruption between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago that led to the subsidence of Mount Mazama. About 50 cubic kilometers of rhyodacite was erupted in this event, since that time, all eruptions on Mazama have been confined to the caldera. Lava eruptions later created a platform, Wizard Island, Merriam Cone
Crater lake
–
Panoramic winter view of Crater Lake from
Rim Village
Crater lake
Crater lake
–
Bathymetric survey
Crater lake
–
Crater Lake National Park Wizard Island
5.
Inflow (hydrology)
–
In hydrology, the inflow of a body of water is the source of the water in the body of water. It can also refer to the volume of incoming water in unit time. All bodies of water have multiple inflows, but often, one inflow may predominate, however, in many cases, no single inflow will predominate and there will be multiple primary inflows. For a lake, the inflow may be a river or stream that flows into the lake. Inflow may also be, strictly speaking, not flows, but rather precipitation, inflow can also be used to refer to groundwater recharge. The dictionary definition of inflow at Wiktionary
Inflow (hydrology)
–
Torrente Pescone, one of the inflows of
lake Orta (
Italy).
6.
Discharge (hydrology)
–
In hydrology, discharge is the volume rate of water flow that is transported through a given cross-sectional area. It includes any suspended solids, dissolved chemicals, or biologic material in addition to the water itself, GH Dury and MJ Bradshaw are two hydrologists who devised the models showing the relationship between discharge and other variables in a river. The units that are used to express discharge include m³/s, ft³/s and/or acre-feet per day. For example, the discharge of the Rhine river in Europe is 2,200 cubic metres per second or 190,000,000 cubic metres per day. A commonly applied methodology for measuring, and estimating, the discharge of a river is based on a form of the continuity equation. In storm hydrology, an important consideration is the streams discharge hydrograph, the stream rises to a peak flow after each precipitation event, then falls in a slow recession. Because the peak flow also corresponds to the water level reached during the event. The amount of precipitation correlates to the volume of water that flows out of the river. The relationship between the discharge in the stream at a given cross-section and the level of the stream is described by a rating curve, average velocities and the cross-sectional area of the stream are measured for a given stream level. The velocity and the give the discharge for that level. After measurements are made for different levels, a rating table or rating curve may be developed. Once rated, the discharge in the stream may be determined by measuring the level, if a continuous level-recording device is located at a rated cross-section, the streams discharge may be continuously determined. Larger flows can transport more sediment and larger particles downstream than smaller flows due to their greater force, larger flows can also erode stream banks and damage public infrastructure
Discharge (hydrology)
–
Hydroelectricity generation
7.
Drainage basin
–
A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
Drainage basin
–
Animation of
Latoriţa River drainage basin,
Romania
Drainage basin
–
Example of a drainage basin. The dashed line is the main water divide of the hydrographic basin.
Drainage basin
–
Endorheic basin in
Central Asia
Drainage basin
–
The
Mississippi River drains the largest area of any
U.S. river, much of it
agricultural regions. Agricultural runoff and other water pollution that flows to the outlet is the cause of the
hypoxic, or dead zone in the
Gulf of Mexico.
8.
Water cycle
–
The water cycle, also known as the hydrological cycle or the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. In doing so, the water goes through different forms, liquid, solid, the water cycle involves the exchange of energy, which leads to temperature changes. For instance, when water evaporates, it takes up energy from its surroundings, when it condenses, it releases energy and warms the environment. The evaporative phase of the cycle purifies water which then replenishes the land with freshwater, the flow of liquid water and ice transports minerals across the globe. It is also involved in reshaping the geological features of the Earth, the water cycle is also essential for the maintenance of most life and ecosystems on the planet. The sun, which drives the cycle, heats water in oceans. Water evaporates as water vapor into the air, ice and snow can sublimate directly into water vapour. Evapotranspiration is water transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil, the water vapour molecule H 2O has less density compared to the major components of the atmosphere, nitrogen and oxygen, N2 andO2. Due to the significant difference in mass, water vapor in gas form gains height in open air as a result of buoyancy. However, as increases, air pressure decreases and the temperature drops. The lowered temperature causes water vapour to condense into a liquid water droplet which is heavier than the air. A huge concentration of these droplets over a space up in the atmosphere become visible as cloud. Fog is formed if the water vapour condenses near ground level, as a result of moist air, air currents move water vapour around the globe, cloud particles collide, grow, and fall out of the upper atmospheric layers as precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow or hail, sleet, and can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, most water falls back into the oceans or onto land as rain, where the water flows over the ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, runoff and water emerging from the ground may be stored as freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers, much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration, some water infiltrates deep into the ground and replenishes aquifers, which can store freshwater for long periods of time. Some infiltration stays close to the surface and can seep back into surface-water bodies as groundwater discharge. Some groundwater finds openings in the surface and comes out as freshwater springs
Water cycle
–
Schematic illustration of the global water cycle.
