Ariccia

ARICCIA IN NUMBERS

Area 18.36 km sq
Population 18.150
Altitude mt 412

Ariccia stands on the slopes of the Colli albani hills, 27 km from Rome along the Via Appia (S.S. n. 7).

The beauty of the archeological and monumental history (the most outstanding of which is Palazzo Chigi and its park with the famous Viadotto Monumentale), its woods, its closeness to Rome and Castelgandolfo lake (approximately 3 km), its characteristic cuisine with the well known porchetta of Ariccia (roast pork) and wine of the Castelli that you can taste in the characteristic "fraschette" (cellars), makes Ariccia one of the favourite destinations of tourists visiting the Castelli Romani.

Cultural, enological and gastronomical tourism are the most important elements of the town's economy.

Today Ariccia is a growing and constantly changing town. In recent years the road system has been improved and new gardens, parking areas and sport centers have been built.

HISTORY

Medieval Ariccia

Involved in the process of decay of the roman empire Ariccia survived the influence of the Vandals, but soon had to succumb, at the end of the V century, to the ravages and attacks of the barbaric hordes spreading throughout the roman country side. Gradually the local population moved back towards the acropolis and the higher areas.

The Appia Antica started to be abandoned due to the total lack of mantenance work and for safety reasons; another road being preferred, the northern connection of Via della Faiola, today's Via dei Laghi.

From 981 it became a fief of the powerful Conti di Muscolo family and shared from that moment the alternately misfortunes due to internal struggles among the roman barons that contended in Rome for the ecclesiastical posts, and in the province for the castles and fiefs.

Power was then gained by the Malabranca family which started important works of fortification and chose the area, today occupied by Palazzo Chigi, for the building of a tower for defending the northern access, which was the main entrance due to the abandoning of the Appia Antica.

From the dominance of the Malabranca Ariccia became a "castellania": in other words power stayed in the hands of a feudal overlord, called a guardian, but the fief remained Church property.

In 1399 it declined to become a "defensoria", controlled by the castellania of Marino; jurisdiction was alternatly controlled by the Monks of Sant'Anastasio in Tre Fontane, the Colonna family and the Monks of Grottaferrata.

In 1473 it became the property of the important "casata romana" (noble roman family) of the Savelli who started the reconstruction of the destroyed inhabited area, providing it with services and appropriate fortifications and starting, at the beginning of the VI century, the construction of the majestic palazzo baronale (baronial palace).