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BISENTINA ISLAND - BOLSENA LAKE
- ITALY:
The Bisentina island lies facing the town of Capodimonte.
Like nearby Martana, it is what remains of an ancient volcanic
cone and owes its name to Bisentium, a
flourishing center in Etruscan, Roman and medieval times
that stood opposite.
It is the larger of the two islands, 700 meters long and
500 wide, and is a vast natural park with
a flourishing vegetation, in particular holm oaks, and where
many kinds of animals live.
Traces of pile dwellings, now underwater off the
island, are evidence mat humans were already present
on Bisentina in the archaic period.
Finds of tombs and potteiy dating to around the 6th century
B.C. bear witness to settlements in Etruscan times.
Like the Etruscans, die Romans too left traces of their
stay on the island.
In the 9th century the populations of the towns along the
shores took refuge there to escape the Saracen raids.
Around the middle of the 13th century it became the property
of the lords of Bisenzio who, out of spite with regards
to die island dwellers who did not support them in their
struggles for domination of die lake, burned
die island and abandoned it.
When Pope Urban IV was elected in 1261, he decided to restore
papal prestige in die dominions of the Church, including
the two islands in die lake.
The pope reconquered the Bisentina island
and, to cancel the memory of the past signoria of the Bisenzi,
had it called Urbana after himself.
The fortress the Bisenzi had razed to the ground was rebuilt.
At the bottom of die tower a preceding excavation was used
as prison and known as della Malta (that is of mud), where
Angelario, abbot of Montecassino was imprisoned in 1295,
as was Ranieri Ghiberti, Great Master of the Templars in
1299 and a group of heretical monks in 1359.
In 1296 Pope Boniface VIII subjugated the island to the
dominion of Orvieto, although with reservations.
In 1333, it was destroyed by Louis of Bavaria, accused of
heresy and excommunicated by die pope.
In 1400 the Isola Bisentina became the property of the Farnese.
Around the middle of that year Ranuccio Farnese was buried
there (a century later another Ranuccio Farnese, nephew
of Paul III, was also buried there).
In 1462 the lord of Capodimonte Gabriele Farnese organized
a historical regatta of fishermen from the lakeshore towns
for Pope Pius II, Enea Silvio Piccolomini.
After varying fortunes it "was concluded with the victory
of the Martani, to die disgrace and humiliation
of the Bolsenesi.
In October of 1517 Cardinal Alessandro Farnese organized
a reception on the island in honor of Pope Leo X.
In the years around 1530 Cardinal Farnese, surrounded by
scholars such as Paolo Giovio and Paolo Cortese, spent his
summers on the island.
In 1534 he was elected pope with
the name of Paul III.
In 1635 die Isola Bisentina was governed by the duke of
Castro Odoardo Farnese.
He was in deep debt with the Monte di Pieta of Rome, putting
up the duchy as warranty.
Pope Urban VIII, already at loggerheads widi die Farnese,
took die pretext of this warranty to add the Duchy of Castro
to the Ecclesiastical Dominions.
France intervened in the struggle between the pope and the
duke of Castro and the question was temporarily laid to
rest. Innocent X brought his predecessor's project to fulfillment,
with the total destruction of Castro in 1649.
With the end of the Duchy of Castro, both the islands, Martana
and Bisentina, returned to the Church.
In 1707, under Pope Clement XI, the Apostolic Chamber conceded
the use of Bisentina to the bishop of Montefiascone as a
vacation spot for the Seminary of that diocese.
This concession was confirmed by Innocent XIII and Clement
XII until 1752, when the island was given in emphyteu-sis
to Count Giraud, who transformed it into a park.
After changing hands various times, the
island was bought in 1912 by Princess Beatrice Spada Potenziani,
wife of Duke Fieschi Ravaschieri.
It is thanks to Prince Giovanni Fieschi Ravaschieri del
Drago that the island is once more flourishing after a long
period of almost total abandon.
It is open to the public
and can be visited accompanied by a guide.
Monuments of note on the island include first of
all die Renaissance Church of Santi Giacomo e Cristoforo,
commissioned from Vignola by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese.
Scattered around the island are seven small chapels,the
finest of which is the Tempietto of Santa Caterina, octagonal
in plan, commonly called the Rocchina, attributed to Antonio
da Sangallo die Younger.
Hie oldest is die Oratory of San Francesco, while die Oratory
of Monte Oliveto, dating to the early 17th century, probably
replaced an older tempietto mentioned by Vasari.
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BOLSENA 