Water cycle
–
The water cycle
Water cycle
–
Time-mean precipitation and evaporation as a function of latitude as simulated by an aqua-planet version of an atmospheric GCM (GFDL’s AM2.1) with a homogeneous “slab-ocean” lower boundary (saturated surface with small heat capacity), forced by annual mean insolation.
Water cycle
–
Global map of annual mean evaporation minus precipitation by latitude-longitude
9.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
Italian language
–
Dante Alighieri (above) and
Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their
Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of
Italy in the
Late Middle Ages
Italian language
–
The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.
Italian language
Italian language
–
Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage
10.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
11.
Volcano
–
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
Volcano
–
Cleveland Volcano in the
Aleutian Islands of
Alaska photographed from the
International Space Station, May 2006
Volcano
–
Ash plumes reached a height of 19 kilometres (12 mi) during the climactic
explosive eruption at
Mount Pinatubo, Philippines in 1991.
Volcano
–
A 2007 eruptive column at
Mount Etna producing volcanic ash, pumice and lava bombs
Volcano
–
Ubinas Volcano
12.
Vulsini
–
The Vulsinian region is one of dozens of intrusive circular regions, most smaller than the Vulsinian, arranged in a band from Campania through Lazio, called the Roman Comagmatic Province. A comagmatic province is an area of the same type. The Roman region is post-collisional, that is, the intrusions were not a result of the stresses that created Italy and raised the Apennines. The Volsinian is the northernmost region, at relatively low altitude, the Vulsini calderas cover about 2,280 km2 and contain four Pleistocene-age depressions known as Bolsena, Latera, Vepe and Montefascione calderas. The latest activity occurred in 104 BC, the largest, the Bolsena caldera, which is roughly 16 km across, is filled with the waters of Lake Bolsena, which derive mainly from deep aquifers. Immediately to the northwest are the combined Latera and Vepe calderas, Vepe, to the north of Lake Mezzano is what is known as a nested caldera, it arose in the previously existing Latera Caldera. Italian routes SS74 and SS312 follow the rim from Valentano through Latera westward, in addition the small Montefiascone caldera, also nested, lies between Montefiascone on its eastern rim and the lake. Two islands in the lake, Bisentina and Martana, were formed from airfall tuffs in Pompeii-like eruptions, dozens of other tuff cones dot the region, mainly on the eastern side of the complex. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Vulsini
–
Lake Bolsena. The two tuff islands are visible in the distance.
Vulsini
–
Montefiascone caldera from the air, showing the rim.
Vulsini
–
Isola Bisentina, a
tuff cone in
Lake Bolsena.
Vulsini
–
Roman comagmatic region
13.
Etruscan civilization
–
The Etruscan civilization is the modern name given to a powerful and wealthy civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio. Culture that is identifiably Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC, the latter gave way in the 7th century BC to a culture that was influenced by ancient Greece, Magna Graecia, and Phoenicia. The decline was gradual, but by 500 BC the political destiny of Italy had passed out of Etruscan hands, the last Etruscan cities were formally absorbed by Rome around 100 BC. Politics were based on the city, and probably the family unit. In their heyday, the Etruscan elite grew very rich through trade with the Celtic world to the north and the Greeks to the south, archaic Greece had a huge influence on their art and architecture, and Greek mythology was evidently very familiar to them. The study also excluded recent Anatolian connection, the ancient Romans referred to the Etruscans as the Tuscī or Etruscī. Their Roman name is the origin of the terms Tuscany, which refers to their heartland, and Etruria, which can refer to their wider region. In Attic Greek, the Etruscans were known as Tyrrhenians, from which the Romans derived the names Tyrrhēnī, Tyrrhēnia, the word may also be related to the Hittite Taruisa. The Etruscans called themselves Rasenna, which was syncopated to Rasna or Raśna, the origins of the Etruscans are mostly lost in prehistory, although Greek historians as early as the 5th century BC, repeatedly associated the Tyrrhenians with Pelasgians. Strabo as well as the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus make mention of the Tyrrhenians as pirates, pliny the Elder put the Etruscans in the context of the Rhaetian people to the north and wrote in his Natural History, Adjoining these the Noricans are the Raeti and Vindelici. All are divided into a number of states, the Raeti are believed to be people of Tuscan race driven out by the Gauls, their leader was named Raetus. Historians have no literature and no original Etruscan texts of religion or philosophy, therefore, much of what is known about this civilization is derived