Nepi

Nepi
Country	Italy
region	Lazio
province	Viterbo  (VT)
Coordinates	42 ° 15 '  N , 12 ° 21'  E Coordinates: 42 ° 14 '33 "  N , 12 ° 20' 55"  E
height	227  m slm
surface	84.2 km²
Residents	9,507 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	113 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	01036
prefix	0761
ISTAT number	056039
Popular name	Nepesians
Patron saint	Romanus and Ptolemy
Website	Nepi
Aerial view of Nepi

Nepi is an Italian commune with 9507 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019) in the province of Viterbo , which belongs to the Lazio region.

Borgia Castle

geography

Waterfall in the tuff gorge of Nepi

Location of Nepi in the province of Viterbo

Nepi is located 50 km north of Rome and 33 km southeast of Viterbo . The old town of Nepi is built on a steep, wedge-shaped tuff plateau cut by several gorges at the foothills of the Monti Cimini . It is located at the confluence of two streams (Rio Puzzolo and Rio Falisco). This watercourse cascades down from the slab of rock on which the Borgia castle lies. The surrounding area is rich in beech and oak forests in the higher elevations. The districts are next to Nepi Colle Farnese, Colle Lydia, Colle Salamonio, Gabelletta, Grezzano, Settevene, Vigne Nuove and Valdiano.

The municipality extends over a height of 87 to 404  m slm. The municipality is located in the earthquake zone 3 (little endangered).

The neighboring municipalities, clockwise, are Trevignano Romano ( RM ), Monterosi , Sutri , Ronciglione , Caprarola , Carbognano , Fabrica di Roma , Castel Sant'Elia , Mazzano Romano (RM) and Campagnano di Roma (RM).

traffic

• Nepi is located on strada statale 311 Nepesina , which connects the place with the
• Via Cassia , which runs from Rome via Siena to Florence , and the
• Via Flaminia , which runs from Rome to Fano , connects.
• The next motorway junction onto the A1 Autostrada del Sole is 25 km from Magliano Sabina .

• The nearest train station is in Civita Castellana -Catalano on the Roma Flaminio – Viterbo railway line, 12 km away.
• in Civita Castellana -Borghetto on the Rome-Florence railway line , with the FL1 Fiumicino-Orte stop 20 km away.

• The nearest airport is Rome Fiumicino Airport , 71 km away.

There is an airfield in Nepi .

Nepi is a station on the Via Francigena .

history

Borgia castle reinforced by the Farnese

Like most places in the area, Nepi was also an Etruscan foundation that belonged to the League of Twelve Cities - the city-state of Veji . The Etruscans called the city Nepet . 396 BC Veji was conquered by the Romans . This made Nepi, together with Sutri , a strategically important outpost to secure the territory in the immediate vicinity of the capital. After the Social War v 91-88. Nepi received Roman citizenship and became a municipium . It retained this status until late antiquity.

When the Lombards invaded the Roman Empire in 568, Nepi was destroyed by King Alboin .

The earliest evidence of resettlement is documented in the 11th century. The land belonged since the Pippi's donation to the Papal States , became the de facto but controlled by changing feudal before the popes themselves took it in the 15th century in possession. In addition to the Borgia, the Farnese had a significant influence on the architectural design.

Napoleon's invasion troops in central Italy caused a city fire in 1798 and the destruction of the cathedral. Rebuilding in the 19th century explains a significant part of the changes in the building fabric.

In 1870 Nepi came to the Kingdom of Italy like the entire former Papal States .

Population development

year	1871	1881	1901	1921	1936	1951	1971	1991	2001	2011
Residents	2,285	2,279	2,973	3,316	3,586	4,450	4,827	6,346	7,827	9,364

Source ISTAT

politics

Pietro Soldatelli ( PD ) was elected mayor in May 2014. His citizenship list Nepi Progetto Comune also has the majority in the municipal council with 8 out of 12 seats. His predecessor Franco Vita, who was elected in May 2004 and confirmed in 2009, did not run again.

coat of arms

The coat of arms shows a tower with three points, at the base of which a green snake coils. It is said to represent the water snake Nepa, who, according to a legend, the Etruscans Nepis are said to have worshiped as a deity.

religion

The majority of the inhabitants of Nepi belong to the Roman Catholic religious community. The parish belongs to the diocese of Civita Castellana and has five parishes .

Nepi is one of the oldest dioceses. Even if Ptolemy is said to have been the first bishop during the reign of Nero , the diocese of Nepi can only be documented in the 4th century. In 1435 it was united with the diocese of Sutri and in 1986 it was incorporated into the diocese of Civita Castellana. In 1991 the titular diocese of Nepeta was created.

The antipope Eulalius was probably bishop of Nepi and was buried in the cathedral. Pope Pius V was also bishop of Nepi and Sutri before his election.

Cityscape and landmarks

The townscape is essentially medieval with subsequent influences from the Renaissance . Many buildings are in need of renovation. Restoration work on a larger scale has been announced for 2007, for which the financial means are still being raised.

Secular buildings

Aqueduct of Nepi

• The Borgia castle (15th / 16th century) was built by Alexander VI. Significantly designed building in 1479 on the relics of a feudal residence with four square corner towers of different sizes and two round towers (one of which is open to visitors). Inside, which is still being restored, there is a spacious rectangular hall and two smaller side rooms. A section of a Roman road with three gates from different eras was found under the fort; the oldest building fabric is the 3rd / 2nd attributed to the century BC. The complex was strengthened under Antonio da Sangallo the Younger on behalf of Duke Pier Luigi II Farnese (son of Farnese Pope Paul III ) in 1537.

