Cesi 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
Italian ''comune'' of
Terni, in the
province of Terni
The Province of Terni ( it, Provincia di Terni) is the smaller of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising one-third of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Terni. The province came into bein ...
, southern
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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, Italy. The small borgo, which retains its late-medieval aspect, set among olive groves, lies "stretched out lengthwise along a narrow contour on the slopes of M. Torre Maggiore," about 18 km north of Terni at an altitude of 437 m, one of the southernmost peaks of the
Monti Martani Monti may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Monti (given name)
* Monti (surname)
Places
*Monti, Lazio, the first rione (historic district) of Rome, Italy
*Monti, Sardinia, Italy, a ''comune'' and town
*Monti, Iowa, United States, a town
See also
*Monte ...
. As of 2001 there were 682 residents.
History
Testaments to the likely
Umbri
The Umbri were an Italic peoples, Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the Regio VI Umbria, ancient Umbria.
Most ancient Umbrian cities were settle ...
an origin of the site of ''Clusiolum'' are remains of walling slightly below the present village. Above it, near the peak of the Torre Maggiore (1121 m.) are the remains of an
Italic religious complex dating to the sixth century BCE, brought to light by an excavation.
The name ''Cesi'' derives from
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in the ...
''caesa'', a place cleared of woodland.
In the Middle Ages Cesi was a fief of the Arnolfi, the chief seat of the ''Terre Arnolfe''. The family claimed descent from the
Lombard Arnulf, who established himself in the region. The noble family of Cesi, dukes of
Aquasparta
Acquasparta is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Terni (Umbria, central Italy). It is located on a hill above the Naia Valley and the river of the same name, facing the Monti Martani mountain range.
It also sits between two hot springs, t ...
, derive their name from this place. Of this family was
Federico Cesi, founder of the ''
Accademia dei Lincei
The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini, Rome, Palazzo Corsini on the Vi ...
'', Rome.
During 10–14 July 1849,
Garibaldi encamped here, on his retreat from Rome after the fall of the
revived Roman Republic.
[(TCI) ''Umbria'', ''eo. loc.''.]
Places of interest
*At San Erasmo above the village there is an astronomical observatory.
* Church of S. Michele Arcangelo (1080), a
Romanesque church partly rebuilt in the thirteenth century with four pointed arches supporting its roof, now the site of the annual concerts of the ''Settembre musicale cesano''.
* Palazzo Contelori, former seat of the suppressed commune now joined to Terni; it was partly rebuilt in the seventeenth century.
*Church of S. Andrea (1160),
[(TCI) ''Umbria'' p. 347.] with fragments of carved funeral reliefs from Roman
Carsulae
Carsulae is an archaeological site in the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is located approximately north of San Gemini, a small comune in the province of Terni.
Origins and History
Most historians fix the town's foundation about 220-219 ...
embedded in the façade; the entrance is through a door in the long side; there is a second, smaller, ''porta del morto'' through which coffins were carried not to bring ill-omen on the usual entrance. Palazzo Cesi faces the church.
* Parish church of S. Maria Assunta (sixteenth-seventeenth centuries); altarpiece of ''Madonna and Child with Saints'' (dated 1308) by the
anonymous Master of Cesi, and a detached fresco ''Madonna and Child'' by Tommaso Papacello da Cortona (1538).
* Palazzo Cittadini-Cesi (sixteenth century);
* Medieval city walls and watchtowers.
*Umbrian archways (sixth-fifth centuries BCE)
* The little Church (''Chiesetta'') of S. Erasmo, in Romanesque style; it was founded by the
Benedictines in the twelfth century.
* Palazzo Stocchi, from which there is access to the ''grotta Eolia''.
* Palazzo Eustachi.
* Church of Sant'Onofrio.
Notes
References
*Drawn in large part from Italian Wikipedia article, "Cesi".
External links
Bill Thayer's Gazetteer of Italy: Cesi (Umbria)
{{authority control
Frazioni of the Province of Terni
Terni
Former municipalities of Umbria