Civitella d'Arna is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) of

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

in central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and the Ancient city and former bishopric Arna, which remains a Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

Town

What was once an important town but now only a village of some 350 inhabitants stands atop a small hill (333 metres above sea level) about 9 kilometres east of the city of Perugia, the capital of

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

(and of Perugia Province). On one side, it provides a view of that city along its main axis from the bell towers of San Pietro and San Domenico, to the Rocca Paolina fortress, the bell tower of the

Palazzo dei Priori The Palazzo dei Priori or comunale is one of the best examples in Italy of a public palace from the communal era (11th century). It is located in the central Piazza IV Novembre in Perugia, Umbria. It extends along Corso Vannucci up to Via Boncam ...

, the gateway of Porta Sole and the Convent of Monteripido. On the other side, it looks towards

Assisi Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born aroun ...

Spello Spello (in Antiquity: Hispellum) is an ancient town and ''comune'' (township) of Italy, in the province of Perugia in eastern-central Umbria, on the lower southern flank of Mt. Subasio. It is 6 km (4 mi) NNW of Foligno and 10 km (6 ...

, Trevi, Bastia, the dome of Santa Maria degli Angeli, and beyond them to

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located so ...

Bevagna Bevagna is a town and ''comune'' in the central part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria), in the flood plain of the Topino river. Bevagna is south-east of Perugia, west of Foligno, north-north-west of Montefalco, south of Assisi and ...

, Montefalco, and as far as the Rocca (castle) of

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

History

Civitella d'Arna boasts of

Umbri The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on ...

an origins, but it was the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

who were chiefly responsible for its development in the 4th century BC. The Ancient name Arna in the

Etruscan language Etruscan () was the language of the Etruscan civilization, in Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria (modern Tuscany, western Umbria, northern Latium, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Lombardy and Campania). Etruscan influenced Latin but was eventually co ...

meant "river current" and probably referred to its position between the rivers

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

and

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

. Under

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

rule, it continued to be important and was the seat of a bishop by the end of the 5th century AD, in the last decade of which a Bishop Vitalianus held the see. The barbarian hordes of Totila devastated it in 548–549 and it ceased to be an episcopal see. The centuries-long struggles between Byzantines and

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

brought further decline to the town, which saw its bishopric suppressed in 588 or 589. Only in the 13th century was the building of its hilltop castle completed.

Titular see

At the request of the then Archbishop of

, the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

acknowledged the former existence of the residential bishopric of Arna, by inserting its name among the Latin

s recognized by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. as Latin Titular bishopric of Arna (Latin = Curiate Italian) / ) (Latin adjective). It has had the following incumbent(s), so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Camillo Ballin,

Comboni Missionaries The term ''Comboni Missionaries'' can refer to either of two religious orders founded by Saint Daniele Comboni: * Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus * Comboni Missionary Sisters The Comboni Missionary Sisters (S.M.C.; it, Suore Missionarie ...

(M.C.C.J.) (2005.07.14 – ...), as Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia (Kuwait-based).

Sights

* The 13th-century castle stands on foundations of a Roman-era cistern, whose remains can be seen. It underwent adjustments under the local noble families of the Sozi, the Degli Azzi Vitelleschi, the Spinola, and the present owners, the Baldelli. It has an entrance bastion and a fine 14th-century arch. Traces of walls of the Etruscan and Roman periods are built into its outer walls. * A 19th-century parish church inside the castle. It contains a 1492

gonfalone The gonfalon, gonfanon, gonfalone (from the early Italian ''confalone'') is a type of heraldic flag or banner, often pointed, swallow-tailed, or with several streamers, and suspended from a crossbar in an identical manner to the ancient Roman v ...

attributed to Bartolomeo Caporali, a painting on wood by Domenico Bruschi of Perugia, a 19th-century crucifix, a Deruta ceramic of the end of the 16th century, and a fresco attributed to Giannicola di Paolo, of the school of

Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ear ...

. The bronze church bells of 1850 weigh respectively 536, 264 e 127 kilograms. * A ruined 11th-century chapel in the cemetery. * The 17th-century convent of the Filippini Fathers, summer residence of the Filippini of the Chiesa Nuova in Perugia. Walls of Roman cisterns serve as its foundations. The 14th-century chapel has 18th-century stuccoes and a painting on canvas by Francesco Appiani. * A 1562 fountain at Osteria built by Francesco di Orsino Sozi to a design by the architect Guido Caporali. * Villa Floramonti (17th century) on the road to Sant'Egidio, built by Cardinal Pompeo Floramonti. Many archaeological finds from the area are on display in the Archaeological Museum of Perugia. However, a bronze head of Hypnos (the god of sleep), perhaps a 1st or 2nd-century AD copy of a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

original, was found at Civitella d'Arna in the early nineteenth century and is now part of the Castellani Collection in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

References

Sources and external links