Isola del Liri and Sora in the description of Ferdinand Gregorovius and other travellers (original) (raw)
at Isola del Liri and Sora
(logo of FAI Spring Weekend and the apse of S. Maria Salome in Veroli)
This page is part of a section which includes Veroli, Abbazia di Casamari and Boville Ernica. All locations were very near the border of the Papal State with the Kingdom of Naples until 1860.
## Mus�e du Louvre: Jean Joseph Xavier Bidauld - View of the Isle of Sora, today Isola del Liri (1793)
Thursday, April 29, 1791. I proceeded to the Osteria di Alatri leaving Ferentino on the right. After dinner, I proceeded, passing under Veroli on the left, and again traversing Casamari, I once more found myself on the banks of the Liris, at Isola, having enjoyed a pleasant day's journey, through a cheerful and well-wooded country. Richard Colt Hoare - A classical tour through Italy and Sicily - 1819 The town, which is but small, is contained in the flat space surrounded by two branches of the Liris, which give it the name it bears, each of which is derived from a cascade of considerable height, springing from a point where an huge rock opposing itself to the course of the stream, causes their division: one of these falls perpendicular, about ninety-six feet high, and seen from the road; the other, fully as abundant of water, rushes down an inclined plane about six hundred palms in extent, but yields to the other in effect. On the upper extremity of the mass which thus checks and divides the river in two portions, is placed a castle, once the abode of the dukes of Sora, the solid construction of which, though not strictly Gothic, is so broken into projections, turrets, arches, terraces, and pinnacles, that the whole fabric, rising as if by magic from the spray of the cascade, and varying in light, shade, and colouring, from the incessant action of its vapours, presents a picture which has few, if any parallels. Keppel Richard Craven - Excursions in the Abruzzi and northern provinces of Naples - 1838 Castelluccio, the first Neapolitan town, is a tiny place, and below it lies Isola, that charming island in the river Liris. Through great groups of trees, standing in a deep shadowy hollow, glimpses of the waters are to be seen, gleaming through the branches. Out of this green shade peep pretty villas and large factories, while the well-cultivated, prosperous district stretching away beyond it shows what life a great river can bring with it. Up above the happy fields, folding in one behind another in many a charming interchange of hill and dale, rises the great mountain Sora in all its indescribable grandeur. I was impelled to think of the Conca d'Oro, that marvellous plain near Palermo, when I first beheld this landscape all bathed in the roseate hues of sunset. Ferdinand Gregorovius - Von den Ufern des Liris - From the Banks of the Liri - 1859 - Translation by Dorothea Roberts
## Edward Lear: Isola del Liri - March 1842
The castle, purchased some time back from the feudal possessor by the Neapolitan government, is now let to serve as a cloth manufactory, and has therefore lost all its claims to interior notice. The bridge leading to the back of it from the left bank of the river has been destroyed, and there is now no access to it from the upper level, - the only way being to descend to the town below, traverse its streets, and the two bridges of entrance and egress, and then ascend again along the edge of the second or inclined cascade: this leads into what was the garden, from which a wooden foot-bridge, temporarily erected over the narrow channel conducting the surplus of the waters of the first to the second cataract, gives admission into the portal and inner court of the mansion. This garden, neglected and overgrown with weeds, still retained, in the year 1826, some vestiges of the taste which had designed it; fountains, marble pedestals, and vases, avenues of fine trees, thickets of flowering shrubs, and architectural alcoves still shaded by jessamine and honeysuckle, attested the care and expense bestowed upon its original formation. It extends in a line from the mansion and the two cascades, along the margin of the upper level of the river. (..) But during the last visit I paid to scenes so attractive, they had lost even these faint remains of their former existence, and presented no other appearance than that of a wasted and swampy flat. Craven Isola welcomed us with the sound of many waters, and the verdure of many sloping meadows, and also with its Dogana. I was kept there a long time, and all because of six books. These all, with the exception of a Horace, concerned the history of the Middle Ages. They were harmless enough, in all conscience, but the officers could make nothing of their titles. (..) Meantime I had lost much valuable time and the chance of beholding Isola by the light of the setting sun. This friendly little island, beautifully shaded by trees, is encircled by emerald waters, which fling themselves with a leap on its northern shore, descending eighty feet from a cliff, over which they fall in a milk-white cataract. Above, the ruins of a castle stand out against the sky. The turmoil of these waters reached me from afar, and now I could see the countless channels into which the river is led. Gardens planted with all the rich growths of this southern clime lay surpass out around me. The Liris is a brimming river here, having received the waters of the Fibreno just above Isola. This junction of the streams has brought about beneficent industrial results. The water drives numbers of wool and paper mills, which give employment to the whole district, and supply thousands of men and women with food. Colonies of sturdy operatives have settled in all the surrounding country to share in the beneficent effects of all this industry. Gregorovius