from grave goods, another source of genetic data on Etruscan origins is from four ancient breeds of cattle. Analyzing the mitochondrial DNA of these and seven other breeds of Italian cattle, the other Italian breeds were linked to northern Europe. Etruscan expansion was focused both to the north beyond the Apennine Mountains and into Campania, some small towns in the sixth century BC disappeared during this time, ostensibly consumed by greater, more powerful neighbours. However, it is certain that the structure of the Etruscan culture was similar to, albeit more aristocratic than. The mining and commerce of metal, especially copper and iron, led to an enrichment of the Etruscans and to the expansion of their influence in the Italian peninsula and the western Mediterranean Sea. Here, their interests collided with those of the Greeks, especially in the sixth century BC and this led the Etruscans to ally themselves with Carthage, whose interests also collided with the Greeks. Around 540 BC, the Battle of Alalia led to a new distribution of power in the western Mediterranean, from the first half of the 5th century BC, the new political situation meant the beginning of the Etruscan decline after losing their southern provinces
Etruscan civilization
–
Etruscan pendant with
swastika symbols,
Bolsena,
Italy, 700-650 BC.
Louvre Museum
Etruscan civilization
–
Extent of Etruscan civilization and the twelve Etruscan League cities.
Etruscan civilization
–
Etruscan riders, Silver panel 540-520BC, Castel San Marino, near
Perugia
Etruscan civilization
–
Etruscan walled town,
Civita di Bagnoregio.
14.
Velzna
–
Volsinii or Vulsinii, is the name of two ancient cities of Etruria, one situated on the shore of Lacus Volsiniensis, and the other on the Via Clodia, between Clusium and Forum Cassii. Modern Bolsena, Italy, in the region of Lazio, descends from the Roman city, the location of the Etruscan city is debated. Umbrian Orvieto, about 14 km from Bolena, is a strong candidate, the Byzantine historian Joannes Zonaras states that the Etruscan Volsinii lay on a steep height, while Bolsena, the representative of the Roman Volsinii, is situated in the plain. Scholars of the 19th century debated the location of this elevated site and he adduces in support of this hypothesis the existence of a good deal of broken pottery there, and of a few caves in the cliffs below. Bolsena is 6 km from Montefiascone, and 14 km from Orvieto, Fanum Voltumnae was the chief sanctuary of the Etruscans. Numerous sources refer to a league of the “Twelve Peoples” of Etruria, the exact location of this shrine is still unknown, though it may have been in an area near modern Orvieto, believed by many to be the ancient Volsinii. Professor Simonetta Stopponi of the University of Macerata, an Etruscologist, has been excavating at Orvieto since 2000 and she believes that Fanum was located at this site. An Etruscan substructure, datable to the 6th-4th centuries BC, has been uncovered, most impressive was the excavation of a round fountain area, on a slight rise above and overlooking the temples, whose decorations included the head of a lion. According to Stopponi, ‘This would have been the sacred spring and it is described by Juvenal as seated among well-wooded hills. Volsinii first appears in history after the fall of Veii, the Volsinienses, in conjunction with the Salpinates, taking advantage of a famine and pestilence which had desolated Rome, made incursions into the Roman territory in 391 BC. They were defeated, and 8,000 of them were taken prisoner, however, they purchased a twenty-year truce in exchange for returning the booty they had taken, and furnishing the pay of the Roman army for a year. They appear next in 310 BC, when, in common with the rest of the Etruscan cities, except Arretium, they part in the siege of Sutrium. This war was terminated by the defeat of the Etruscans at the First Battle of Lake Vadimo, three years afterwards the consul Publius Decius Mus captured several of the Volsinian fortresses. In 295 BC, Lucius Postumius Megellus ravaged their territory and defeated them under the walls of their own city, consequently they, together with Perusia and Arretium, purchased a forty-year peace by paying a heavy fine. Not more than fourteen years, however, had elapsed, when, with their allies the Vulcientes, but this attempt ended in their final subjugation in 280 BC. Pliny tells a story, taken from the Greek writer Metrodorus of Scepsis. The story, however, suffices to show that the Volsinians had attained great wealth, luxury, the attempted revolution apparently began with the admission of freedmen into the army, which must have been in 280 BC. They became a powerful class, who were subsequently allowed to become members of the Senate
Velzna
–
Bolsena at the site of Roman Volsinii. 42°38′41″N 11°59′09″E / 42.64472°N 11.98583°E / 42.64472; 11.98583
Velzna
–
Orvieto, candidate for the location of Etruscan Velzna. Etruscan antiquities there are extensive. 42°43′N 12°06′E / 42.717°N 12.100°E / 42.717; 12.100
Velzna
–
Attic red-figure calyx-krater, c. 460–450 BC, from Orvieto (the Niobid Krater).
