понедельник, 24 февраля 2014 г.

CITY OF TARQUINIA

CITY OF TARQUINIA
Tarquinia, as we know it today, was called Corneto up until the 19th century. The name Corneto may derive from the presence of plants of Corniolo (Corgnitum), or perhaps from the mythical king, Corito, its founder and ancestor of Aeneas.
The city has indefinable origins. It was a Catholic Episcopalian center beginning in the 4th century A.D.
Petrarch defined Corneto as "Turritum et spectabile oppidum, gemino cinctum muro". In other words, a beautiful, fortified town surrounded by a double wall that dominated the view of travelers with its 38 majestic towers.
Since the middle of the 12th century it was a free city, in the 13th century the city reinforced its status and increasingly tied to Rome, which was the best buyer of the rich production of wheat.
Between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th Corneto suffered the onslaught of two grave pestilences which reduced the population to two thirds of what it had been and contributed to the decadence of the city's architectural patrimony. At the end of the 18th century and again at the beginning of the 19th century, the city was twice occupied by French troops. In 1815 Corneto returned under the reign of the Church as a Papal State and in 1870 was annexed by the kingdom of Italy. Finally in 1872 the city assumed the name of Corneto-Tarquinia and then definitely that of Tarquinia in 1922. Throughout the course of time Tarquinia continued to be enriched with splendid palaces and churches all of which were subject to the predominant culture at the moment of construction as well as to the tastes of who governed within the Papal State or who wielded power. Today wandering through the winding streets of Tarquinia one can note Roman style architecture from the 12th-14th century along with Gothic and Renaissance motifs intertwine. The educated eye can spot Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical palaces with a variety of forms and decorations. This eclectic trend continued in the phase after Italy was united and has spread throughout the major part of Italy.

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