Artena

Artena is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Italy. It is situated in the northwest of Monti Lepini, in the upper valley of the Sacco River. It is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast by rail, and 30 kilometres (19 mi) direct from Rome. Economy is based on agriculture, animal husbandry and tourism. History The name of the original village of the Volsci is uncertain; Ecetra or Fortinum are possible suggestions. In the Middle Ages it was a fief of various Roman baronal families, such as the Colonna, the Orsini and the Borghese. The modern village was called Monte Fortino until 1873. It owes its present name to an unproven identification of the site with the ancient Volscian Artena, destroyed in 404 BC. Another Artena, which was an Etruscan town belonging to the district of Caere, and laying between it and Veii, was destroyed in the period of the kings, and its site is unknown. Main sights On the mountain 600 metres (2,000 ft) above the village are the fine remains of the fortifications of a city built in the 6th or 5th century BC, in cyclopean blocks of local limestone. Within the walls are traces of buildings, and a massive terrace which supported some edifice of importance. Other sights include the Palazzo Borghese (17th century), and the churches of Santa Maria delle Letizie, Santa Croce, Santo Stefano Protomartire and San Francesco. Notes and references T. Ashby and G. J. Pfeiffer in Supplementary Papers of the American School in Rome, i. (transcribed at LacusCurtius) This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.