Valentano

Infobox CityIT
img_coa = valentano-Stemma.png official_name = Comune di Valentano| name=Valentano
mapx=42.56
mapy=11.832
region = Lazio
province = Viterbo (VT)
elevation_m = 538
area_total_km2 = 43.29
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 2935
population_density_km2 = 67.80
timezone = CET, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|42|33|55|N|11|49|37|E
frazioni =Villa Fontane, Felceti
telephone = 0761
postalcode = 01018
gentilic =Valentanesi
saint = St. John the Apostle
day = december 27
mayor = Raffaela Saraconi
website = [http://www.comune.valentano.vt.it/ www.comune.valentano.vt.it]

Valentano is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is 33 km from the provincial 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".

History

Antiquity and High Middle Ages

The town is named for the first time in a manuscript of 813 in the Farfa Register; starting in 844 a "Balentanu" appears in other documents of the abbey of San Salvatore on Mt. Amiata. The land was definitely inhabited in prehistoric times, and important finds in the Lake Mezzano and near Mt. Becco, Mt. Saliette, the Poggi del Mulino and Mt. Starnina seem to confirm the theories of historians, who identify the lake with the Lake of Statonia ("Lacus Statoniensis") described by Seneca in his "Naturales Quaestiones" and by Pliny the Elder ( [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/2*.html#209 ii.209] , [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/14*.html#67 xiv.67] and [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/36*.html#168 xxxvi.168] ).

The Farnese

In the Renaissance period, the town fell under the dominion of the Farnese family: it is to them that Valentano owes its fortress ("Rocca") and many of its churches.

In 1649, when the town of Castro, capital of the Duchy of Castro, was destroyed, Valentano became the natural center of the Castrense region and the custodian of its archives.

Modern times

In June of 1944, an artillery shell exploded in the "Portonaccio" gate, killing seven civilians who had taken shelter in it. The gate itself is a witness to the tragedy, since one of its stones is missing, but in 2004 a plaque was placed in the Via Trento e Trieste to commemorate all local victims of World War II.

Main sights

* "Palazzo Comunale" (Town Hall)
* "Porta Magenta", designed by Vignola
* Vitozzi Palace
* Cruciani Palace, birthplace of Paolo Ruffini
* San Martino lookout
* Museum of the Prehistory of Tuscia and of the Rocca Farnese
* Churches:
** Collegiate church of "San Giovanni Evangelista"
**" Santa Maria"
**" Santa Croce"
** "Madonna del Monte"
** Sanctuary of the "Madonna della Salute "
**" Chiesa dell'Annunziata" at Villa Fontane
** "Sancta Maria ad Templum"
** "Chiesa dell'Eschio "'
** Church of the "Madonna della Pietà "(also "Madonna dell' Ospedale")

Natives of Valentano

* Gaetano Amoroso
* Ranuccio Farnese, Roman Catholic cardinal
* Alessandro Guarnelli
* Lino Lottatori
* Alessandro Mazzinelli
* Antonio Ongaro, 16th century poet
* Paolo Ruffini, 18th century mathematician
* Giordano Starnini

Celebrations and festivals

* Good Friday: Procession of the Body of Christ ("Cristo Morto")
* 3d Sunday in May: Cedar Fair, instituted by the Farnese in 1461
* August 14‑15 Agosto: Feast of the Assumption, with a Plowing Competition.
* throughout the summer: various events, including the Palio of the Duchy of Castro, a historical pageant.

External links

* [http://www.comune.valentano.vt.it/ Official website]
* [http://www.valentano.org/ Valentano.Org]
* [http://www.ceniamoinsieme.org/ ProLoco Valentano] (Tourist Office)
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/_Periods/Roman/Archaic/Etruscan/_Texts/DENETR*/24.html#sec10 George Dennis on Valentano]