Narni (Narnia in Latin) is an Italian town of 19 169 inhabitants in the province of Terni in Umbria. According to recent studies, the geographical center of the Italian peninsula falls within its territory.
The area around Narni was already inhabited in the
Paleolithic, as evidenced by the findings in some of the caves of
which the territory is composed. Around the beginning of the first
millennium, the Osco-Umbrians settled in the area calling their
settlement Nequinum.
In 300 BC the citadel fell within the
interests of Rome, who had it besieged with the consul Quinto
Appuleio Pansa, nevertheless obtaining unsuccessful results given
its inaccessible position. It took over a year to complete the feat,
which took place in 299 BC. thanks to the betrayal of two local
people who allowed the Romans to enter the walls. It thus became a
Roman colony and a strategic center along the Via Flaminia. To
punish the support given to the Gauls, and considering Nequinum a
bad omen (in Latin, nequeo means "I cannot", and nequitia means
"uselessness".). The Romans changed the name of the Latin city of
Narnia, from the name of the neighbor Nar river, the current Nera.
There is not much information about that period, but it is
thought that the city may have played a role of some importance
during the course of the first two Punic wars. Along the Nera river,
near the hamlet of Stifone, where the port of the Roman city was
once located, the archaeological site of what appears to be a Roman
shipyard has recently been identified. Moreover, we have news of
Strabo and Tacitus of the ancient navigability of the Nera river.
The passage in which the consul Gneo Calpurnio Pisone, in 19,
decided to embark in Narni with his wife Plancina in order to reach
Rome without arousing suspicion is known. It became Municipium in 90
BC. In the year 30 A.D. Nerva was born there, the last Italic among
the Roman emperors. The quotation of Narnia by Tertullian, in the
Apologeticum, in a list of "false gods" drawn up in the first
century, as the city was the ancient home of the god Visidianus
(Narnensium Visidianus), dates back to the early Christian era.
It is not known with certainty when the city of Narnia changed
its name to Narni, but this probably happened gradually over time
starting from the thirteenth century and then became effective after
the French revolution, even if until the end of the nineteenth
century they were still in the tombstones and in official writings
inscriptions with the ancient name of Narnia.
The writer
Walter Hooper, who was among other things the secretary and
biographer of C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, has
also dealt several times in his books with the origins of the name
"Narnia" as noted for example on page 306 of his co-authored book
with Roger Lancelyn Green: C.S. Lewis: A Biography, published in
2002. Below is an excerpt from what Lewis said to Hooper:
"When Walter Hooper asked C.S. Where Lewis had found the word
Narnia, Lewis showed him his Murray's Small Classical Atlas, ed.
G.B. Grundy (1904), which he had bought when he was reading the
classics with his tutor Kirkpatrick at Great Bookham [1914-1917]. On
page 8 of this atlas there is a map of Italy with the inscriptions
in Latin. Lewis had underlined the name of a small town called
Narnia, simply because he loved the sound of this word. Narnia - or
"Narni" in Italian - is located in Umbria, halfway between Rome and
Assisi. "
The Augustus Bridge is a Roman bridge located near Narni Scalo
and used in ancient times to cross the gorge created by the Nera
river. At the foot of the city of Narni, along the Via Flaminia, one
arrives along the Funara road, just before the hamlet of Stifone,
near the Nera river. This, entering the gorge of the Corviano and
Santa Croce mountains, crashes on the pillars of the Roman bridge of
Augustus, which originally joined the two mountains.
Cited in
classical sources, depicted by artists and travelers, a true
masterpiece of Roman architecture, it is to be placed in relation to
the major renovations commissioned by Augustus in 27 BC, along the
route of the Flaminian consular road. Of the imposing original
structure remain two arched pylons on the bank of Mount Corviano, an
opposing section on the bank of Mount Santa Croce and the ruins of
two pylons of the central arch, which collapsed before 1055.
The original length of the bridge was to be about 160 m for a height
of 30 m, with an admirable span of the central arch of about 32 m,
while the width of the road surface was 8 m. The front, made of a
concrete core and facing of square blocks with ashlar and
alternating courses, has (at two thirds of the height of the
pillars) a projecting cornice, which is found in the internal part
of the arch. The pylons have a rectangular plan and are partly set
on the rock.
Over time, it has repeatedly been subject to
collapses and severe damage, such as those dating back to 1053-54.
It is assumed that the bridge was raised on four arches, all with a
different width ranging from 19 m of the first, 32 m of the central
arch, about 17 m of the third and 16 m of the fourth, if it existed.
According to Guattani, the stones were removed from a place called
Valle Mantea, near Civitella San Paolo, towards Fiano Romano; in
1724 it was also discovered how the stones remained firmly connected
to each other since, in addition to the lime, iron cores firmly
leaded at their ends had been used.
The Palazzo dei Priori in Narni is located in Piazza dei Priori,
where in Roman times there was the forum. It has the bell tower on
the right and, in front, the Town Hall.
