B&B La Ripa Blera (vt)

The origins of Blera can be dated around the 8th-7th centuries BC, as shown by the numerous necropolis located around the town. Although on the plain of the city have been found remains attributable to an important settlement of the late Bronze Age, the historical settlement does not seem to thrive in direct continuity with that. In fact, only after a period of apparent abandonment of the territory (X-IX century BC, the initial period of the First Iron, in which most of the population contributes to forming coastal protourban centers), is documented the new and prolonged occupation phase of the spur of tuff rock at the confluence of the Biedano and Rio Canale torrents. The Latin name Blera, cited by various sources of the time (Strabo, Pliny, Tolomeo, Tabula Peutingeriana), is preserved until the Middle Ages when we find Bleda, then Bieda, until 1952, when the city summarizes the original name. The most important period of the country is certainly the Etruscan period, in the Archaic period (VII-V century BC), when, under the influence of Tarquinia and then Cerveteri, it reaches that prosperity, which is demonstrated by the vast necropolises that surround it. At that time Blera was in correspondence of a crossroads of routes that connected Cerveteri and Tarquinia to other cities of the interior, such as Norchia, Tuscania, Castel d'Asso, Volsinii (Orvieto), Veio. The importance of Blera also continued during the Republican and Imperial Roman age, when it was crossed by the ancient Via Clodia, a consular road that ran through Tuscia connecting Rome to Cosa. Along this route, as well as several sections carved into the tufa, there are the two bridges (of the Diavolo and della Rocca) of the 1st and 2nd centuries BC respectively. In the imperial era, Blera was elevated to the rank of Town Hall and therefore had its own magistrates. From that period there are several mausoleums and numerous remains of rustic villas scattered in the surrounding countryside. With the fall of the Roman Empire also the decadence of the city begins. Blera was among the first dioceses and had its own bishops from 457 to 1093, when it was united to the diocese of Toscanella (today Tuscania); in 1192 it was united with that of Viterbo. Tradition indicates in San Vivenzio (today's protector of the village) the first bishop. A Blera also lived, between the fourth and fifth century San Sensia Martyr. Pope Sabiniano I (604-606) was born in Blera; for some time it was thought of Blera also Pasquale II (1099-1118), of Bleda in Romagna (see the permanence of the urban toponym of Piazza dei Papi). In 772 it suffered the first destruction, after a siege, by King Desiderio, in response to Pope Adrian I who had requested the return of the territories occupied by the Lombards. From the 13th to 15th centuries it belonged to the Di Vico family. In 1247, in retaliation against this family, the army of Frederick II, commanded by Alessandro Calvelli, in the framework of the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, destroyed it. After the extinction of the last member of this family Blera is given in fief, in 1400, from Bonifacio IX to the counts Francesco and Nicola Anguillara. After the deposition of their successors, due to disagreements with Pope Paul II, in 1465, the city would remain under the regency of the Holy See until 1516; of 1515 is the first of the remaining Municipal Statutes. In 1516 Pope Leo X gave it as a fief to Don Lorenzo Anguillara di Ceri and under this family it will remain until 1572, the year of the death without heirs of Lorenzo's son, Don Lelio. From then until 1870 it will be governed by the Apostolic Chamber. With the advent of Romanticism and the revaluation of ancient civilizations, the country is described in several publications on the Etruscans, of which the most famous remains that of George Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria. In 1914 it is the destination of a German archaeological mission, which publishes a thorough study on the city, then at the turn of the fifties and sixties the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies, even with the direct participation of the King of Sweden, Gustavo Adolfo VI, begins one systematic study that will lead to the enhancement of the protohistoric and Etruscan village of San Giovenale and that of Luni sul Mignone.

Taken from Wikipedia encyclopedia.