Amelia

It is easily possible to see most of Amelia in a day trip by bus from Narni (or from the station at Narni Scalo).  However, remember that there are no buses on Sundays and that the excellent Museo Archeologico is closed on Mondays.  I spent a few days here in 2006 just before Hotel Carleni closed.  It has re-opened as two self-catering apartments and a separate restaurant: see the web page of Residenza Carleni.  Another possibility would be to stay at the historic Palazzo Farrattini.

According to Roman sources, the Umbrian city that they called Ameria was established some 400 years before Rome itself.   A walled city was certainly established here by the 5th century BC, with its fortified acropolis on the site of the present Duomo.   Under the Romans, Amelia became an important staging post on Via Amerina, which was named for it.  In the aftermath of the civil war of 83 BC, the Roman Chrysogonus, who was a favourite of the victorious Sulla, orchestrated a vicious programme of property confiscation in the area.  Cicero’s “Pro Roscio Amerino” records his role for the defence in a lawsuit involving the Roscius family of Amelia in 80 BC that provides a fascinating insight into the political terror of the time. 

Amelia seems to have been a diocese by 450.  The Holy Roman Emperor, Louis the Pious acknowledged Amelia as papal territory in 817.  However, the Emperor Frederick I, Barbarossa claimed imperial suzerainty over the city until 1189 when he granted it to Pope Clement III in return for a promise to crown his son as Emperor Henry IV.  The Emperor Frederick II seems to have sacked the city in 1240.

Amelia belonged to Todi for most of the 13th century and looked to the Ghibelline rebels thereafter to secure its independence.  However, it submitted to Cardinal Gil Albornoz and the papacy in 1354.

The fortunes of the most important families of Amelia in the 15th and 16th centuries were based on their links with the papal court in Rome.  Prime among these were the Geraldini family, who played host to  Pope Sixtus IV when he left Rome to escape an outbreak of plague in 1476.  This provided an opportunity for Pier Matteo d' Amelia, the most famous artist from Amelia, to secure important commissions in Rome.

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