## (above) Isola del Liri; (below) Castello Boncompagni-Viscogliosi behind a modern paper factory; in 1924 the ruined castle was bought by the Viscogliosi family who rebuilt it as it was depicted by many paintings and engravings of the XVIIIth century
To return to the town of Isola: it contains about three thousand inhabitants, almost all of whom are positively, or indirectly, interested in the labours of the various manufactures of cloth, paper, or iron wire, which owe their activity to the existence of the Liris. (..) No vestiges of antiquity have ever been found within the precincts, or in the immediate vicinity, of the modern Isola; which circumstances combine to divest it of any archaeologic interest. The castle, or ducal palace, built by its feudal possessors, who with justice preferred the situation to that of Sora, probably gave it some importance, and was the means of increase to its population after the middle ages; but the comparative prosperity it now enjoys is undoubtedly due to the manufactures which have been established there. These advantages have nevertheless been occasionally counterbalanced by the calamitous occurrences to which its immediate contact with the Roman states has subjected it. At more than one period in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, it was devastated by small troops of brigands, one of which, under a celebrated commander surnamed Papone, used to levy taxes, and assume all the privileges of a feudal sovereign. (..) The feudal tenure of Isola once belonged to the family of the Cantelmi, celebrated in the annals of the kingdom for their large possessions in its northern district, the influence it conferred upon them, and the overbearing and turbulent manner in which they exerted it. After the memorable conspiracy of the barons against Ferdinand (1485), who not only defeated their machinations, but struck the feudal power a blow which it never recovered, the Cantelmi were subdued, together with the other unsuccessful aspirants to independence, and deprived of their extensive domains in this part of the realm, which were bestowed upon other families. In the course of time, however, the dispersed portions of this property were re-united, at the end of the sixteenth century, under the sway of Giacomo Buoncompagni, son of Gregory XIII, (before his accession to the papal chair,) who became Duke of Sora and proprietor of all the surrounding country on the banks of the Liris. The last possessor, father of the present [Prince of Piombino](Vasi22.htm#Palazzo Piombino or Palazzo Spada), (Buoncompagni Ludovisi) resigned this principality, and all the privileges attached to it, to the Neapolitan government for a stated sum, which was afterwards commuted to the grant of other estates; and it has ever since formed part of the public domains. Some of the older inhabitants of Isola still remember, with feelings of gratitude, the magnificence and princely hospitality displayed by these Roman lords during their periodical visits to their Neapolitan possessions. On these occasions they brought with them a numerous assortment of illustrious guests, including princesses and prelates, from the Roman capital; together with a large retinue of attendants and domestics, who all came by a road from Ferentino through Veroli, now impracticable for carriages. The higher classes among the residents in the neighbouring towns of Sora and Arpino were usually invited to the banquets and entertainments which formed an essential part of the villegiatura; among which last, dramatic performances by a company of comedians expressly brought from Rome were frequently exhibited: concerts by the musical amateurs of Arpino were likewise executed, the expenses of which, as well as those attending the conveyance of the visitors from their respective dwellings, were defrayed by the noble proprietor, who carried his munificence, in this respect, so far as likewise to supply all the losses incurred at the gaming-table by the gentlemen of Isola. All these glories have passed away; and it is to be hoped that a more equal distribution of ease and humble affluence among all ranks of inhabitants, attending on the fusion of industry and manufactures, has long since amply compensated whatever sensations or regret may be blended with these splendid recollections. Craven The factories are chiefly paper mills, on a large scale, and new system. They were established by a Frenchman - a M. Lefebvre - who came with Murat to Naples. A poor man when he came, the river Liris became a very El Dorado to him, and enabled him to leave these factories and some millions of money to his son. (..) Lefebvre's two largest mills are palatial structures - the Cartiera del Liri and the Cartiera del Fibreno. It is delightful to see the efficiency of all that multitude of operatives who manipulate the paper. Gregorovius
