Italy, Campagnano di Roma

Campagnano is to the north of Rome on the Via Cassia bis in the Baccano Valley near Lake Martignano. It began to thrive with the Etruscans and the nearby town of Veii, and soon passed under Roman rule. To remove the Etruscan influence, the Romans built a temple dedicated to Bacchus, and hence the name of the whole valley and the area. During the Imperial Age this area became known as an important staging post along the Via Cassia. After a period of invasions, in the roman countryside there began to form the first agricultural settlements and agricultural centres which formed a village, placed by St. Alexander in the name of the pope, under the jurisdiction of the Vatican. After the family of Annibaldi, in 1410 the Orsini took over and the heyday began as Campagnano became a place of residence of popes, cardinals and nobles with their courts, while in Rome there was the black plague. The castle Orsini, at which pupils of Michelangelo worked, was partly demolished. In 1600 a new village, called Borgo Paolino, was built with the imposing Porta Romana, "the Arch", a symbol of the whole town.