The village
Where we are
Services
Tourism
Gastronomy
Useful information
Fotogallery
Reservations
How to get there |
|
Sovana
 An
important medieval centre inhabited since the Bronze Age (12th –
10th century A.C.), Sovana was important even under the reign of the
Etruscans and the Roman ‘municipium’. The necropolis of
Sovana is one of the oldest in the Etruria: inside one can find a
variety of numerous tombs. These tombs stretch towards the “vie
cave”, excavated in tuff stone. In the earliest years of
Christianity Sovana was the bishops’ headquarters, later it was
conquered first by the Longobards and then by the Francs.
It
became homeland to a Pope, Gregory VII, Ildebrando from Soana, and the
Aldobrandeschi’s primary city. It was passed over to the Orsini
as a wedding dowry and finally was handed to the Republic of Siena in
1410. The decline started with the Medici and later on with the Lorena.
In 1783 the grand duke Pietro Leopoldo unified Sovana to the territory
of Sorano, which to date is since that way.
There
are numerous artistic artefacts left which one can visit such as: the
historical centre, the Rocca Aldobrandesca, the Palazzo Pretorio and
its square, the Palazzo del Comune, Palazzo Bourbon Del Monte and the
churches of San Mamiliano, Santa Maria and the Cathedral (Duomo).
The
historical centre is situated between the Rocca Aldobrandesca and the
Duomo, both of them being symbols, one of temporal power and the other
of spiritual power.
The
Rocca Aldobrandesca was founded around the 11th century and is placed
in the surrounding Etruscan fortifications which date back to the 6th
century A.C. It was restored by the sienese and by the Medici.
The
Palazzo Pretorio can be dated between the 12th and 13th century: its
façade illustrates the sienese and Medici families through their
families’ coat of arms. Nowadays it is an Archaeological Museum.
The
Palazzo Bourbon Del Monte, constructed by the same marquises, dates
back to the 17th century and subsequently it was utilised as public
offices.
The
origins of the Cathedral of Sovana are in the Middle Ages (9th –
11th century) and it was extended in the 12th – 13th century with
a building which operated as an episcopal palace. The architecture is a
mixture of Roman and gothic art, with prestigious sculptural
decorations.
The
Church of Santa Maria goes back to the 12th – 13th century; even
this church is part of the Roman - gothic commissions. A precious and
rare pre-Roman altar which dates back to the 8th – 9th century is
conserved inside the church, and is the unique example known in Tuscany.
Finally,
the ruins of the oldest church of Sovana, that of St. Mamiliano, built
originally on the relics of an Etruscan building and then Roman. It was
considered the first Cathedral of which only some frescos and the
perimetral massive walls still remain. |