Velzna
–
History
15.
Via Cassia
–
The Via Cassia was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and passing not far from Veii traversed Etruria. The Via Cassia passed through Baccanae, Sutrium, Vulsinii, Clusium, Arretium, Florentia, Pistoria, and Luca, joining the Via Aurelia at Luna. The Via Amerina was a road that broke off from the Via Cassia near Baccanae, and held north through Falerii, Tuder, and Perusia, rejoining the Via Cassia at Clusium. As the new military and strategic route, the Via Amerina became the core of Imperial Italy. For an overview of the location of Roman bridges, see List of Roman bridges, there are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the Ponte San Lorenzo and Ponte San Nicolao. The road was used as part of the road race cycling route for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Roman bridge Roman engineering 1960 Summer Olympics official report
Via Cassia
–
Via Aemilia
Via Cassia
–
Route of Via Cassia (in green).
16.
Bishop of Orvieto
–
The Italian Catholic Diocese of Orvieto-Todi, in central Italy, was created in 1986 when the historical Diocese of Orvieto was united to the Diocese of Todi. This diocese is subject to the Holy See. The current bishop is Benedetto Tuzia, during the Gothic War, Orvieto was defended by the Goths for a long time. Later, it fell into the hands of the Lombards, on account of its position, Orvieto was often chosen by the popes as a place of refuge and Pope Adrian IV fortified it. In 1528 Pope Clement VII sought refuge at Orvieto, after the sack of Rome, giuseppe Maria Vespignani Marino Marini Antonio Briganti Eusebio Magner, O. F. M. Benedetto Tuzia Source This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
Bishop of Orvieto
–
Orvieto Cathedral
Bishop of Orvieto
–
Co-Cathedral in
Todi
17.
Volcanic crater
–
A volcanic crater is a roughly circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature within which occurs a vent or vents, a volcanic crater can be of large dimensions, and sometimes of great depth. During certain types of eruptions, a volcanos magma chamber may empty enough for an area above it to subside. In most volcanoes, the crater is situated at the top of a formed from the erupted volcanic deposits such as lava flows. Volcanoes that terminate in such a summit crater are usually of a conical form, other volcanic craters may be found on the flanks of volcanoes, and these are commonly referred to as flank craters. Some volcanic craters may fill either fully or partially with rain and/or melted snow, a crater may be breached during an eruption, either by explosions or by lava, or through later erosion. Breached craters have a lower rim on one side. Some volcanoes, such as maars, consist of a crater alone and these volcanic explosion craters are formed when magma rises through water-saturated rocks and causes a phreatic eruption. Volcanic craters from phreatic eruptions often occur on plains away from other obvious volcanoes
Volcanic crater
–
Craters on
Mount Cameroon
Volcanic crater
–
The volcanic crater of a
Tangkuban Parahu mount,
Bandung,
Indonesia
Volcanic crater
–
The crater in
Santa Ana Volcano,
El Salvador.
Volcanic crater
–
Volcán Irazú,
Costa Rica
18.
Ellipse
–
In mathematics, an ellipse is a curve in a plane surrounding two focal points such that the sum of the distances to the two focal points is constant for every point on the curve. As such, it is a generalization of a circle, which is a type of an ellipse having both focal points at the same location. The shape of an ellipse is represented by its eccentricity, which for an ellipse can be any number from 0 to arbitrarily close to, ellipses are the closed type of conic section, a plane curve resulting from the intersection of a cone by a plane. Ellipses have many similarities with the two forms of conic sections, parabolas and hyperbolas, both of which are open and unbounded. The cross section of a cylinder is an ellipse, unless the section is parallel to the axis of the cylinder and this ratio is called the eccentricity of the ellipse. Ellipses are common in physics, astronomy and engineering, for example, the orbit of each planet in our solar system is approximately an ellipse with the barycenter of the planet–Sun pair at one of the focal points. The same is true for moons orbiting planets and all other systems having two astronomical bodies, the shapes of planets and stars are often well described by ellipsoids. It is also the simplest Lissajous figure formed when the horizontal and vertical motions are sinusoids with the same frequency, a similar effect leads to elliptical polarization of light in optics. The name, ἔλλειψις, was given by Apollonius of Perga in his Conics, in order to omit the special case of a line segment, one presumes 2 a > | F1 F2 |, E =. The midpoint C of the segment joining the foci is called the center of the ellipse. The line through the foci is called the major axis and it contains the vertices V1, V2, which have distance a to the center. The distance c of the foci to the center is called the distance or linear eccentricity. The quotient c a is the eccentricity e, the case F1 = F2 yields a circle and is included. C2 is called the circle of the ellipse. This property should not be confused with the definition of an ellipse with help of a directrix below, for an arbitrary point the distance to the focus is 2 + y 2 and to the second focus 2 + y 2. Hence the point is on the ellipse if the condition is fulfilled 2 + y 2 +2 + y 2 =2 a. The shape parameters a, b are called the major axis. The points V3 =, V4 = are the co-vertices and it follows from the equation that the ellipse is symmetric with respect to both of the coordinate axes and hence symmetric with respect to the origin
Ellipse
–
Drawing an ellipse with two pins, a loop, and a pen
Ellipse
–
An ellipse obtained as the intersection of a
cone with an inclined plane.
19.
San Lorenzo Nuovo
–
San Lorenzo Nuovo is a small town and comune in the province of Viterbo, in the Latium region of Italy. It is an agricultural center producing potatoes, olive oil, garlic, onions, cereals, a second source of revenue is tourism. The town is located on the side of Lake Bolsenas crater rim. It dominates the lake basin on one side and the valley of the Acquapendente on the side, at the crossing of the ancient Via Cassia. Neighbouring cities are Acquapendente, Bolsena, Castel Giorgio, Gradoli, the rock known as Sasso della graticola is placed to mark the border with Bolsena and Castelgiorgo. The rock bears initials S L on the side facing San Lorenzo Nuovo, San Lorenzo Nuovo is famous for the harmonious symmetry and linearity of its streets, due to Francesco Navone. Before 1774, the old village of San Lorenzo alle Grotte was located in the closer to Lake Bolsena than the current village. This ancient hamlet was named after the surrounding caves. Originally inhabited by the Etruscans, after the Roman conquest San Lorenzo was elected municipium and prefecture. In 771–772, refugees came here from Tiro, a small centre placed on the hill of Civita and it was in this area, according to Roman Martyrology, that Saint Christina of Bolsena would have been martyrized. In 1113 the area was donated to the Church by Matilda of Canossa, the same area was sacked by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in 1186. The opposition of Pope Celestine III, mediated by the bishop of Sovana, towards 1265, together with neighbouring lands, the same area became part of the province of Val di Lago, ruled by Republic of Orvieto for a short time. In 1266, San Lorenzo took part of the Ghibellines expedition against Martana Island and other Guelphs centres, in 1294, San Lorenzo and other centres of Val di Lago, professed submission to Orvieto. It was the beginning of a series of disputes with Pope Boniface VIII, Orvieto, once excommunicated and placed under interdict, stopped any action contrary to the Church. This was not the intention of San Lorenzo, claiming actions against Orvieto, on 20 March 1298, Boniface VIII ordered to stop all hostilities and let Orvietos army occupy the castle of San Lorenzo. Although returned to Orvietos jurisdiction, the centres of Val di Lago resisted paying their tribute for three years, in 1315, San Lorenzo was involved in the fights between Orvieto and the papal legate Bernard of Cluny, being defeated at Montefiascone by Guittuccio of Bisenzio. In 1318, San Lorenzo supported with 25 infantries Orvieto against Ugolinuccio de Neri of Montemarano, in 1354, in the presence of Gil Alvarez De Albornoz, all villages of Val di Lago confirmed their submission to Orvieto. In 1359, the Republic of Orvieto was abolished and Cardinal Albornoz brought San Lorenzo again under the jurisdiction of the papacy, in 1527, the landsknechts, on their way to Rome, burnt San Lorenzo, Bolsena and Montefiascone
San Lorenzo Nuovo
–
San Lorenzo Nuovo
San Lorenzo Nuovo
–
Coat of arms
San Lorenzo Nuovo
–
Registration ("allibrazione") of rural
cadastre, 1619.
San Lorenzo Nuovo
–
Marble frame placed in Piazza Europa
20.