## S. Domenico and a pillar with Roman remains along the road from Isola to Sora
A mile beyond the spot where I was so hospitably received, the river Fibreno, after crossing the road to Sora, which runs along the left bank of the Liris, rushes into the last stream, from the right, near an ancient church dedicated to S. Dominico, and which has been considered as standing on the site of one of Cicero's most favourite villas. Craven Near Sora we passed by the once celebrated convent church, now in ruins, of St. Domenico, standing on an island in the Fibreno (it is called Carnello just before it falls into the Liris) - a truly delectable spot embowered in trees. Cicero's villa, where he and his brother Quintus were born, is there also. St. Dominic was a tenth-century saint, a contemporary of St. Nilo and St. Romualdo. He was born at Foligno, in the year 951. Under Abbot Aligero he became a Benedictine at Monte Cassino. He founded many monasteries in the Sabina, and this one - at the prayer of Count Pietro di Sora - in 1011. The deed affirming its foundation is still legible. Dominic was its Abbot, and under him Pope Gregory VII lived here when a monk of the Benedictine Order - at least, so tradition has it. This wonderful man may often have sat, lost in dreams, on Cicero's beautiful island, beneath the whispering poplars, no one forecasting then that an Emperor would one day stand at the door of his Convent, a penitent in a hair shirt. (..) Forgetful of Gregory, the Dominican monks forsook their modest traditions, and seduced by the siren voices of an enervating land, by its too delightful climate and surroundings, they took to high living and carousals. Ah, you monks! Paradise has its dangers for you. (..) Pope Honorius III united St. Domenico di Sora - that "hortus deliciarum" as his bull designates it - in perpetuity, with Casamari, and for five long centuries the place remained unoccupied. (..) Its Gothic church is in ruins, and of the Convent nothing worthy of note remains. Gregorovius A tall pillar with some Roman masonry grouped around it, stands at the west end of the church, and the crypt is supported by low massive pillars of granite and marble, evidently taken from the ruins of the villa. Augustus J. C. Hare - Days near Rome - 1875 St. Dominic of Sora is worshipped as the patron of the serpari (snake catchers) at Cocullo in Abruzzo.
## Jakob Philipp Hackert (see his views of Rome from Monte Mario, of Horace's villa and of a temple at Agrigento): a medieval tower and the River Fibreno at Carnello (1793)
The memories of Cicero would alone make this a place in which to gladly linger. Here it was that Cicero, Quintus, and Atticus held those high discourses which we still possess in his three books, De Legibus. They strolled up to that "island which is in Fibreno" - insula quae est in Fibreno - there they seated themselves and philosophised. Atticus admires the beauty of their surroundings; Cicero remarks that here he is apt to reflect, to read, to write; it has a special charm for him as having cradled him in his infancy: "Quia haec est mea et hujus fratris mei germana patria, hinc enim orti stirpe antiquissima, hic sacra, hic gens, hic majorum multa vestigia". His grandfather, so he relates to them, possessed this villa. His father, an invalid, added to it, and grew old in it, pursuing his studies ever. Cicero declares that, when he sees his birthplace, the same feeling steals over him that hoary Ulysses experienced when he said he would rather behold Ithaca once more than be assured of immortality. Then he tells them that Arpinum is his home, as civitas - he is of the ager of Arpinum. Atticus proceeds to describe the beautiful island embraced by the Fibreno. He describes how it refreshes the waters of the Liris by its coldness. So cold is it, indeed, that it is scarcely possible to dip your foot into it. (..) And now graceful poplars stand around the spot which cradled Cicero, by the Fibreno. Ay! an enviable birthplace truly! But how to describe it? Of what avail are words if you have never beheld the place? - if you have never had a glimpse of that land of the nymphs - of perpetual spring! Around, what a panorama of mountains - some brown, others of hyacinthine hue - losing themselves in the far distance! Gregorovius
