Rieti

This article is about the Italian city. For the composer, see Vittorio Rieti.
Not to be confused with the Rietti family.
Rieti
Comune
Comune di Rieti

Bell tower of St. Mary Cathedral

Flag

Coat of arms
Rieti

Location of Rieti in Italy

Coordinates: 42°24′N 12°52′E / 42.400°N 12.867°E / 42.400; 12.867Coordinates: 42°24′N 12°52′E / 42.400°N 12.867°E / 42.400; 12.867
Country Italy
Region Lazio
Province / Metropolitan city Rieti (RI)
Frazioni Case San Benedetto, Casette, Castelfranco, Cerchiara, Chiesa Nuova, Cupaello, Lisciano, Lugnano, Maglianello, Moggio, Piane di Poggio Fidoni, Piani di Sant'Elia, Piè di Moggio, Poggio Fidoni, Poggio Perugino, San Giovanni Reatino, Sant'Elia, Vaiano, Vazia
Government
  Mayor Simone Petrangeli (SEL)
Area
  Total 206.52 km2 (79.74 sq mi)
Elevation 405 m (1,329 ft)
Population (30 April 2008)
  Total 47,745
  Density 230/km2 (600/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Reatini
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 02100
Dialing code 0746
Patron saint St. Barbara
Saint day December 4
Website Official website

Rieti (Italian: [ˈrjɛːti]; Latin: Rĕā́tĕ) is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of c. 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti.

The town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding a wide plain at the southern edge of an ancient lake. The area is now the fertile basin of the Velino River. Only the small Ripasottile and Lungo lakes remain of the original large one.

History

Ancient era

Remains of the Roman Bridge (3rd century BC)

Reate was originally a major site of the Sabine nation. After the Roman conquest, carried out by Manius Curius Dentatus in the late 3rd century BC, the village became a strategic point in the early Italian road network, dominating the "salt" track (known as Via Salaria) that linked Rome to the Adriatic Sea through the Apennines.

Curius Dentatus drained a large portion of the lake by making the Velino a distributary of the Nera river. The wide area once occupied by the lake turned into a fertile plain. Following Roman customs, the land was split into characteristic square allotments. The town itself underwent significant development, being re-organised according to typical Roman urbanistic standards (e.g., two orthogonal roads make up the settlement's backbone), and was fortified with strong walls. A stone bridge was laid across the Velino river, and a large viaduct was built to bring goods from the Salaria road directly to Rieti's southern door.

Roman Reate receives a number of mentions in Latin literature, thanks to its flourishing soil, its valued assets, and some peculiarities of the surroundings (such as wandering islands and hollow-subsurfaced fields). Cicero, for instance, describes the tensions between Reate and Interamna (Terni) following the lake drainage, and refers to the country houses (villae) that his friend Q. Axius owned in the plain.

Middle Ages

The medieval walls.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire Rieti suffered destruction by Barbarians, but never ceased to be an important gastaldate during the Lombard domination, as part of the Duchy of Spoleto. Under the Franks, it was county capital. It was sacked by the Saracens in the 9th and 10th century and by the Norman king Roger II of Sicily in 1149.

The city was rebuilt with the help of the Roman comune, and from 1198 was also a free commune, of Guelph orientation, with a podestà of its own.

As a favourite Papal seat, Rieti was the place of important historical events: Constance of Hauteville married here by proxy Emperor Henry VI (1185). Charles I of Anjou was crowned King of Apulia, Sicily and Jerusalem by Pope Nicholas I in 1289. Pope Gregory IX celebrated canonized St. Dominic in Rieti (1234).

Late Middle Ages and modern era

After the Papal seat had been moved to Avignon, Rieti was conquered by the King of Naples, while inner struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines broke out. In 1354 it was won back by Cardinal Albornoz, and it later became a feudal seignory of the Alfani family within the Papal States. More of the surrounding plain was drained in the following century, but this led to confrontation with the neighboring Terni.

Rieti was province capital of the Papal States from 1816 to 1860. After the unification of Italy, it was initially part of Umbria, being annexed to Lazio in 1923. It became the provincial capital on January 2, 1927.

Climate

Climate data for Rieti
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 8
(46)
10
(50)
13
(55)
17
(63)
22
(72)
25
(77)
29
(84)
29
(84)
25
(77)
20
(68)
14
(57)
9
(48)
18.4
(65.1)
Average low °C (°F) 1
(34)
0
(32)
2
(36)
5
(41)
8
(46)
11
(52)
13
(55)
13
(55)
11
(52)
7
(45)
4
(39)
1
(34)
6.3
(43.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 111
(4.37)
110
(4.33)
95
(3.74)
93
(3.66)
75
(2.95)
70
(2.76)
35
(1.38)
55
(2.17)
87
(3.43)
106
(4.17)
171
(6.73)
146
(5.75)
1,154
(45.44)
Source: [1]

Main sights

Fontana dei delfini.
Loggia and gardens of Palazzo Vicentini.
St. Rufo church, in the square considered the centre of Italy.
St. Augustine church.
Mount Terminillo in summer.

The ancient Sabine and Roman city was crowded with buildings, including baths (thermae). Only scarce remains were found during excavations in 19th and 20th century: the foundations of a large temple, the stone floor of the main square (forum), walls from private houses, concrete vaults, statues and pottery items. The most striking remains are the stone bridge across the Velino river and the viaduct.

Piazza San Rufo is traditionally considered to be the exact centre of Italy (Latin Umbilicus Italiae).

Other sights include:

Vaults of Palazzo Vescovile, also known as the Papal Palace.
Palazzo Comunale.

Also interesting are the sights in the Lake Lungo and Ripasottile Natural Preserve, and the Mount Terminillo.

Notable people

Twin cities

Transportation

Rieti can be reached from the A1 (Rome-Florence) motorway from the Orte gate, and then through the SS 79. The city is also connected to Rome by the SS 4 Via Salaria.

Rieti has a station on the Terni–Sulmona railway.

Sport

References

  1. "Climate averages: Rieti, Italy". EuroWeather. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  2. Péter Bokody, "Secularization and Realistic Turn in Italy: Antonio Fissiraga's Funerary Monument in Lodi," IKON: Journal of Iconographic Studies 5 (2012): 351-363. https://www.academia.edu/1796258/Secularization_and_Realistic_Turn_in_Italy_Antonio_Fissiragas_Funerary_Monument_in_Lodi

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Rieti.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.