Acquapendente

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Comune di Acquapendente
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Lazio
Province	Viterbo (VT)
Mayor	Alberto Bambini

Elevation	420 m
Area	120,28 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	5,771
- Density	48,12/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	42°44′N 11°51′E
Gentilic	Aquesiani
Dialing code	0763
Postal code	01021
Frazioni	Torre Alfina, Trevinano
Patron	St. Hermes
- Day	August 28
Website: www.comuneacquapendente.it

Acquapendente is a city in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio (Italy). Acquapendente is an important centre for agricultural production of legumes and wine, and has a tradition in pottery craftmanship.

[edit] History

The area of modern Acquapendente was settled by Etruscans and Roman times, as findings have showed. However, the first historical document of the modern city date from the 9th century AD, with a burg named Farisa or Arisa along the Via Francigena. In 964 a document of Emperor Otto I contains for the first time the name Acquapendentem. The name of the city, meaning "Pending Water", stems from the presence of several small waterfalls forming the Paglia, a stream setting the boundary between Lazio and Tuscany.

The city was later part of the Mark of Tuscany and, from the end of the 14th century and beginning of the 15th, it was part of the commune of Siena. In 1449 it become an independent centre within the Papal States

The Diocese of Acquapendente was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Orvieto until 1649, after the War of Castro.

Acquapendente was also the birthplace of the anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius.

[edit] Main sights

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The famous Cathedral of San Sepolcro (1149)
The Watch Tower, a remain of the Imperial Castle.
The church of St. Augustine (16th century)
The church of St. Francis
The Castle of the fraction Torre Alfina, whose central tower (Cassero) was built by the Lombard king Desiderius. The castle was captured by the Neapolitan condottiero Fabrizio Maramaldo in 1527, during the Siege of Rome, but the defenders retained gallantly the Cassero.
The Castle of the fraction Trevinano (known from the 12th century).
The Monte Rufeno Natural Reserve, 2 km north to the city, at 748 m of altitude. It has secular woods housing wildlife including, among the others, boars, eagle owls, turtles and beech martens.