Acquapendente
–
Acquapendente is a city and comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio. Acquapendente is a centre for the production of vegetables and wine. The area of modern Acquapendente was settled by Etruscans in Roman times, however, the first historical document of the modern city dates from the 9th century AD, with a town named Farisa or Arisa along the Via Francigena. A document from Emperor Otto I, dated 964, contains the first recorded use of the name Acquapendentem, the name of the city, meaning hanging water, stems from the presence of several small waterfalls forming the Paglia, a stream setting the boundary between Lazio and Tuscany. Acquapendente was the first stop in Italy in the travels of Saint Roch in the early 14th century, the saint supposedly spent several days in the hospital there curing plague victims. The city was part of the March of Tuscany and, from the end of the 14th century and beginning of the 15th. In 1449 it became an independent centre within the Papal States, after the complete destruction of Castro, Lazio in 1649, Acquapendente, previously part of the diocese of Orvieto, became the seat of a diocese that included what had been the diocese of Castro. The diocese of Acquapendente continued in existence until 27 March 1986, no longer a residential bishopric, Aquipendium, as it is called in Latin, is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. The castle was captured by the Neapolitan condottiero Fabrizio Maramaldo during the 1527 Siege of Rome, the castle of the frazione Trevinano known from the 12th century. The Monte Rufeno Natural Reserve,2 kilometres north of the city and it has spectacular woods housing wildlife including, among others, wild boars, Eurasian eagle-owls, turtles and beech martens
Acquapendente
–
Acquapendente
Acquapendente
–
Torre Alfina
21.
Bolsena
–
Bolsena is a town and comune of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km north-west of Viterbo, the ancient Via Cassia, todays highway SR143, follows the lake shore for some distance, passing through Bolsena. George Dennis pointed out that the town of Bolsena has no Etruscan characteristics, for example, Etruscan cities were built on defensible crags, which the hill on which the castle is situated is not. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder said that a bolt from Mars fell on Bolsena, the richest town in Tuscany, the population moved to another site, which Dennis thought was Bolsena. The new city was named after the old, hence Roman Bolsena has an Etruscan name, Dennis suggests a number of crags in the area including Orvieto but does not favor Orvieto on the grounds that it is too far away. A number of Etruscan tombs have found in the vicinity of Bolsena. Funerary objects from these tombs are now located in Italy and abroad, the Orvieto Cathedral was eventually built to commemorate the miracle and house the Corporal of Bolsena in a reliquary made by Sienese goldsmith Ugolino di Vieri in 1337-1338. A famed fresco by Raphael and his school in the Vatican Stanze depicts the event, the United States Navy established a naval air station on 21 February 1918 to operate seaplanes during World War I. The base closed shortly after the First Armistice at Compiègne
Bolsena
–
View of the city with the lake.
Bolsena
–
The Castle of Bolsena
Bolsena
–
City gate below castle
Bolsena
–
Lake view
22.
Orvieto
–
Orvieto is a city and comune in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The site of the city is among the most dramatic in Europe, the ancient city, populated since Etruscan times, has usually been associated with Etruscan Velzna, but some modern scholars differ. Orvieto was certainly a centre of Etruscan civilization, the archaeological museum houses some of the Etruscan artifacts that have been recovered in the immediate neighbourhood. Orvieto was annexed by Rome in the third century BC, because of its site on a high, steep bluff of tufa, a volcanic rock, the city was virtually impregnable. It was last conquered by Julius Caesar, by the thirteenth century, three papal palaces had been built. In the 13th century bitter feuds divided the city, which was at the apogée of its wealth but found itself often at odds with the papacy, Pope Urban IV stayed at Orvieto from 1262-64. The city became one of the cultural centers of its time when Thomas Aquinas taught at the studium there. A small university, had its origins in a studium generale that was granted to the city by Pope Gregory IX in 1236. The territory of Orvieto was under papal control long before it was added to the Papal States, it remained a papal possession until 1860. The design has often attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio. The church is striped in white travertine and greenish-black basalt in narrow bands, similar in ways to the cathedral of Siena. In the following decade, cathedral authorities called Sienese architect and sculptor Lorenzo Maitani to stabilize the building and he enlarged the choir and planned a transept with two chapels, spaces that were not finished until long after his death. The Cathedral has five bells, tuned in E flat, which date back to the renaissance, the façade is particularly striking and includes some remarkable sculpture by Lorenzo Maitani. Inside the cathedral, the Chapel of San Brizio is frescoed by Fra Angelico and with Luca Signorellis masterpiece, from the 11th century onward, the popes maintained an aggressive political presence in the papal territory which occupied central Italy. Together with his court, the pope moved from palace to palace in the manner of his European secular counterparts, several central Italian cities hosted the pope and his retinue during the years of wandering, housing them in the bishops palace. Outside Rome, only Orvieto and Viterbo had papal palaces, Pope Adrian IV was the first pope to spend significant time in Orvieto. His successor, Pope Innocent III, was a militant opponent of the Cathar heresy, which had infiltrated the city, in 1227, Pope Gregory IX confirmed the Dominican studium generale in Orvieto, a school of theology, and one of the first in Europe. Pope Urban IV, a Frenchman who was crowned in the Dominican church in Viterbo, in 1263, he began a papal palace, perhaps the first outside Rome, and consecrated the new Dominican church in Orvieto
Orvieto
–
Piazza della Repubblica.
