<< Our Photo Pages >> Alatri Acropolis - Hillfort in Italy in Lazio/Roma
Submitted by beefree on Thursday, 04 June 2015 Page Views: 3624
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Alatri Acropolis Alternative Name: Alatri Polygonal WallsCountry: Italy
NOTE: This site is 23.236 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: Lazio/Roma Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Frosinone Nearest Village: Alatri
Latitude: 41.724661N Longitude: 13.343495E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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External Links:
Hillfort in Lazio/Roma
The walls are made of several layers of polygonal megaliths, from the same hill and mated perfectly jointed without the use of lime or cement. With their perimeter describe a trapezoidal area of 19,000 square meters.
More information from ivanjohnson:
Alatri's acropolis features impressive well preserved cyclopean walls, with a maximum height of about 9 metres (30 ft), constructed of large (the largest about 3 by 2 m.) well jointed polygonal blocks of local limestone. The cyclopean walls are believed to date from sometime in the mid-to-late first millennium B.C.
Two entrances (of the perhaps five once existing) are still preserved which pass through the wall. The larger, known as Porta Maggiore with a 24-tonne lintel measuring 5 × 2 × 1.5m, and a smaller postern gate (Porta Minore) on the opposite side. There are no inscriptions.
The only mark left by the builders is a symbol on the lintel of the Porta Minore postern gate composed of three phalli arranged so as to form a T-shaped (or cross-shaped) image. Adjacent to the Porta Maggiore, at ground level, are three large niches (± 2m high and 1m wide); they have no apparent structural function and possibly held statues.
In ancient times there was a structure in the center of the acropolis on the site of the present day cathedral, possibly a temple or altar, of which only a small portion (its platform base) is preserved. Later, probably still in ancient times, a ramp was added on the northern side.
The area of the modern town is believed to have been settled as early as the 2nd millennium BC.
Ancient Aletrium was a town of the Hernici which, together with Veroli, Anagni and Ferentino, formed a defensive league against the Volsci and the Samnites around 550 BC. In 530 they allied with Tarquinius Superbus' Rome, confirming the Etruscan influence in the area attested also by archaeological findings. Alatri was defeated by Rome in 306 BC and forced to accept the citizenship. In Cicero's time it was a municipium (an ancient coat of arms can be seen with the initials "S.P.Q.A."), and continued in this position throughout the imperial period.
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