Bracciano

BraccianoBracciano is pronounced in three syllables: "Bra-CHA-no". is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, northwest of Rome. The town is famous for its volcanic lake (Lake Bracciano or "Sabatino", the eighth largest lake in Italy) and for a particularly well-preserved medieval castle Castello Orsini-Odescalchi. The lake is widely used for sailing and is popular with tourists; the castle has hosted a number of events, especially weddings of actors and singers.

The town is served by an urban railway (Line FR3) which connects it with Rome (stations of Ostiense and Valle Aurelia) in about 55 minutes. Close to it lie the two medieval towns of Anguillara Sabazia and Trevignano Romano.

Geography Bracciano's territory lies on the western edge of the Sabatine Hills, a low volcanic hills range encircling Lake Bracciano.

History

There is no certain information about the origins of Bracciano, on the Via Cassia overlooking the lake.The modern history is Carla Micheli Giaccone, Bracciano e il suo castello, Rome, 1990.

In 1494 Charles VIII of France and his troops marching against Rome stopped at Bracciano. This act led to the excommunication of the Orsini, and in 1496 the city was besieged by a papal army headed by Giovanni di Candia, son of Pope Alexander VI Borgia, though it resisted successfully. Cesare Borgia, another of Alexander's natural sons, refrained from launching a campaign against the town because its lord, Gian Giordano Orsini, was favored by the French king, Louis XII. The sixteenth century was a period of splendour for Bracciano. The notorious spendthrift and libertine Paolo Giordano I Orsini, having married in 1558 Isabella de' Medici, daughter of Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, received the title of duke of Bracciano in 1560. The castle received some modernization for the brief visit of the Medici that year. He hired the most prestigious painter available in Rome, Taddeo Zuccaro, to fresco with allegories and coats-of-arms the fortress's most prestigious room, the Sala Papalinia that had been occupied by Sixtus IV.Caroline P. Murphy, Murder of a Medici Princess 2008:80f. Isabella spent the remainder of her life avoiding a return to the castle, which a modern tourist tradition would have her haunting."Given that Isabella could not bear the idea of living in Bracciano when she was alive, it seems unlikely she would choose to haunt the castle dead," observes Caroline P. Murphy, Murder of a Medici Princess 2008:351.

In the castle, richly frescoed friezes and ceilings now contrast with blank walls, which were hung with richly coloured tapestries when the lords of Bracciano were in residence. The important late-15th century frieze showing the labours of HerculesMalcolm Bull, The Mirror of the Gods, How Renaissance Artists Rediscovered the Pagan Gods, Oxford UP, 2005. . is still visible.

In the 1620s, the Dutch painter Paul Bril depicted the city in View of Bracciano, one of the earliest known examples of the cityscape style known as veduta. Climate The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Csa" (Mediterranean climate).Climate Summary for Bracciano

Twin towns Bracciano is twinned with Neusäß, Germany Châtenay-Malabry, France Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

Filmography Medici: Masters of Florence TV series (Castle Bracciano). Elisa di Rivombrosa

Bracciano

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