Valentano
Comune
Comune di Valentano
Rocca Farnese.
Rocca Farnese.
Coat of arms of Valentano
Coat of arms
Location of Valentano
Map
Valentano is located in Italy
Valentano
Valentano
Location of Valentano in Italy
Valentano is located in Lazio
Valentano
Valentano
Valentano (Lazio)
Coordinates: 42°33′55″N 11°49′37″E / 42.56528°N 11.82694°E / 42.56528; 11.82694
CountryItaly
RegionLazio
ProvinceViterbo (VT)
FrazioniVilla Fontane, Felceti
Government
 • MayorStefano Bigiotti
Area
[1]
 • Total43.5 km2 (16.8 sq mi)
Elevation
538 m (1,765 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2015)[2]
 • Total2,868
 • Density66/km2 (170/sq mi)
DemonymValentanesi
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
01018
Dialing code0761
Patron saintSt. John the Apostle
Saint dayDecember 27
WebsiteOfficial website
View of Valentano.

Valentano is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is 33 kilometres (21 mi) from the provincial capital, Viterbo.

Rocca Farnese in Valentano.

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 (ii.209, xiv.67 and 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 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

People

Events

Twin towns

References

  1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valentano.


Lazio · Comuni of the Province of Viterbo
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