## The River Liri at Sora; (left) S. Restituta; (background) the Serra Lunga range of mountains which divides the Liri valley from the Lake Fucino basin
Friday, May 6, 1791. I left Isola. Passing through Sora, and crossing the Liris, we turned to the left, and entered a well-wooded valley, surrounded by lofty mountains. The castle of Sora, built on the pinnacle of a rocky insulated eminence, presents itself in the centre of the picture, and seems to close the entrance of the valley. Colt Hoare (on his way to Avezzano) The episcopal town of Sora, retaining its ancient name and situation, is about three miles distant from Isola along an excellent road, which terminates with the valley itself at its gates. Here, the Liris, flowing from a glen of narrower dimensions but considerable length, forms a bend round the city, and is crossed to gain admittance to it. The place is consequently in a flat, but not unpleasant position; one whole flank being watered by the river, and the hinder extremity resting against an insulated rocky hill, on which are seen the ruins of its Gothic castle, and those of its still more ancient walls. Craven Isola and Sora are both places of business. The excellent road which connects them is lined with country houses, gardens, casinos - a most surprising oasis truly, created here during the present century. It did my heart good to see all this industrial activity in the midst of such paradisiacal surroundings - a sight long denied to me. I drove in brilliant moonlight to Sora, one hour from Isola. Gregorovius
## View of Ponte Napoli and Piazza Esedra, the modern access to the historical part of Sora; in the foreground the modernized fa�ade of S. Bartolomeo where the mother of Cardinal Baronio is buried; in the background a rocky hill with the small church of S. Maria delle Grazie and the ruins of a castle
The dwellings are large, the streets wide and well paved, and the population, apparently easy and industrious, amounts to seven thousand souls. Craven We got to Sora, the first Neapolitan town - it possesses a Bishop - at ten o'clock that evening, and I slept at a good inn. (..) Sora revealed itself to me next morning as a clean modern town with good streets; its mercantile activities were very evident. It stands on the banks of the emerald-green Liris, flowing past softly, beneath tall whispering poplars, just as do so many German rivers, and with a wooden bridge across it. I could have lingered gladly in many an enchanting spot by its shores. All around a rich champaign country lies spread, with good roads crossing its vineyards and gardens, and leading to neighbouring towns. The valley in which the town lies is bounded by mountains - sometimes drawing near to the river, then standing away from it. Just behind it rises a huge pyramid, rocky, torn and rent and bare. A picturesque castle, now in ruins, borne aloft on its crest, is named Sorella. It looks as brown and dusky as is the mountain itself. Under its shadow lies the modern Sora, peaceful and idyllic now, though it is one of the greatest as well as most ancient of those Volscian cities which have never changed their names. Gregorovius On January 13, 1915 an earthquake razed to the ground Avezzano and other towns of the Lake Fucino basin. Its effects were felt also at Sora, especially in the part of the town along the river whereas that on the rocky hill side was partially spared.
## (left) Layer of Roman materials beneath the Cathedral; (right) other Roman materials near its bell tower
In front of the church a number of inscriptions and sculptural fragments are collected, which attest the identity of the spot, and offer some interest to the antiquary. It was, like most others in this district, of Volscian origin, but very soon fell under the government of the Samnites, from which it was frequently wrested by the Romans, but to which its inhabitants returned with a pertinacity marked by peculiar inveteracy of hatred against their conquerors. It ended, however, by sharing the fate of all its companions, but continued to retain an importance to which its position and resources justly entitled it. Craven The diocese of Sora was mentioned as early as the late Vth century, but it was not until the XIth century that its bishops are recorded in an almost complete chronological order. In 1818 it was united to the dioceses of Arpino and Pontecorvo and in 2014 also to that of Cassino. The Cathedral was built on the site of a Roman temple and its portal is dated 1100.
## S. Restituta, a church entirely rebuilt after the 1915 earthquake - Roman materials walled in the fa�ade: (above-left) relief related to the worship of Isis: (above-right) reliefs depicting military protective equipment, most likely from a funerary monument; (below) three marble stones which were used for an inscription by which in 1292 Charles II of Anjou declared Sora a direct fiefdom of the Kingdom of Naples
It has been, since its ancient days, by turns Samnite, Latin, and Roman. In this last period it gave birth to the famous Atilius Regulus, of the family of the Valerii, of which family were the orator Quintus Valerius, and Lucius Mummius, names which lend lustre to their native town. In the earliest mediaeval times Sora was one of the frontier towns so often overrun and plundered by the Lombard Counts of Benevento. It was then, in all probability, a Byzantine town, dominated by the Lombards, who at one period filled all this district. Ultimately it fell into the hands of the Emperor Frederick II, by whom it was destroyed. More recently it belonged to the Counts of Aquino, when they were possessors of all the district between the Liris and the Vulturnus. Charles of Anjou made the Cantelmi Counts of Sora. Gregorovius