The building
The
building is rich in elements: the portal, the auctioneer's loggia,
the loggia attributed to Gattapone architecturally composed of a
central pillar, two arches that form the façade and another central
octagonal pillar, which supports the arches of the vault divided by
four sailing cruises. The walls have traces of frescoes and
inscriptions. At a certain height there are iron rings which are
presumably the traces of the pillory. The upper part of the building
is from the Renaissance period. The same building, in 1618, became
the seat of the house of the Piarist Fathers, occupied by them until
1800.
The Town Hall
The Palazzo Comunale di Narni, also called Palazzo del Podestà or
del Vicario, is located on the Piazza dei Priori, in the center of
Narni, in front of the Palazzo dei Priori. It was built towards the
end of the 13th century on top of three mighty adjoining towers
which, joined together, later formed a single building.
From
some documents preserved in the municipal historical archive we
learn that:
"On August 5, 1273, when the General and Special
Council was assembled in the church of S. Severino, by authority and
mandate of Alberto da Montebono podestà and Giacomo da Massa captain
of the people, Berrettino public auctioneer was elected as mayor and
procurator to buy the houses and the tower located in the parish of
S. Saved, located in Piazza Priora, which once belonged to Sinibaldo
di Sinibaldo, a noble from Narnese, for the price of a thousand
Cortonese pounds. On the 13th the same cap, in the name of the
municipality, bought a house and a tower from Giovannuccio di
Simonzone and Giovanni Andrea at the same price and, later, on the
19th, the houses and towers, located in the same parish and
neighboring with the one already purchased, by the military knight
Tommaso di Matteo Oddone. "
The three tower-dwellings were therefore distinct from each other
and still you can see, by observing the masonry, the short space now
buffered that divided them from one another. Each of them had its
access arch of which traces remain. Many and different were the
transformation works to make the complex worthy of the Podestà's
residence. On the main floor the windows, initially mullioned
windows, are replaced with other valuable Guelph cross travertine
windows. These "crusader windows" soon became, and remain, the
hallmark of the building. It is actually a petrifaction of the
wooden frame of medieval windows. The similarity with the windows of
Palazzo Venezia in Rome and with those of the Palazzo di Giustizia
in Perugina is very evident. From Rome, in fact, the application
spreads throughout central Italy and that of Narni remains an
exemplary case.
The construction of the windows is attributed
to two different artists; some attribute it to the architect
Bernardino da Settignano, known as Rossellino, who, according to
Vasari, was in Narni in 1449 to direct the restoration work of the
fortress, by order of Nicolò V.
Others want the work to be
attributed to the Narni architect Nuccio de Risis who, for about
fifteen years, between 1455 and 1470, worked in Rome for Paul II. He
was well known in the fifteenth century, as an entrepreneur of
restorations and masonry works in Rome where he worked, as mentioned
in Martinori's Cronistoria Narnese, in the gallery of St. Peter's,
at the Vatican, at Castel Sant'Angelo and at Palazzo Venezia.
Unfortunately, however, at the moment, there are no supporting
documents to confirm either hypothesis.
Under Leo X (1513-21)
the civic magistrate settled in this palace, initially considered as
a residence reserved for the Podestà. While Gregorio Risi,
Marcantonio Area and Angelo Andreozzini-Capocaccia were chief priors
(1526), the upper frieze of the main hall of the Council was
painted with the coats of arms of Clement VII and the cardinal
archbishop of Strigonia, who, passing through Narni, in 1513, it had
been well received and treated at public expense.
From the
observation of the façade you can see the ogival doors (blocked and
suppressed to make a large single door) that gave entrance to the
Palace. One of these, to the right of the facade, walled up like the
others, deserves particular attention. Where now there is the
headquarters of the Pro-Loco, the chapel of the Most Holy Savior was
created which replaced that of San Salvatore which, probably, was
located where the century fountain now stands. XIV. Having been
suppressed the chapel, of which a fresco by Torresani remains, the
wall created to close the arch was decorated with bas-reliefs: there
is a false loggia and, immediately above, a group of significant
bas-reliefs, dating back to the 13th century, depicting various
subjects: Judith and Holofernes, fantastic animals, a probable
falcon hunt and jousting knights. This "facade within the facade"
was built in connection with the suppression of the church of San
Salvatore (located near the fountain) around 1495, reusing the
materials here.
The front of the Palace, in ancient times,
was decorated with the coats of arms of the podestà and, later, also
by those of the governors and cardinals, of which some marble
epigraphs remain today. The Renaissance entrance of the building
introduces into the beautiful atrium obtained from the
transformation of the central tower. In the inner courtyard there is
a collection of ancient Roman and medieval fragments of great
archaeological value. The Roman finds were found mainly along the
Via Flaminia, while the medieval ones probably come from the portico
of the church of S. Domenico and from the basement of the church of
S. Maria Impensole.
Here we can also find the Mensa
Ponderaria, a travertine block in which six basins have been
excavated, used as a reference unit for measuring the volume of
grains. At the center of the atrium a mighty pillar supports the
vaults of the upper floor. Going up the staircase of honor you will
notice the portal with the inscription of the Monte di Pietà.
