HISTORY AND TRADITIONS
AMELIA
Amelia municipality: Amelia is a town of 10.813 inhabitants in the province of Terni.
To book online agritourism of the province: agritourism Terni and agritourism Orvieto.
Phone booking for agritourism and Umbria farmhouses: 0763.390047 - 0763393110
Amelia is a town of 10.813 inhabitants in the province of Terni. We suggest to visit the Archaeological museum founded inside ex college Boccarini, collecting roman and high medieval finds.
Among those finds there are some seals and inscriptions, funeral stones, parts of statues and portraits, roman tanks; the beautiful theatre and the cathedral. Moreover the polygonal walls, belonging to roman age, are very characteristic.
Near Amelia there is the Comunitą Incontro " Molino Silla ", founded by Don Pierino Gelmini on 27th September 1979.
The town of Amelia is characterized by landscapes very similar to paintings. The Amerino area is in fact ideal to spend holidays in contact with history and nature. If you're looking for Umbria accommodation, to stay in farmhouses, country houses, agritourism Umbria, hotel and holiday houses is the best solution to relax.
To enjoy completely the historical and environmental beauties of Umbria, choose a structure in the home page of Umbria agritourism and book now.
CASCATA DELLE MARMORE (MARMORE CASCADE)
Marmore Cascade is one of the highest artificial cascades of Europe, having a drop of totally 165 m, divided into three falls (the first, the highest, is 83 m.). When fully working, the cascade's flow is over 300 mc/s. It is about 7,5 km far from Terni, in Umbria, almost at the end of Valnerina, the long valley of Nera river.
The cascade is formed by Velino river, that in the neighborhood of hamlet Marmore, descends from Piediluco lake and loudly falls in the Nera's gorge below. Velino river flows over most part of the highland surrounding Rieti and while descending toward the valley, it is obstructed by many calcareous stones and by the lack of a suitable bed. This particular geological configuration led, with the passing of time, to the creation of a stagnating marsh, harmful for the salubrity of the place.
In 271 b.C. , Roman consul Manlio Curio Dentato ordered to build a canal (the Cavo Curiano) to let stagnating water flow toward natural fall of Marmore: from there water fell directly inside Nera river, Tevere river's affluent.
However, that solution led to another problem: during Velino river's floods, the enormous quantity of water transported by Nera river was a direct menace for the centre of Terni. That fact led to a contentious between the two cities and in 54 b.C. the question was discussed by Roman Senate: Terni was represented by Cicerone, Rieti by Aulo Pompeo. The cause was not solved and the situation did not change for the following centuries. The lack of maintenance of the canal led to a reduction of the flowing of waters and to the beginning of turning into a swamp of the plain of Rieti.
Finally in 1422 a new canal was built to restore the original flow of the river (Cavo Reatino or Cavo Gregoriano, because of the intervention of Gregorio XII).
Pope Paul III, in 1545, ordered to Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane to open another canal, the Cava Paolina, that worked only for 50 years. So they thought to enlarge the Cava Curiana and to build a regulator bridge, a sort of valve to regulate the flow of waters. This work was designed by Giovanni Fontana, Domenico's brother and inaugurated in 1598 by Pope Clement VIII; obviously the bridge was named Cava Clementina.
During the following two centuries, the bridge caused many problems to the plain below, obstructing the correct flow of Nera river and causing the inundation of the surrounding countryside. In 1787 Pope Pio VI ordered to Andrea Vici to work directly on the jumps of the cascade, giving it the actual look and solving great part of problems.
During XIXth century the cascade's water started to be used for their motive power: in 1896 the new-born Acciaierie di Terni (Steel-Works of Terni) used 2 mc of water of Cavo Curiano for their plants.
During the following years, the cascade was used for the production of hydro-electric energy.
Engineering works and surrounding nature always call many tourists and visitors, for that reason many safe and stable points of observation have been built (the Specola above, Piazzale Vasi below, several Belvederes). Among these famous visitors we can remember: Plinio, Cicerone, Fazio degli Uberti, many popes, Galileo Galilei, Vittorio Alfieri, Ferdinand II, the Mother Queen of Naples, Salvator Rosa, Corot, Gioacchino Belli, Lord Byron and many others.
During XVIII and XIX centuries the cascade was an obliged halt of the Grand Tour toward Rome.
The cascade today
Today cascade's waters are intensely used to produce electric energy, inside the power station of Galleto. For that reason the cascade does not work continuously, but is often just like a torrent.
Piediluco lake basin is a water reservoir for the power station, built in 1929 and architectonically beautiful. It can produce about 530 MW of electric energy. To regulate the working of the power station and to allow regular visits in established times and periods, the cascade is open at maximum flow, to ensure a spectacular effect: an acoustic signal informs about the opening of the regulation bulkheads and the small torrent turns, in few minutes, into a river noisy falling down.
Normally it is possible to see the cascade between 12.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. and between 4.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m., each day of the week: during festivities opening times are prolonged. During the last 5 years some observation points have been built, you can enjoy the show of the cascades after payment of an entrance ticket.
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