Orvieto
–
Facade of the Orvieto Cathedral.
Orvieto
–
The
Pozzo di S. Patrizio, a well built for the Popes.
Orvieto
–
The monumental
Cathedral of Orvieto.
23.
Montefiascone
–
Montefiascone is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, the name of the city derives from that of the Falisci. Later, it was controlled by the Etruscans, under the Empire, the festival was held near Volsinii. The first documents mentioning Montefiascone are from 853 CE, when it belonged to the bishop of Tuscania, in 1058 and 1074 the Popes Stephen IX and Gregory VII, respectively, stopped here. In 1093 the fortress was besieged by Emperor Henry IV, the importance of the fortress was confirmed by Emperor Frederick Barbarossas visit in 1185. In the following two centuries, as a Papal possession, Montefiascone lived its period of highest splendour, the Castle was often residence of Popes, and was consequently enlarged and embellished. During Avignon Papacy, it was the residence of the Papal legate Cardinal Albornoz. In 1463, however, it was decaying, as in the words of by Pope Pius II. The decline increased after the plague of 1657 and the earthquake of 1697 and it became part of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1870. It was damaged by two Allied bombings in May 1944, Montefiascone Cathedral is one of the earliest structures by Michele Sanmicheli. Dedicated to Saint Margaret, the cathedral was a ruin in 1330, subsequently, in 1670, it suffered a serious fire, with repairs taking a further decade. The interior was restored in 1893. Santa Maria delle Grazie, church also by Sanmicheli, in the crypt is the grave of a traveler who succumbed to excessive drinking of the local wine known as Est. The story is that his valet, who preceded him, wrote est on the doors of all the inns where good wine was to be had, santa Maria di Montedoro, church SantAndrea Rocca dei Papi, formed by the remains of the old Papal summer residence. At the top of the hill it provides a view of Lago Bolsena and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed. Blog-y tourist information Montefiascone Comune web site
Montefiascone
–
Montefiascone
Montefiascone
–
Grave of Bishop Fugger featured in Est! Est! Est! legend.
Montefiascone
–
Cathedral of Montefiascone
24.
Valentano
–
Valentano is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is 33 kilometres from the capital, Viterbo. The placename is of uncertain origin, some identify the town with an Etruscan Verentum, others trace the name to ontano, Italian for alder, since alders cover the slopes of a nearby valley, Valle Ontano becoming Valentano. The town is named for the first time in a manuscript of 813 in the Farfa Register, in the Renaissance period, the town fell under the dominion of the Farnese family, it is to them that Valentano owes its fortress and many of its churches. In 1649, when the town of Castro, capital of the Duchy of Castro, was destroyed, Valentano became the center of the Castrense region. In June 1944, a shell exploded in the Portonaccio gate. The gate itself is a witness to the tragedy, since one of its stones is missing, throughout the summer, various events, including the Palio of the Duchy of Castro, a historical pageant. Haltwhistle, United Kingdom Saint-Méen-le-Grand, France Official website Valentano. Org ProLoco Valentano George Dennis on Valentano
Valentano
–
Rocca Farnese.
Valentano
–
View of Valentano.
25.
