Municipality of Marta
Lat. 42.526878 Long. 11.930120
Piazza Umberto I, 1
01010 Marta (VT) Italy
Tel. ++39 076187381
(33,34 square km – 3400 inhabitants: Martani)
Marta, typical fishermen’s village, rises 314 m. above sea level on the southern coast of the most famous volcanic lake in Italy, 23 km. far away from Viterbo. It welcomes the visitors showing its medieval centre with alleys and small places. It lies around the clock’s tower with a quite lakefront shaded by plane-trees, an ideal place for a relaxing walk, a long beach and a little harbour offering a shelter to small and fishing boats. It’s famous also for the excellent food, the DOC wine Cannaiola and for “Barabbata”, that is a nice popular festival. All together make Marta a pretty place to discover and visit.
Marta’s origins, having no sure evidences, is debatable. According to the tradition, it comes from an ancient etruscan settlement; other opinions tell that the name comes from the Phoenician Marath.
The first blanks historical millennium hands us down to the tragic event of 534 A.C., having the Ostrogoti’s Queen Amalasunta, daughter of Teodorico as protagonist, who was segregated and killed on Martana isle. The certain village’s history begins in 726 A.C. when its name appears for the first time on a deed of gift for the constitution of ” S.Pietro in Tuscia’s patrimony”. In XIII century the Rocca was built by Papa Urbano IV, according to the legend, with the ruins of the ancient Bisenzio, leaving there only the octagonal tower that is now the symbol of it. In the Middle Age’s beginning it was harshly contended between the church and the lordships; it was subdued to Prefects of Vico, to Lords of Bisenzio, to Angelo Tartaglia, to the Orsini and at the end from 1537 to Castro’s Duchy ruled by the Farnese untill their decline with Castro’s wipe-out in 1649. Because of this events, Marta came back under Church rule, keeping it untill the unity of Italy.
Some historical, interesting monuments to visit, in addition to the Clock’s Tower, are: The Renaissance Palace of the Farnese family’s period that lies by the town council and overall the romanic Madonna del Monte Sanctuary, restored at the end of the fifteenth century, built on the top of a panoramic hill near the historical centre. Furthermore, this holy place is important because it represents the heart of the traditional and extraordinary festival “Barabbata”.
Marta’s economy is based mainly on the farming, on the fishing and on the fish’s business. In the cultivations prevail the vines and the olives being suitable with the volcanic ground. It is produced an excellent red dessert wine, the DOC Cannaiola, but unfortunately with limited quantities, while there aren’t problems for the white one “Est!Est!Est!”, that is the whole lake’s area’s virtue From the olives, the oil presses of this area draw an excellent extra virgin olive-oil.
This area’s restaurants, fed by the fishermen, offers a large number of lake’s frish fishes’ dishes, but fishes from sea as well, being Marta a very important trading and shunting centre for the fishing industry. The receptivity is only secured by the rooms’ and flats’ lessors; in spite of that the tourism is in the same way very b; The nearness of Viterbo, Terni and Roma makes it the ideal place for nice pic nics during the whole period of the year. The little harbour, situated on the lake’s incile, where its sole effluent, Marta river, rises; It receives a large number of boats and it represents the starting-point for excursions to the isles and for practising aquatic sports. The beach, not so far away from the populated centre, is natural and part of it is shady; it’s never overcrowded, so that the bathers can have a full amusement.
The climate is mild with steady wind; a light breeze alternates with violent and refreshing north wind, changing pleasantly the lake’s humour. The summer evenings are animated by the promenaders on the lake-front and by the youngsters on the sporting places.
Every year on May, 14th there is the exceptional festival called “Barabbata; it celebrates the earth’s fertility and it has very old and unknown traditions, it is said that it was in godden Cerere and later in Madonna del Monte honour. The peculiarity between the sacred and the profane which characterizes it, made it decline far away from the christian theory being then opposed from the church that, trying to suppress it in 1704, gave it the disparaging name “Barabbata”. The festival develops with a procession divided in some categories (ancient corporations) walking from the lake shores to the little Madonna del Monte Sanctuary. The nominated festival’s captains guide the procession and precede the two main groups formed by: Men, Casenghi and Bifolchi. The first ones in the procession are the cowboys, the bailiffs and the artisans who, in ancient times worked for the castle; the second ones, instead, are the farmers divided in peasants, sowers, farm-labourers, fishermen and shepherds with their own tools: mattocks, spades, fishing-nets, boats. There are about thirty floats called “Fontane” pulled by tractors, animals and men; they are adorned with land and water’s products like: grapes, olives, wheat, every kind of fish and a lot of many-coloured flowers. On the floats are directly produced cheese, ricotta and wine. The women don’t take part to the procession but they look it from the balcony throwing flowers. The procession goes on towards the Sanctuary paying homage to Santissimo Sacramento and to Madonna del Monte. Arrived at the Sanctuary, there is the Holy Mass and after that begin the so called “Passate” that are three Church’s turns walking in from the main door and coming out from a secondary one paying homage to Madonna. Every narrated word couldn’t describe the happiness of the participatings, involving also the single bystander.
Go to the Villages around the Lake events web page>>>
Download 800×600 file .ZIP photo’s>>>
Go to the Villages around the Lake events web page>>>
[^TOP]
