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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Velletri
Velletri
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula.
Velletri is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio Italy. It is bounded by other communes of Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio. Velletri is renowned as one of the main centres for wine production in the Latium.
The origins of Velletri's, known in ancient times as Velitrae, are uncertain. A settlement here existed since pre-historic times, though scholars debated if Etruscan, Latin or Volscan. During the First Latin War, during the reign of the Roman King Ancus Marcius, the city was conquered by the Romans and called Velitrae, from the corresponding Volscan term Velcester. The Roman captured in again in 494 BC, Before Christ and in 338 BC thenceforth Velletri became a flourshing Roman municipium and a site of leasure. During the Roman Empire the Roman patrici built several villas in it. The city had also several temples and an amphitheatre.
Velletri began to decay after the sack by Alaric in 410 CE. In the 5th century it was the seat of a bishopric and in the following one it became an imperial city after the Byzantine reconquest of Italy. In the Middle Ages it started a diffucult recover, culminating in the 12th century with its declaration as a free commune. In the 14th and in the first half of the 15th centuries Velletri fought against the commune of Rome and the barons of Lazio, and later became part of the Papal States.
In 1774 Velletri and its surroundings were the theatre of a battle between the Spanish and the Austrian Army, during the war between the Habsburg and the Bourbon. After the French Revolution, Velletri rebelled and it was proclaimed a Republic. Later changed side and 900 of its citizens resisted in Castelgandolfo the siege by Joachim Murat.
It can also be considered as the preeminent, historical and potential tourism destination that enjoys a very positive reputation with worldwide travelers to become one of the most visited places.
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