Historical notes on Petrella
It was part of the feudal domain of the Mareri Counts and was one of their principal and fortified castles. In the 16th century, it was sold, along with its territory, by Costanza Maria Mareri to Emperor Charles V, who granted its investiture to the faithful Marzio Colonna. Upon the death of the last descendant of that lord, it was enfeoffed to the Barberini family and eventually had to be returned to the crown of Naples. The town, perched on a mountain spur, has a medieval appearance, with narrow, winding streets and houses that retain windows and doorways from the 14th and 15th centuries. It is crowned by the gray and broken ruins of the castle tower. It is tragically infamous for the tragedy of Count Gianfrancesco and his family, which occurred in 1511, and for the murder of Francesco Cenci, perpetrated in 1598 by assassins hired by Castellan Olimpio Calvetti, at the instigation of the murdered man's family, Beatrice, and with the complicity of his other two sons, Giacomo and Bernardo, and his wife, Lucrezia Petroni.
At the entrance to the village is the monumental Church of Sant'Andrea. Its façade, dating to the first half of the 17th century, is slender and harmonious in its features, still in the Mannerist style, and elegant in its decorations. The two corbels, rising from beneath the triangular tympanum, are striking and enveloping in volutes. Inside, the hall is admired for the simple severity, yet not devoid of refinement, of its chapels and architectural elements of Doric origin. At the rich Baroque altar, a good seventeenth-century canvas is displayed (Madonna in Glory with Child, Angels, and Saints Andrew and Peter). Adjacent to the church stands the austere sixteenth-century Palazzo Maoli and, opposite it, dominates the rough, massive, grim contemporary residence of the Colonna castellan, with its unadorned loggia. In the church square, then, stands the Collegiate Church of S. Maria Assunta (formerly S. Maria di Cicoli — S. Maria Dè Petrella — SS.ma Annunziata), which is mentioned for the first time in 1182 in a papal bull by Lucius III to Benedetto, Bishop of Rieti. It features a simple gabled façade flanked by a massive and powerful quadrangular bell tower, which appears rather squat, almost as if it were more of a defense tower. The Romanesque hall, remodeled in the Baroque period, is divided into two naves by rough, irregular pillars on parallelepiped bases, which, with pedestals, support the vaults and round arches. In the main wall of the nave, there are 14th-century Gothic mullioned windows. It was renovated and enlarged in 1391. In the Baroque period, elaborate, baroque altars were added to the right wall, and of the paintings displayed there, the one on the third wall (Madonna and the Mysteries of the Rosary) is a good one. On the left side of the altar is the "Pietà," a remarkable early 15th-century Vesperbild (literally meaning "image of Sunset," or "Evening"), faithfully reflecting Germanic models: the Virgin Mary is seated with her head bowed and her sad gaze fixed on the body of Jesus.
Behind the high altar is the apse with frescoes (Humanistic Renaissance) depicting the Nativity and Pentecost.
In the square, a 15th-century portal is worthy of admiration, with a frieze of leaves, ovules, and dentals, surmounted by two small columns resting on the backs of facing and reclining lions. The architrave below is decorated with cherubs, festoons of leaves and fruit, vine shoots, rosettes, and, in the center, a medallion with the Agnus Dei. The portal is surmounted by a contemporary fresco (Virgin and Child with Saints Anthony the Abbot and John the Evangelist). It is the work of a naive local artist.
In the immediate vicinity of the village, to the right of the road leading to Borgo S. Pietro, is the ** Sanctuary of Santa Maria Apparì. The square-plan building was constructed in 1562. The façade, between two pairs of walls, is punctuated by pilasters rising from a composite plinth. It has a correct and sober elegance and is surmounted by a 17th-century bell gable (1672). The internal hall is octagonal in plan with a very recent mirrored ceiling. On the sides, connected by paired pilasters, are four altars with broken tympanums. At the high altar, a ** beautiful 18th-century canvas stands out, depicting the Virgin and Child, to whom the Persian peasant girl offers cherries, which miraculously ripened because the girl, when she fell from the nearby cherry tree, was helped by the Madonna, who suddenly appeared to her.
To the left, you can admire an elegant altar, richly decorated in Rococo style, with brilliantly inventive stucco motifs and two frescoes depicting the ** Annunciation and Saints Nicholas of Bari and Gregory the Pope. The backdrop is mountains and a small village (Petrella?) with red houses.
Continuing on, you'll find the town of Borgo S. Pietro (about 4 km from its municipal capital), with its modern town, which stands out with its red roofs and the large monastic complex rebuilt in 1940 and dedicated to Saint Philippa, along with the town itself.
The Monastery of Saint Philippa Mareri, built by the Baroness in 1228, was abandoned when it was submerged in 1940, along with the historic center of Borgo San Pietro, for the construction of the Salto hydroelectric reservoir. Along with the town of Borgo San Pietro, the hamlets of Teglieto and Fiumata were also submerged, only to be rebuilt a little further upstream.
The lake is 10 km long and 1 km wide (70 hectares and 270,000,000 cubic meters) and feeds the Cotilia power plant (Cittaducale). The current Monastery of Santa Filippa Mareri contains the chapel dedicated to the saint, which has been faithfully rebuilt, stone by stone, recreating the appearance of the ancient monastery. Inside the monastery, a "Santa Filippa Mareri" Museum was established, inaugurated in 1977, which houses some of the artifacts, documents, and memorabilia of the ancient Monastery of San Pietro de Molito.
The nuns wanted important historical testimonies of Cicolano not only to be preserved, as has been the case for centuries, but also to be displayed for the admiration of the faithful.
Returning to the village, a visit to the medieval heart of the town, climbing up the steps, is an interesting experience. Finally, leaving Petrella towards Rieti, you come to the village of Capradosso (about 8 km from its municipal capital). On the provincial road, in the Church of Santa Maria (facade and interior) are some remarkable frescoes (Last Judgement, Crucifixion, Saints Sebastian and Maurus) by the same 15th-century painter, still in late Gothic Umbrian-Marche style, who painted in the Baptistery and in Santa Maria <extra moenia> in Antrodoco. The parish church once housed a beautiful gilded silver Passion Cross, engraved by a 15th-century goldsmith from Sulmona. Today, it is on display at the Diocesan Museum of Rieti.
(*) remarkable (**) very important
by Giovanni Miarelli