• Pope Paul III and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger are responsible for the renaissance building of the Palazzo Comunale , which began in 1542 but was not completed until around 1700. The fountain under the central arcade was made by Filippo Barigioni (1727). A museum on the city's history was still under construction in 2007.

• For the construction of the aqueduct (completed in 1727 based on ancient models) several architects were employed, including: a. Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Filippo Barigioni.

Churches

Baroque interior of the cathedral

• The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary may have been built on the remains of a temple in the 12th century. It was gradually changed around the middle of the 18th century and reconstructed in 1831 after the city fire of 1798. The previous building included the 9-aisled crypt , divided by 27 small columns with richly decorated different capitals , which houses an antique altar table. The equipment of the five-nave church of the sarcophagus of the patron saint include Romanus (school of Bernini ) and a triptych that Paolo Romano is attributed. An altar panel is kept in the sacristy , depicting Romanus next to the second local saint, the martyr Ptolemy (late 15th century).

• San Biagio goes back to a previous convent ( Santa Maria delle Grazie ) from the 10th century, which also included Greek monks. The single-nave interior, which has undergone various changes over the centuries, is richly decorated with frescoes.

• San Pietro was consecrated in 1465, but may have existed as early as the 13th century. The church was rebuilt and baroque in 1755 by the Augustinians .

• In San Vito (mentioned in 1467) there are remains of frescoes that are considered older (14th century).

Fresco of St. Roch in San Rocco

• According to local sources, San Rocco was most likely built in 1467 following a plague epidemic . A festival in honor of the plague saint takes place every year in August (first documented in 1563). The church contains frescoes from the 15th century.

• San Tolomeo is a renaissance building with a dome near the parish cemetery, from the era of Paul III / Pier Luigi Farnese / Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. From the church there is access to the Catacombs of Santa Savinilla (4th – 5th centuries). There are more than 1000 graves in the three main corridors with several branches.

Outside the city

• The Via Amerina (3rd century BC) is a Roman road that ran from Nepi to Gubbio , where it merged into the Via Flaminia . It got its name from the Roman city of Ameria, which corresponds to today's Amelia . In the Middle Ages this road was very important as it was the only connection between Rome and the Exarchate of Ravenna . A paved section has been preserved at Tre Ponti , a rugged rocky landscape, where one of three Roman bridges over two watercourses and a number of rock tombs are located.

economy

The place and its surroundings are dominated by agriculture. Small service companies dominate in the town center (mostly retail shops). Local government includes building authorities, accounting, social services, the local police and a library.

Nepi is known in Italy for its mineral water, which is marketed under the following motto: "Nepe civitas, nobilis atque potens, in cuius fertilissimis agris balnea scaturiunt salutifera" ( "The city of Nepi, noble and powerful, in whose fertile lands healing waters flow " ). The mineral springs located 3 km from the city were already known in ancient times and may have belonged to the Gracchi . Today the water is marketed as Acqua di Nepi mainly in central Italy. However, the water is not bottled and sold on site, but by the San Benedetto Group in Scorzè (Veneto).

The largest resident company is Great Lengths , which is headquartered in Nepi and holds 60% of the world market share of human hair extensions . So-called temple hair , which is sacrificed in Indian temples (e.g. Tirupati ) , is mainly used for this.

Festivals

• Saint Anthony on January 17th
• carnival
• Palio del Saracino (medieval spectacle with parades and a small horse race based on the Palio principle) on the last weekend in May and on the first two weekends in June; During this time also various Marian festivals
• Patronage festival of the two local saints on 25./26. August with procession, sporting and cultural performances
• Farmers' markets / Thanksgiving in mid-September
• Madonna della Vittoria on the first Sunday of October
• Saint Stephen on December 26th

sons and daughters of the town

• Ptolemy of Nepi 1st century, first bishop of Nepi
• Romanus von Nepi 1st century, Christian martyr
• Constantine II. 8th century, antipope
• Alessandro Stradella (1643–1682), Italian violinist, singer and composer
• Zeno Giglietti (1918–2001), Italian painter

literature

• Christof Henning: Latium. The land around Rome. With walks in the Eternal City (= DuMont art travel guide ). 3rd, updated edition. DuMont, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-7701-6031-2 .
• Daniela Rizzo, Lucia Suaria (Ed.): Nepi . Associazione Culturale Historia, Viterbo 2002, ISBN 978-88-95769-31-8 .
• Anna Ferrari-Bravo (Ed.): Lazio. Roma e il Vaticano, le città etrusche e medievali dalla Tuscia al Circeo (= Guide d'Italia ). Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2004, ISBN 88-365-2917-8 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
2. ^ Italian civil defense
3. ↑ Information on www.ulm.it
4. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT . Population statistics from the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, as of December 31, 2011.
5. ^ Information from the Ministry of the Interior
6. ^ Diocese of Civita Castellana (Italian), accessed January 4, 2016
7. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Eulalius, antipope. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1556–1557.
8. ↑ Stern - The Rapunzel Principle

Web links

Commons : Nepi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the city (Italian)
• ProLoco Nepi (Italian)
• Harris, W., DARMC, R. Talbert, S. Gillies, T. Elliott, J. Becker: Places: 413224 (Nepet) . Pleiades. Retrieved on January 4, 2016 11:24 am.
• The water of Nepi
• Nepi on www.comuni-italiani.it (Italian)