ORIOLO ROMANO Information What see What to do Connections Where to contact Holidays and Events Home INFORMATION 15-08-06 Area 19.4 km2 Altitude 450m above sea level Inhabitants 3040 Twinned with: Saint Bonnet pre 'Riom (France) Hawkhurse (England) Background "... Giorgio Santa Croce, son of Onofrio, fifth lord of Viano cleared the forest of Manziana, having brought the settlers there in the year 1562; he made the Via Cassia more convenient, equipped the town of Oriolo with walls, raised the church of San Giorgio and this building in the year 1585 ".From these words contained in the testament of Giorgio Santa Croce the young, the date of birth of the first organized settlement of Oriolo Romano, by the will of the aforementioned Lord, is clear. This development is to be placed in relation with the significant increase in buildings and well-being that occurred in the second half of the sixteenth century. A series of economic and political causes favors the relaunch of the countryside, both as an industrial settlement and as a possibility of financial investment. Giorgio Santa Croce operates in this context not limiting himself to the search for a mere increase in rents, but wishing to give life to a model of a well-organized community at the legislative, economic and urban level. Intentions that contribute to determining the urban and building planning of Oriolo R. and its general organization; characters that remained almost constant during the progressive historical development. In 1606 the fiefdom including Oriolo passed to the Orsini family, who in 1671 ceded it to the family of Pope Clemente X Altieri; this, which continues the expansion and development work, retains the Lordship until 1922. Urban planning The intent of Giorgio Santa Croce, founder of Oriolo, to create an ideal city brought into reality a "happy city" ordered with just laws, where the inhabitants can live in civil harmony, in health, in material and moral well-being. The place chosen is in fact ventilated and dry, moderately elevated; the building system is determined by three streets oriented according to the north-south angle, interspersed with parallel and uninterrupted lines of houses and cut perpendicularly by two connecting streets. The system leads to the north in a large sunny square and is enclosed by walls that are not too protruding. The square opens to the east, towards the Via Clodia tangent and towards the church of San Giorgio. The Palazzo dei Santa Croce, perpendicular to the axis of the three main streets, closes the square to the north, acting as a visual link and preventing the passage of colder winds from the north. Even the houses have openings to the east and west, so as to be ventilated and healthy, but without being affected by the breath of the north wind. With its rational but not rigid layout, ordered in a feeling of loving relationship with the external space, Oriolo may have been a prototype of similar urban settlements born later in the area. The serene and functional character of Oriolo is preserved in the present; the supporting structure of the ancient nucleus, well preserved and vital, integrates with the modern building development with the surrounding buildings, mainly residential, with wide streets and bright spaces, Ambiente naturale La zona anche se non lontano da un centro come Roma offre un luogo incontaminato ed ospitale, capace di permettere piacevoli passeggiate ed escursioni dalle più tranquille a quelle più avventurose, adatto alle uscite in mountain-bike ed a cavallo. La natura molto varia offre boschi di quercia prevalentemente di Cerro e camminando è facile incontrare alberi di roverella, ontano, acero campestre, leccio, farnia, il pruno, il salice. Nella zona di Oriolo, abbiamo anche la presenza del castagno e, soprattutto da citare, il bosco di faggio vista la sua inaspettata vita a 450 mt di altitudine. Nelle zone umide e vicino ai fossi si possono notare diverse specie di felci, fra cui il capelvenere, la felce reale, la lingua cervina, piante come il crescione, la ficaria. Rispettando i vari periodi dell’anno è facile incontrare varie specie di orchidee, ciclamini, viole, primule, scille, pervinche, anemoni, ranuncoli, ecc.., e specie arbustive come l’agrifoglio, il pungitopo, la rosa canina, la ginestra. Tra la fauna molto elevata è la presenza del cinghiale e della volpe ma si possono incontrare anche tracce di lepri ed istrici, donnole e faine. E’ possibile vedere fagiani (introdotti a scopo venatorio), gazze, upupe, ghiandaie, picchi e visto l’habitat della zona molte specie di uccelli rapaci come falchi, poiane.