Civitella d'Arna is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...

'' of the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) of

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

in central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, 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 archbi ...

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 Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

(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 up to Via Boncambi. It still h ...

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

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') 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 Prope ...

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 Monte Subasio. It is 6 km (4 mi) NNW of Foligno and 10 k ...

Trevi The area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) of the European Union (EU) is a policy domain concerning home affairs and migration, justice as well as fundamental rights, developed to address the challenges posed to internal security by col ...

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

Foligno Foligno (; Central Italian, 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 Apennine Mountains, Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clit ...

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 ...

Montefalco Montefalco is a historic small hill town in Umbria, Italy, with a population of 5,581 in August 2017. It has been settled since pre-Roman times, and retains many of its historic buildings. From 1446 to 1861 it was part of the Papal States. It is on ...

, and as far as the Rocca (castle) of

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

History

Civitella d'Arna boasts of

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 sett ...

an origins, but it was the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

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 the ancient region of Etruria, in Etruria Padana and Etruria Campana in what is now Italy. Etruscan influenced Latin but was eventually superseded by it. Around 13,000 Etruscan epigraph ...

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

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, 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 R ...

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 sou ...

. 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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 Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War, recovering b ...

devastated it in 548–549 and it ceased to be an episcopal see. The centuries-long struggles between Byzantines and

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

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 (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. 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 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 (M.C.C.J.) (2005.07.14 – ...), as

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

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 language, 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 t ...

attributed to Bartolomeo Caporali, a painting on wood by Domenico Bruschi of Perugia, a 19th-century crucifix, a

Deruta Deruta is a hill town and ''comune'' in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region of central Italy. Long known as a center of refined maiolica manufacture, Deruta remains known for its ceramics, which are exported worldwide. It is one of ( ...

ceramic of the end of the 16th century, and a fresco attributed to Giannicola di Paolo, of the school of

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

. 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 Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

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 Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

References

Sources and external links