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Viepri

A "Company Town" in Medieval Umbria

A town of central Umbria, a frazione of Massa Martana: 42°49.5N, 12°31E. Altitude: 478 m. Population: 143.

[image ALT: zzz. It is a view of the village of Viepri, