DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0342
238 CASTEL D'ASSO. [chap. xv.
remains of the olden time, bearing at every step indisput-
able traces of by-gone civilisation, scarcely six miles from
the great thoroughfare of Italy, and from Viterbo, the
largest city in all this district; and yet it remained
unknown to the world at large till the year 1808, when
Professor Orioli, of Bologna, and the Padre Pio Semeria, of
the Minerva, Viterbo, had their attention directed to the
wonders of this glen, almost at the very threshold of the
latter.4 I am persuaded that Italy is not yet half explored
—that very much remains to be brought to light; a
persuasion founded on such discoveries as this, which are
still, from time to time, being made, of which I may cite
the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana, recently discovered
by my fellow-traveller, Mr. Ainsley—even more remark-
able than this of Castel d' Asso—and sundry monuments
of the same antiquity, which it has been my lot to make
known to the world. In fact, ruins and remains of
ancient art are of so common occurrence in Italy as to
excite no particular attention. To whatever age they
may belong—mediaeval, Imperial, Republican, or ante-
historical—the peasant knows them only as " muraccia,"
and he shelters his flock amid their walls, ploughs the
land around them, daily slumbers beneath their shade, or
even dwells within their precincts from year to year ; and
the world at large knows no more of their existence than
if they were situated in the heart of the Great Desert.
The general style of these monuments—their simplicity
4 The gentleman who has the honour Annio of Viterbo, in the fifteenth cen-
of having indicated the site to Orioli, is tury ; indeed, the name is painted on
Signor Luigi Anselmi, of Viterbo, who the ceiling of the principal hall of the
is well stored with local antiquarian Palazzo Comunale, at Viterbo, which
knowledge. He has also made excava- must be more than 200 years old
tions in the necropolis of Castel d' Asso. (Orioli, Ann. Inst, 1833, p. 24), but
The place had been long known as the it was not known to be the site of an
site of a ruined castle, and was even Etruscan necropolis till the year 1808.
mentioned under its present name by
remains of the olden time, bearing at every step indisput-
able traces of by-gone civilisation, scarcely six miles from
the great thoroughfare of Italy, and from Viterbo, the
largest city in all this district; and yet it remained
unknown to the world at large till the year 1808, when
Professor Orioli, of Bologna, and the Padre Pio Semeria, of
the Minerva, Viterbo, had their attention directed to the
wonders of this glen, almost at the very threshold of the
latter.4 I am persuaded that Italy is not yet half explored
—that very much remains to be brought to light; a
persuasion founded on such discoveries as this, which are
still, from time to time, being made, of which I may cite
the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana, recently discovered
by my fellow-traveller, Mr. Ainsley—even more remark-
able than this of Castel d' Asso—and sundry monuments
of the same antiquity, which it has been my lot to make
known to the world. In fact, ruins and remains of
ancient art are of so common occurrence in Italy as to
excite no particular attention. To whatever age they
may belong—mediaeval, Imperial, Republican, or ante-
historical—the peasant knows them only as " muraccia,"
and he shelters his flock amid their walls, ploughs the
land around them, daily slumbers beneath their shade, or
even dwells within their precincts from year to year ; and
the world at large knows no more of their existence than
if they were situated in the heart of the Great Desert.
The general style of these monuments—their simplicity
4 The gentleman who has the honour Annio of Viterbo, in the fifteenth cen-
of having indicated the site to Orioli, is tury ; indeed, the name is painted on
Signor Luigi Anselmi, of Viterbo, who the ceiling of the principal hall of the
is well stored with local antiquarian Palazzo Comunale, at Viterbo, which
knowledge. He has also made excava- must be more than 200 years old
tions in the necropolis of Castel d' Asso. (Orioli, Ann. Inst, 1833, p. 24), but
The place had been long known as the it was not known to be the site of an
site of a ruined castle, and was even Etruscan necropolis till the year 1808.
mentioned under its present name by