Why the ancient villages atop the mountains?
Well, the population of Rome was about one million before the first barbarian invasion (barbarian means guy with hair on his face). After the first invasion, Roman residents scattered into the woods. Later after multiple invasions, they began to build small fortresses on top of mountains for protection. These fortresses remain scattered around Italy today.
One such ancient fortress is Orvieto, in the region of Umbria, in central Italy, north and east of Rome. During the middle ages, in 1290, 20 years before Dante died, the foundation for the Cathedral was laid in Orvieto. It is considered a gem of Italian Gothic, and perhaps my personal highlight of the trip so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment