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Bracciano

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a town in the province of Rome, Italy, 25 m. N.W. of Rome by rail, situated on the S. W. shore of the Lake of Bracciano, 915 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 3987. It is chiefly remarkable for its fine castle (built by the Orsini in 1460, and' since 1696 the property of the Odescalchi) which has preserved its medieval character. The beautiful lake is the ancient Lacus Sabatinus, supposed to derive its name from an Etruscan city of the name of Sabate, which is wrongly thought to be mentioned in the Itineraries; the reference is really to the lake itself, which bore this name and gave it to one of the Roman tribes, the tribus Sabatina, founded in 387 B.C. (0. Cuntz in Jahreshefte des 6sterr. Arch. Instituts, ii., 1899, 85). It is 2 2 sq.m. in area, 538 ft. above sea-level, and 530 ft. deep; it is almost circular, but is held to be, not an extinct crater, but the result of a volcanic subsidence. The tufa deposits which radiate from it extend as far as Rome; various small craters surround it, while the existence of warm springs in the district (especially those of Vicarello, probably the ancient Aquae Apollinares) may also be noted. Many remains of ancient villas may be seen round the lake: above its west bank is the station of Forum Clodii, and on its north shore the village of Trevignano, which retains traces of the fortifications of an ancient town of unknown name. About half-a-mile east of it was a post station called Ad Novas. The site of Anguillara, on the south shore, was occupied by a Roman villa. The water of the lake partly supplies the Acqua Paola, a restoration by Paul V. of the Aqua Traiana. (T. As.)