Tuscania
–
Tuscania is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo, Lazio Region, Italy. Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella, according to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas son, Ascanius, where he had found twelve dog pups. Another legend attributes the foundation to one Tusco, son of Hercules and Araxes, in the following years its strategic position gave Tuscania a leading role in the Etruscan world. After the defeat of the cities by the Greeks, Tuscania also became a maritime trade centre through the port of Regas. There is no record of Tuscania being involved in the battles led to the Roman conquest of the Etruscan northern Lazio. The agricultural development and construction of the Via Clodia further boosted the economic situation of the city and it became a municipium in 88 BCE. In the 5th century AD, Tuscania became one of the first bishopric sees in Italy, 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. In 1222 St. Francis of Assisi sojourned in the city, during the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines throughout the Holy Roman Empire, 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, led to the submission to Rome, 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. Thereafter the city experienced a decline which lasted until the annexation to the new unified Kingdom of Italy in 1870. In the 19th century the local Campanari family spearheaded the exploration of Etruscan tombs and they organized the first Etruscan exhibition in London. Many of the valuable discoveries ended up in various European museums, on February 6,1971 an earthquake caused 31 deaths. The main monument of the city is the Church of San Pietro, built in Lombard-Romanesque style, begun in the 8th century, 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 Etruscan Museum, with sarcophagi from nearby tombs, the Romanesque Basilica has a façade with three finely decorated portals. The interior is on a nave and two aisles, divided by columns with sculpted capitals, the recessed entrance is flanked by a pair of free standing columns intended to evoke the Boaz and Jachin of the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem
Tuscania
–
Tuscania
Tuscania
–
The rose window and the
loggetta of the church of St. Peter in Tuscania.
Tuscania
–
Towers
Tuscania
–
Acropolis outside of the town walls
26.
Viterbo
–
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo University. For the municipality in Colombia, see Viterbo, Caldas Viterbo listen is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy and it conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento in its early history. It is approximately 80 kilometres north of GRA on the Via Cassia, the historic center of the city is surrounded by medieval walls, still intact, built during the 11th and 12th centuries. Entrance to the center of the city is through ancient gates. Apart from agriculture, the resources of Viterbos area are pottery, marble. The town is home to the Italian gold reserves, an important Academy of Fine Arts, the University of Tuscia, and it is located in a wide thermal area, attracting many tourists from the whole of central Italy. The first report of the new city dates to the eighth century CE and it was fortified in 773 by the Lombard King Desiderius in his vain attempt to conquer Rome. In 1164, Frederick Barbarossa made Viterbo the seat of his antipope Paschal III, three years later he gave it the title of city and used its militias against Rome. In 1172, Viterbo started its expansion, destroying the old city of Ferento, in this age it was a rich and prosperous comune, one of the most important of Central Italy, with a population of almost 60,000. In 1207, Pope Innocent III held a council in the cathedral, in 1210, however, Viterbo managed to defeat Emperor Otto IV and was again at war against Rome. In the thirteenth century it was ruled alternately by the tyrants of the Gatti, Frederick II drew Viterbo to the Ghibelline side in 1240, but when the citizens expelled his turbulent German troops in 1243 he returned and besieged the city, but in vain. From that point Viterbo was always a loyal Guelph city, between 1257 and 1261 it was the seat of Pope Alexander IV, who also died there. His successor Urban IV was elected in Viterbo, in 1266–1268, Clement IV chose Viterbo as the base of his ruthless fight against the Hohenstaufen. Here, from the loggia of the palace, he excommunicated the army of Conradin of Swabia which was passing on the Via Cassia. Other popes elected in Viterbo were Gregory X and John XXI, Nicholas III and they were subsequently excommunicated, and the popes avoided Viterbo for 86 years. Without the popes, the city fell into the hands of the Di Vicos, in the fourteenth century, Giovanni di Vico had created a seignory extending to Civitavecchia, Tarquinia, Bolsena, Orvieto, Todi, Narni and Amelia. His dominion was crushed by Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1354, sent by the Avignonese popes to recover the Papal States, but Pope Boniface IXs troops drove him away in 1396 and established a firm papal suzerainty over the city. The last Di Vico to hold power in Viterbo was Giacomo, thenceforth Viterbo became a city of secondary importance, following the vicissitudes of the Papal States
Viterbo
–
Viterbo
Viterbo
–
View from space of Viterbo and Rome
Viterbo
–
Etruscan warrior, found near Viterbo, dated circa 500 BCE.
Viterbo
–
The Palace of the Popes – In the background the bell-tower of the cathedral
27.
Latera
–
Latera is a small town and comune in the Province of Viterbo, Italy. Situated near Bolsena Lake and Mezzano Lake, is important for volcanic activity near the town centre. It has a rock with a medieval palace by Farnese family. Latera and its castle are known by documents from around the beginning of the 12th century, the Farnese reigned over Latera until 1650. The Palace of Ranuccio Farnese The Three Fountains Museum of Earth, inaugurated in 1999 Wars of Castro Media related to Latera at Wikimedia Commons Latera travel guide from Wikivoyage
Latera
–
Latera
Latera
–
The Ducal Fountain (Fontana del Ponte), 17th century.
