Blera is a small town andcomune in the northernLazio region ofItaly. It was known during theMiddle Ages asBieda, an evolved form of its ancient name, which was restored in the twentieth century. It is the birthplace ofPope Sabinian;Pope Paschal II was also originally thought to be from here.
It is situated on a long, narrow tongue of rock at the junction of two deep glens.[3]
In ancient times, Blera was anEtruscan town on theVia Clodia. It was of little importance, and is known to be mentioned only by geographers and in inscriptions.[3]
In 772, it was destroyed by theLombards of KingDesiderius. In the thirteenth-fifteenth centuries, it belonged to theDi Vico family. In 1247 the army ofFrederick II ravaged it. In the fifteenth century, PopeBoniface IX gave Blera to theAnguillara family, who owned it until 1572, apart from a short period from 1465 under direct Papal control. Later it followed the history of thePapal States.
Some remains of the town walls still exist, and also two ancient bridges, both belonging to the Via Clodia, and manytombs hewn in the rock with small chambers imitating the architectural forms of houses, and beams and rafters represented in relief.[3]
Eric Berggren and theSwedish Institute in Rome excavated a Republican period rural structure or villa at the site of Selvasecca di Blera between 1965 and 1967, with preliminary results published in 1969.[4][5] The hill of Selvasecca lies about 6 km southwest of Blera itself.[6] The villa site is marked by a courtyard building that includes a remarkable vaulted cistern built usingopus caementicium. There is also evidence that architectural terracottas were produced at the site.[7] The implications of the villa itself have been recently re-visited.[8]
^E. Berggren and A. Andrén. 1969. "Blera (Località Selvasecca). Villa rustica etrusco-romana con manifattura di terrecotte architettoniche templari."Notizie degli Scavi 1969, pp. 59-71.