## Cathedral (S. Maria Assunta)
The Cathedral was rebuilt after its destruction by Frederick II and in the XVth century, during the Aragonese rule, a round tower was erected to protect the nearby (lost) entrance to the town from Abruzzo. The Cathedral was damaged, but not destroyed by the 1915 earthquake; unfortunately a fire in 1916 caused the collapse of its remaining walls. The Popes had long coveted this beautiful region, and finally Pius II succeeded in gaining possession of it by means of his captain, Napoleone Orsini. This conquest was ratified by Ferdinand I of Naples, but Sixtus IV, when he married his nephew, Leonardo della Rovere, to the king's niece, bestowed this town of Sora upon her as a dowry in 1471. In 1580 Gregory XIII purchased it for his son, Don Giacomo Buoncompagni. Seldom has a Papal nephew enjoyed a more charming possession. Gregorovius
## Cathedral: portal of the year 1100: upper part and the bases of the side reliefs
A series of inscriptions on the portal shed light on the construction of the Cathedral: (L)IMINIBUS SACRIS OLIM FU(NE)RE FEDATIS V(IRG)INIS HIC ARCU(S) IUSSU ROFFRIDI (P)ERACTUS (On the sacred steps upon which a virgin was executed an arch was erected by order of Roffredo) SUMMA(E) V(IRGINI) GENITRICI (E)X IDOLIS FALSIS HIC ARCU(S) (to the Holy Virgin Mother above false idols this arch) QUI(A)E FULGET IN (A)EDE (which shines in the church) (R)OFFREDUS AUX(IT) (Roffredo enlarged) QUATTUOR SOLIDOS DEDIT HIC IOHNI MAGISTRO (He paid four solidi to Master John) The decoration calls to mind the portal of the Cathedral of Benevento.
## S. Restituta: original portal, a detail of which is shown in the image used as background for this page
Saint Restituta is a local IIIrd century martyr who is regarded as the patron of Sora. The church dedicated to her was destroyed by Frederick II and rebuilt in the second half of the XIIIth century. Its portal is the only surviving element of that church after the 1915 earthquake. It is similar to that of the Abbatial Church of Casamari, exception made for four small heads which are supposed to portray kings and queens.
## S. Francesco: (left) Gothic window in the apse wall; (right) XVth century fresco of the Madonna of Mercy, often seen in churches or chapels belonging to brotherhoods, e.g. at Ancona or orphanages, e.g. at Florence
The church was built in the early XIVth century and it was not significantly damaged by the 1915 earthquake. A recent restoration of the interior led to the discovery of some interesting frescoes.
## S. Francesco - interior
The interior was redesigned after it was damaged in 1654 by an earthquake which caused damage also at Alatri. In 1921 the interior was redecorated with the addition of large gypsum statues vaguely resembling those of the Apostles at S. Giovanni in Laterano.
## Franciscan convent adjoining the church: (left) fa�ade; (right) side view with the entrance to Museo della Media Valle del Liri which houses some Roman inscriptions and reliefs of Sora and its environs; unfortunately it was closed at the time of my visit
The convent was redesigned in 1727. Its fine decoration testifies to the wealth of Sora. It was closed towards the end of the XVIIIth century when the [French invaded the Kingdom of Naples](Storia28.html#Roman Republic). Today it houses a public library and a small archaeological museum.
## Jesuit College today the Town Hall, another fine XVIIIth century building (the coat of arms is that of the City of Sora): (left) fa�ade; (right) side entrance
Cardinal Baronius whose ecclesiastical annals are considered as one of the bulwarks of pontifical power, was born in this city. Craven Caesar Baronius, born in 1538, wrote the Annals of the Christian Faith from the birth of Christ up till the year 1198. The first volume appeared in 1588. It is a work of colossal labour, its materials supplied entirely by the Vatican, and of no value whatever. It is useless and defective in all its parts, because of the source from which it was drawn, and also because those better sources of knowledge which we now possess were not then open to him. He writes in a narrow, false spirit, with all the bitterness against the Reformation caused by the Roman Catholic reaction. (..) He had his first schooling at Veroli, and studied later in Naples. When in Rome he was the most zealous of all the pupils of that celebrated saint, Filippo Neri, in whose oratorium, Santa Maria della Vallicella, he spent his life, after assuming the cowl. He became a Cardinal, and after the death of [Clement VIII](Storia23.html#Clement VIII), the Papacy itself hovered within his reach. He was not, however, an ambitious man, and he relegated the dignity to his friend [Leo XI](Storia23.html#Paul V), of the Medici family. Two years later he died, on 30th June 1607. He was buried in the Church of the Oratory in Rome. He remains the chief glory of the ecclesiastical world of letters, and his industry - his power of working - deserves our highest commendation. Gregorovius