Alban Hills
The
Alban Hills (It.
Colli Albani) are the site of a quiescent
volcanic complex in
Italy, located 20
km southeast of
Rome and about 24 km north of
Anzio.
The dominant peak is the
Monte Cavo, at 950 m (3,115 ft, ). There are two small
calderas which contain
lakes,
Lago Albano () and
Lago Nemi (). The rock of the hills is
peperino tuff, a combination of ash and small rocks that is useful for construction, and provides a mineral-rich substrate for
grape vines.
The ancient
Romans called them
Albanus Mons. On the summit was the
sanctuary of
Jupiter Latiaris, in which the
consuls celebrated the
Feriae Latinae, and several
generals celebrated victories here when they were not accorded regular
triumphs in Rome. The temple has not survived, but the
Via Triumphalis leading up to it may still be seen.
The hills, especially around the shores of the lakes, have been popular since ancient times ( see
Alba Longa and
Tusculum), as a way to escape the heat and crowds of Rome, and there are many
villas and country houses to be seen.
The towns and villages present today on Alban Hills area known as the
Castelli Romani:
*
Albano Laziale*
Ariccia*
Castel Gandolfo*
Frascati*
Genzano di Roma*
Grottaferrata*
Lanuvio*
Lariano*
Marino, Italy*
Monte Porzio Catone*
Montecompatri*
Nemi*
Rocca Priora*
Rocca di Papa*
Velletri |
Volcanic lakes view from Monte Cavo. |
Writers and artists who have produced work about this area include:
*
Clara Louisa Wells in The Alban Hills ed. 1878
*
Carlo Coleman painter
*
Charles H. Poingdestre painter
*
Edward Lear painter and lithographer
*
Ellis Cornelia Knight, writer and painter in "Description of Latium or La Campagna di Roma"
*
George Gordon Byron in "
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage"
*
Georgina E. Troutbeck - Rambles in Rome - London - ed. Mills & Bonn - 1914
*
James Duffield Harding in "Tourist in Italy"
*
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in "
Italian Journey"
*
John Henry Henshall watercolor painter
*
Richard Colt Hoare in "A classical tour through Italy and Sicily"
*
Richard Voss*
Thomas Ashby, archaeologist, wrote "The Roman Campagna in Classic Time"
*
William Brockedon painter and illustrator of guide-book
*
William Leighton Leitch watercolor painter in Lanuvio
*
John Singer Sargent, painter in
Villa Torlonia -
Frascati*
Gavin Hamilton, artist and antiquarian, painter and archaeologist, in Genzano and Lanuvio (XVIII century)
* E. Wright "Some observation made in travelling through France, Italy & C in the years 1720, 1721 and 1722" - London 1730
Examination of deposits have dated the two most recent eruptions to around 37,000 and 41,000 years ago[
1]. The area exhibits small localised
earthquake swarms,
bradyseism, and release of
carbon dioxide and
hydrogen sulphide into the atmosphere. The uplift and earthquake swarms have been interpreted as caused by a slowly growing spherical
magma chamber 5-6 kilometres below the surface; some think that it may erupt again: see
this link; if so, there is risk to
Rome, which is only 25 to 30 km away..
There is documentary evidence of an
eruption in
114 BC, but the absence of
holocene geological deposits has largely descredited it as a volcanic event[
2] and instead the account is considered to be a description of a
forest fire.
The volcano emits large amounts of
carbon dioxide. This can potentially reach lethal concentrations if it accumulates in depressions in the ground in the absence of
wind. The
asphyxiation of 29
cows in September 1999 prompted a detailed survey, which found that concentration of the gas at 1.5 m above the ground in a residential area on the northwestern flank sometimes exceeded the occupational health threshold of 0.5%[
3]. Eight
sheep were killed in a similar incident in October 2001[
4].
*
The INGV-Italian Civil Protection research program on Italian active volcanoes: Alban Hills Volcanic District (Central Italy) (abstract)*
Geochronology and Stratigraphy of the Alban Hills and Monti Sabatini Volcanic Districts *
Gas and Aerosol Guidelines at the University of Cambridge Department of Earth Sciences - Volcanic Examples and Incidents*
Colli Albani or Alban Hills volcanic complex, Latium, Italy at Italy's Volcanoes - The cradle of geology 