Founded in Narni in 1400, it was one of the first in Italy to be
established: the entrance door with the inscription on the
architrave can still be seen today: Mons Pietatis. Going up you
arrive in the atrium of the council chamber, a room painted in a
beautiful cardinal red where, in addition to the city coat of arms,
the castles that belonged to the municipality before 1860 are
depicted. The ceiling is painted with fake wooden coffers.
It is known that, up to 1800, in the great hall of the Council
around the walls of the hall were painted the images of the most
illustrious Narnese, such as Cocceio Nerva emperor (who a constant
tradition wanted to come from Narni), Erasmo da Narni called
Gattamelata famous leader of the 15th century, Galeotto Marzio,
famous doctor, astronomer, scholar, accompanied by Latin epigrams
which were then abraded and canceled, some brought to light by
subsequent restorations. At the end of the council chamber was the
table with a predella depicting the Coronation of the Virgin by
Ghirlandaio, now on display in the Eroli museum. It had been
commissioned by Cardinal Berardo Eroli for the church of S. Girolamo
dei Frati Minori Franciscani and this explains the prevalence of the
figures of Franciscan saints.
On the opposite wall there is a
fresco of 1500 reproduced on canvas representing St. Francis
receiving the stigmata with the following inscription: ENIM STIGMATA
DOMINI JESUS IN CORPORE MEO PORTO MCCCCC DIE XXVIII SEPTEMBRIS
(The marks of Jesus on my body on 28 september 1500), from Spain,
which was removed from the church of S Girolamo in 1906, when the
Municipality sold the church and convent to the Count of Valbranea.
On the right side we can see a fresco depicting Galeotto Marzio with
an inscription that enhances the work.
In the sixteenth
century we find for the first time the news of an activity that will
have a very interesting development in Narni and that directly
concerns the history of the Palace: the "Upper Great Hall" was used
to set up a temporary theater, as already happened, for over a
century, in the halls of many Italian palaces. This new activity is
recorded in the Narni Reformations starting from 1572 and is
confirmed by the data that emerged from the archaeological
excavations, the stratigraphic essays and the surveys carried out on
the wall decorations. What the campaign of essays called the first
decorative phase corresponds to the situation of the upper large
room around the middle of the century. XVI. Fragments of black
plaster, of the type used for the graffiti decoration, between the
beam and beam of the roof were found: this plaster excludes the
false ceiling of the room with painted ceiling, nailed to the beams
of the trusses, certainly made when the Theater Hall was transformed
into Stable theater.
On the second floor, in the room below
the foyer of the theater, a valuable decorated coffered ceiling was
rediscovered by removing a modern false ceiling, probably from the
end of the 16th century, when that wing of the building was still
owned by the Eroli family.
The facade
The facade of the
Town Hall has undergone several changes over the years. The city of
Narni is an agglomeration enclosed by a circle of walls, the
buildings that constitute it all have the same simple typology and
of not considerable size. Even the buildings that make up the Palace
are simple buildings in themselves, which reflect the typical
medieval architectural characteristics; the grandeur is acquired
when the three tower-houses are merged thus showing a single large
complex enriched by the contribution of valuable decorative
elements. The construction method of the façade appears simple as it
follows a fairly regular trend, even if several alterations have
taken place over time: masonry elevations, arches infill, addition
of decorative elements
Decorative apparatus
There are many
changes and elements added to the facade to give the structure an
important tone and enrich it with valuable elements, thus managing
to distinguish and characterize it compared to the simple buildings
of the city.
Windows
Towards the middle of the fifteenth
century the façade of the Town Hall was embellished by the
replacement of the six windows, initially single or mullioned, with
six large cross windows. The noble floor is thus further enriched by
these valuable works.
The windows are of particular
importance if we consider how this type called "Guelph cross"
(considered the petrification of the wooden frame) introduces the
architecture of the building into Renaissance art which sees the use
of the same type of window especially in Rome in important palaces
such as Palazzo Venezia, Palazzo della Rovere, Palazzo dei Cavalieri
di Rodi, but also for example in Perugia in the Palazzo del
Capitano.
Despite the applications of this structure in other
important buildings, that of Narni remains one of the most exemplary
cases.
The Fortress of Albornoz
The Eroli Museum preserves an altarpiece by Ghirlandaio and an
Annunciation by Benozzo Gozzoli
The Giuseppe Manini Municipal
Theater
The Roman aqueduct of Formina
The source of Feronia
Roman shipyard of Stifone
The castle of San Girolamo
Narni
underground
Cardona Bridge
Religious buildings
The
cathedral, dedicated to its first bishop San Giovenale
The Abbey
of San Cassiano
- the church of Santa Maria Impensole
- the
church of San Francesco
- the church of San Domenico
- the
church of Sant'Agostino
- the church of Santa Margherita
- the
church of Santa Restituta
The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Ponte
The Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo, in the hamlet of Schifanoia
The Speco of San Francesco
Romanesque church of Santa Pudenziana
(just outside the city)
Abbey of Sant'Angelo in Massa