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SPOLETO (anc. Spoletium)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 714 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SPOLETO (anc. Spoletium) , a See also:town and archiepiscopal see of the See also:province of See also:Perugia, See also:Italy, 18 m. N.N.E. of See also:Terni, and 88 m. N. by E. of See also:Rome by See also:rail. Pop. (1901), 9631 (town); 24,648 (See also:commune). It is situated on a See also:hill, so that the lowest See also:part is about 1000, the highest 1485, ft. above See also:sea-level, at the See also:south end of the open valley of the Topino, a tributary of the See also:Tiber, which it joins near See also:Assisi. The See also:principal See also:industries are the collection and preparation of truffles and preserved foods, also tanning and the manufacture of earthenware. Spoleto is also the centre of an agricultural See also:district, and contains a See also:government experimental See also:olive oil factory. There are few towns of Italy which possess so many See also:Roman remains in See also:good preservation under the See also:medieval buildings, and few medieval towns with so picturesque an See also:appearance. There are considerable remains of perhaps pre-Roman polygonal walls—in one See also:place a piece of this walling has See also:masonry of rectangular blocks superposed, with an inscription of two of the Roman municipal magistrates (quattuorviri). There are also a few traces of an inner See also:enceinte of the Roman See also:period.

There are remains of a Roman See also:

theatre, over 370 ft. in See also:diameter, and an See also:amphitheatre 390 by 205 ft. A Roman See also:bridge of three See also:arches, 8o ft.-See also:long and 26 ft. high, exists at the See also:lower (See also:north) entrance to the town, under the See also:modern road to See also:Foligno, in the former See also:bed of a torrent. which has now changed its course. A Mithraeum was found outside this See also:gate in 1878. The See also:rock above the town was included within the polygonal walls: but See also:Totila fortified, not this rock, but the amphitheatre, which remained the citadel until 1364, when See also:Cardinal See also:Albornoz destroyed it and erected the See also:present Rocca, which was enlarged by See also:Pope See also:Nicholas V.; it is now a See also:prison. The Porta della Fuga (the name alludes to the repulse of See also:Hannibal) occupies the site of a Roman gate, but is itself medieval: while the medieval enceinte encloses a somewhat wider See also:area than the See also:ancient. The Piazza del Mercato represents the Roman See also:forum; See also:close by is a triumphal See also:arch of See also:Drusus and Germanicus, and a See also:temple (?) into which is built the See also:church of S. Ansano. A Roman See also:house in the upper part of the town, with See also:mosaic pavements, probably belonged to Vespasia Polla, the See also:mother of the See also:emperor See also:Vespasian. The Palazzo Municipale, close by, contains the archives and picture See also:gallery. The See also:cathedral of S. Maria Assunta, much modernized in 1644, occupies the site of a church of the Lombard See also:dukes erected about 602. The present church was consecrated in 1198; the See also:facade belongs to the See also:middle of the 12th See also:century.

Over the See also:

main entrance is a large mosaic of See also:Christ enthroned, with the Virgin and St See also:John, by the artist Solsernus (1207). The See also:Early See also:Renaissance See also:vestibule (after 1491) is See also:fine. In the See also:choir and on the See also:half See also:dome of the See also:apse, are the finest frescoes of Fra Filippo See also:Lippi (scenes from the See also:life of the Virgin) completed after his See also:death by Fra See also:Diamante: his See also:tomb, erected by Lorenzo de' See also:Medici, with the See also:epitaph by See also:Politian, is on the See also:left of the choir. The fine stalls and panelling in the See also:winter choir date from 1548-1554. In and near the Piazza del Duomo are the unfinished Palazzo della Signoria, of the early 14th century, which contains the archaeological museum, the small Renaissance church of the See also:Manna d'Oro (1527), the facade of the Romanesque See also:basilica of S. Eufemia (in the See also:archbishop's See also:palace) and the fine Early Renaissance Palazzo Arroni with its See also:graffito See also:frieze. The church of S. Pietro, outside the town on the road to Rome (wrongly supposed to have been the cathedral before 1067), wasfounded in A.D. 419 by See also:Bishop See also:Achilles. Its facade is remarkable for its richly sculptured decorations of See also:grotesque figures and beasts, which are of two different See also:dates, about 'coo and about 1200. S. Domenico is a fine example of later See also:Italian See also:Gothic with bands of different coloured stones.

Both the church and its See also:

crypt contain 14th-century frescoes. The tripleapsed crypt of S. Gregorio probably dates from the 9th century: the upper church was consecrated in 1196 and the Romanesque See also:work covered with See also:stucco in the restoration of 1597. S. See also:Nicole is a beautiful example of Pointed Gothic. The basilica of S. Salvatore (il Crocefisso) at the See also:cemetery belongs to the 4th century A.D. The fine sculptures of the facade, with its beautiful windows, as also the octagonal dome, all belong to this period; Meliorantius, the sculptor of the portal of the cathedral (after 1155), took his See also:inspiration hence. S. Ponziano, not far off, belongs to the 13th century, but its interior has been re-stored: the crypt contains frescoes of the 15th century. The See also:city is still supplied with See also:water by an See also:aqueduct, to which be-longs the huge bridge called the See also:Ponte delle Torri, See also:crossing the See also:ravine which divides the town from the See also:Monte Luco (2723 ft.). The bridge is 253 ft. high and 755 ft. long and has ten arches: the ground See also:plan is Roman; the See also:stone piers are in the main later (the work is often attributed to Theodelapius, the third Lombard See also:duke, in 604), while the pointed See also:brick arches belong to a restoration of the 14th (?) century.

The Monte Luco, which commands a splendid view, has several hermitages upon it. The first mention of Spoletium in See also:

history is the See also:notice of the See also:foundation of a See also:colony there in 241 B.C. (Liv. Epit. xx.; Vell. Pat. i. 14), and it was still according to See also:Cicero (See also:Pro Balb. 21)—" colonia See also:latina in primis firma et illustris "—a Latin colony in 95 B.C. After the See also:battle of Trasimenus (217 B.C.) Spoletium was attacked by Hannibal, who was repulsed by the inhabitants (Liv. xxii. 9). During the Second Punic See also:War the city was a useful ally to Rome. It suffered greatly during the See also:civil See also:wars of See also:Marius and See also:Sulla. The latter, after his victory over See also:Crassus, confiscated the territory of Spoletium (82 B.C.).

From this See also:

time forth it was a See also:municipium. Under the See also:empire it again became a flourishing town, but is not often mentioned in history. It was situated on a See also:branch of the Via See also:Flaminia, which left the main road at Narnia and rejoined it at Forum Flaminii. An ancient road also ran hence to Nursia. See also:Martial speaks of its See also:wine. Aemilianus, who had been proclaimed emperor by his soldiers in See also:Moesia, was slain by them here on his way to Rome (A.D. 253), after a reign of three or four months. Rescripts of See also:Constantine (326) and See also:Julian (362) are dated from Spoleto. The foundation of the episcopal see dates from the 4th century. Owing to its elevated position it was an important stronghold during the Vandal and Gothic wars; its walls were dismantled by Totila (Procop. See also:Bell. got. iii. 12).

Under the See also:

Lombards Spoleto became the See also:capital of an in-dependent duchy (from 570), and its dukes ruled a considerable part of central Italy. Together with other fiefs, it was bequeathed to Pope See also:Gregory VII. by the empress See also:Matilda, but for some time struggled to maintain its See also:independence. In 1155 it was destroyed by See also:Frederick See also:Barbarossa. In 1213 it was definitely occupied by Gregory IX. During the See also:absence of the papal See also:court in See also:Avignon it was a See also:prey to the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, until in 1354 Cardinal Albornoz brought it once more under the authority of the Church. In 1809 it became capital of the See also:French See also:department of See also:Trasimene. In 186o it was taken by the Italian troops after a gallant See also:defence. Giovanni Pontano, founder of the Accademia Pontaniana of See also:Naples, was See also:born here. See A. Sansi, Degli Edifizi e dei frammenti storici dell' antichitd di Spoleto (Foligno, 1869), and other See also:works; G. Angelini See also:Rota, Spoleto e Dintorni (Spoleto, 1905) ; and various articles by G. Sordini, in Notizie degli Scavi.

(T.

End of Article: SPOLETO (anc. Spoletium)

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