Orte is a town, ''

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 ...

'', former Catholic bishopric and Latin

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 archbi ...

in the

province of Viterbo Viterbo ( it, provincia di Viterbo) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. Geography Viterbo is the most northerly of the provinces of Lazio. It is bordered to the south by the Metropolitan City of Rome ...

, in the central Italian region of

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, located about north of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and about east of

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...

Geography

Orte is situated in the

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 th ...

valley on a high

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

cliff, encircled to North and East from a handle of the Tevere river. It is an important road and rail hub.

History

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, roug ...

inhabited the area from the 6th century BC and called it Hurta, as testified by the findings in a

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

nearby, now preserved in the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

. Two major battles between Etruscans and Romans (310 and 283 BC) were fought nearby on the shores of the Vadimone lake. The Romans were victorious both times. The Romans domination made it the municipality of ''Horta'' (also ''Hortanum''). Under the rule of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

it received numerous

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

. Because of its strategic position, Orte was occupied in succession by the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines and the

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 an ...

. During the late 9th to early 10th century, along with much of central Italy, Orte was also held or threatened by the

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

the city was never seat of a fief, becoming a free ''

'' under a ''

podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

'' (elected magistrature). Later it became part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

Ecclesiastical history

* 700: Established as Diocese of Orte (Italian) / Hortanum (Latin) / Hortan(us) (Latin adjective) * Basilica concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta: Suppressed a sole cathedral of a diocese on 1437.10.05, its territory and title being merged into the accordingly renamed Diocese of Civita Castellana e Orte, where its former cathedral became co-cathedral, which is a

Minor Basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

, dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

*Church of San Biagio

Residential Bishops

* San Lanno ? (III - IV secolo) * Giovanni Montano ? (mentioned in 330) * San Cassiano ? (in 363) * Leone (in 384) 5* Martiniano (o Marziano) ? (in 502) * Ubaldo Prosenio ? (in 592) * Blando ? (in 598) * Calunnioso ? (in 600) * Giuliano (in 649) * Maurizio (on 743) * Adone or Adamo (in 761) * Stefano I (in 826) * Arsenio (first in 855 - death August 868) * Zaccaria (in 869) * Stefano II (in 904) * Pietro I (in 916) * Giorgio (in 963) 6* Lamberto (in 1005) 7* Giovanni I (prima del 1017 - dopo il 1024) 7* Landovino (in 1036) 7* Gregorio (in 1049) 8* Rodolfo (prima del 1126 - dopo il 1149 9 * Paolo I (prima del 1168 - dopo il 1196) * Paolo II (in 1200 circa) * Giovanni II (prima del 6 October 1206 - after 2 October 1212) * Guido (1221 - after 1224) * Trasimondo (prima del 1239 - dopo il 1243) * Giovanni III (in 1248) * Pietro II, O.F.M. (12 April 1255 - death after 1259) * Corrado (19 December 1284 - ?) * Bartolomeo (26 January 1296 - 1298 deceduto) * Lorenzo da Velletri, O.F.M. (3 October 1298 - death 1333 or 1334) * Nicolò Zabereschi (1 March 1339 0- death 1362) * Giovanni IV (25 July 1363 - ?) * Pietro III (in 1365) * Giovanni Cappucci 1 O.P. (1366 - death 1393) * Paolo Alberti, O.F.M. (12 November 1395 2- 13 may 1420), next Bishop of

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the '' Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsic ...

) * Sante (17 June 31420 - 19 March 1432), next Bishop of

Civita Castellana Civita Castellana is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Viterbo, north of Rome. Mount Soracte lies about to the south-east. History Civita Castellana was settled during the Iron Age by the Italic people of the Falisci, who called it " ...

) 4* =? Sancho (? – 1431), next Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) (1431 – 1433) * Valentino (19 March 1432 - 15 May 1439), next first Bishop of successor see Civita Castellana and Orte) .

Titular see

In 1991 the diocese was nominally restored as Latin

Titular bishopric 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 ...

of Orte (Italian) / Hortanum (Latin) / Hortan(us) (Latin). It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * José de Jesús Madera Uribe,

Missionaries of the Holy Spirit The Missionaries of the Holy Spirit (MSpS) are a Catholic religious institute founded in Mexico City in 1914 by French missionary Félix de Jesús Rougier. Father Rougier was a priest and a member of another religious order, the Society of Mary ...

(M.Sp.S.) (1991.05.28 – death 2017.01.21) as Auxiliary Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of United States of America (army archbishopric, USA) (1991.05.28 – 2004.09.15) and as emeritate; previously Coadjutor Bishop of Diocese of Fresno (USA) (1979.12.18 – 1980.07.01), succeeding as Bishop of Fresno (1980.07.01 – 1991.05.28) *

Bishop-elect In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

Andrzej Przybylski (2017.05.20 – ...), as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Częstochowa (Poland) (2017.05.20 – ...).

Events

*''Sant'Egidio Abate's Day and Ottava of Sant'Egidio'': from 31 August to the second Sunday in September. A Medieval festival with shows, fairs, conventions, seminaries of study, art exhibitions of art and archery competitions (the "Palio", contented by the archers of the Seven Contrade). *''Religious procession of Dead Christ'': every Friday before Easter. A torchlight procession representing early religions orders ("Confraternity").

Transport

Orte railway station Orte railway station ( it, Stazione di Orte) serves the town and '' comune'' of Orte, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Opened in 1865, it forms part of the Florence–Rome railway and the Ancona–Orte railway. The station is currently m ...

, opened in 1865, forms part of the Florence–Rome railway and the Ancona–Orte railway. It is situated in Piazza Giovanni XXIII, in the locality of Orte Scalo, approximately two kilometres southeast of the town centre.

References

Sources and external links

Orte municipal website

Ottovamedievale.it

; Bibliography - ecclesiastical history * Ferdinando Ughelli, ''Italia sacra'', vol. I, second edition, Venice 1717, coll. 733-743 * Tommaso M. Mamachi, ''De episcopatus hortani antiquitate ad hortanos cives liber singularis, Rome 1759 * Giuseppe Cappelletti, ''Le Chiese d'Italia della loro origine sino ai nostri giorni'', vol. VI, Venice 1847, pp. 23–49 * Louis Duchesne, ''Le sedi episcopali nell'antico ducato di Roma'', in ''Archivio della romana società di storia patria'', Volume XV, Rome 1892, p. 491 * Paul Fridolin Kehr, ''Italia Pontificia'', vol. II, Berlin 1907, pp. 192–194 * Gerhard Schwartz, ''Die Besetzung der Bistümer Reichsitaliens unter den Sächsischen und Salischen Kaisern : mit den Listen der Bischöfe, 951-1122'', Leipzig-Berlin 1913, p. 259 * Francesco Lanzoni, ''Le diocesi d'Italia dalle origini al principio del secolo VII (an. 604)'', vol. I, Faenza 1927, pp. 546–547 * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, pp. 685–686 * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 1, pp. 278–279; vol. 2, pp. XXVI e 166 {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lazio