Cisterna di Latina: MRA-ITA-Nin004
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-ITA-Nin004
Sample Material Type
- Plaster
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
micro-fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 5
- Width
- 3.2
- Height
- 2
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 24.3
- Notes
- all fragments together
Geographic Location
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Cisterna di Latina
Site/monument
- Italy (ITA)
Ninfa
Giardino di Ninfa
Historical note about the site/monument
- The gardens at the abandoned town of Ninfa follow the informal, romantic English archetype and were conceived in the early 1920s by Gelasio Caetani, the son of Ada Bootle Wilbraham. They were built over the ruins of the medieval town of Ninfa, incorporating its extant buildings into the garden’s design. Although the gardens are relatively new, Ninfa itself had a long history as a key stopping point between Rome and Naples, and was politically significant from the 8th century CE. From the 12th to 14th centuries the city of Ninfa prospered and grew; it was in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, whose ruins are still visible today, that Alexander III was crowned. Ninfa’s prominence came to an abrupt halt at the close of the 14th century, when it was sacked during the violent aftermath of the Great Schism. It was never fully rebuilt, and slowly its inhabitants drifted to more promising cities. By the middle of the 16th century, even Ninfa’s few remaining churches shut their doors. Frescoes from several of the seven churches of Ninfa were eventually excised and moved to the Caetani Castle in Sermoneta, although the apse of Santa Maria Maggiore still presents fragments of its original fresco in situ.
Further reading:
Hadermann-Misguich, L., & Philippot, P. (1986). Images de Ninfa: peintures médiévales dans une ville ruinée du Latium. Fondazione Camillo Caetani.
Marchetti, L. & Howard, E.J. (1999). Ninfa: A Roman Enchantment. New York: Vendome Press. ISBN-10: 0865652058.
Chronological period (sample)
- 8th-14th century