the origins of citerna
The name Citerna is said to derive from numerous cisterns (in italian cistern is cisterna) for collecting rainwater (about seven) or from Citerea, an appellation of Venus (the goddess of beauty and love), due to the shape of the hill where is placed, which had two narrow “hills” that appeared, to poetic Latin eyes, as two small breasts of a woman. Citerna, has Etruscan-Roman origin, was one of the Byzantine fortifications built in this corner of the Upper Tiber Valley between the sixth and seventh centuries. For a long time inhabited by the Romans and known as Civitas sobariae, it was destroyed around 550 AD by the Goths, together with Città di Castello.
Then (600 AD) it passed under the dominion of the Lombardi family from Arezzo, becoming a Lombardi outpost in the Umbrian land. Due to its strategic position, Citerna was always contested between the Ghibelline Arezzo and the Guelfo Città di Castello. After the defeat of the Lombardi by the Franks, the area of Citerna was absorbed by the property of the marquises of Monte Santa Maria Tiberina and the lords of the place, the “Da Citerna” family their vassals, as attested in a document from 1081. Citerna became a fiefdom of the marquises “Di Colle”, subservient to Città di Castello in 1199 and 1273. At the beginning of the 14th century, Citerna was ruled by the Tarlati di Pietramala, a noble family of Lombard origin that settled in Arezzo and reached the power when the Ghibelline Guido Tarlati, who some described as a ruthless conqueror, was bishop and lord of Arezzo.
From the Tarlati, the government of Citerna passed to the Malatesta, who remained lords until 1463, when Sigismondo, with a treaty, ceded power to the Papal State. In 1500, after many ups and downs, the town was granted vicariate to the Vitelli family of Città di Castello. Under their lordship, which lasted until the end of the following century, Citerna, thanks to the construction of noble palaces and monuments, lived its moment of greatest splendor. In 1860, it was the first Umbrian city to be part of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1849, it hosted Giuseppe Garibaldi as he withdrew towards Ravenna.
San Francesco
in citerna
In 1214 when he arrived in Citerna, a large number of people wanted to hear him preach, so he was forced to go into open countryside. Francesco leaned against an oak tree, which was however full of ants: in the name of God, he commanded them to go away and the miraculous creatures obediently did so. In that same place, called Montesanto, the Conventino was erected in the 13th century, also known as the Osservanti, inhabited until the Franciscans moved to the Convent dedicated to the Holy Crucifix. The latter, suppressed after the unification of Italy, is now the dwelling of a community of cloistered Benedictine nuns.
Another place where Saint Francis is said to have performed a miracle the Fonte Degna and occurred when the friars said they were thirsty and Francis was able to make water spring from the bare rock, a source that still flows today and is indeed the worthy fountain, a place where pilgrims can still quench their thirst along the Franciscan path.
giuseppe garibaldi
takes refuge in citerna
Giuseppe Garibaldi, having lost hope of defending the Roman Republic, began the march with 2000 men on the evening of July 2, 1849. He passed through Terni, Todi, Orvieto, and Montepulciano, until finally arriving in Arezzo. He spent the night of July 22-23 at the Sanctuary of S. Maria delle Grazie but, after receiving only food and no hospitality from the city, he headed towards the Alta Valle del Tevere chased by Austrian troops. For safety, Garibaldi took refuge on the hill of Citerna, a place suitable for resistance in the event of a siege. He set up his headquarters at the Convent of the Capuchins, and to this day, the inscription
CONDOTTIERO DEI VINTI – NEL MDCCCXLIX – VINCITORE PIU TARDI – QUIVI RISTETTE – CONTENDENDO ALLA MORTE – E ALLA NEMICA
VILTA – LA COMPAGNA – NELLA FORTUNOSA VICENDA.
Can still be read in the hut where he met with his officers and sounds like:
LEADER OF THE VICTED – IN THE 1849 – VICTOR LATER – HE STAYED HERE – COMPETING WITH DEATH – AND THE ENEMY COWARDY – THE PARTNER – IN THE LUCKY EVENT.
His wife, Anita, who was already very ill, was with him in Citerna and stayed in a house near Porta Fiorentina. A plaque placed in 1982 by Citerna on the wall opposite the house, destroyed by the earthquake of 1917, commemorates her. Garibaldi was being pursued by Austrian troops from both Arezzo and Perugia, and to avoid being trapped, he ordered his men to leave. He left Citerna on the night of July 26 in the direction of Bocca Trabaria.
second world war
The war front arrives in the municipality of Citerna on the morning of July 25th of 1944, with the Battle of Pistrino between the British division formed by Indian units called “Gurkhas” and German units holed up in the town. The battle is bloody and amidst the chaos, an English truck kills the priest Don Serafino Rondini.
During the battle, dozens of civilians are killed by bombings and tens of soldiers on both sides fall, including the destruction of two British tanks. The British resume the attack on Citerna, assaulting the German outpost on Monte Bello, succeeding this time. The Germans then retreat from Citerna on the morning of July 26th and the British units enter the ancient medieval village a few hours later.
A historical fact should be mentioned: on July 15, 1944, the Germans blew up and destroyed the ancient Lombard tower for reasons still to be fully understood. Likely, the tower was a reference point for English shelling.
(pictured: the fort before destruction, photo taken from Archiphoto.it)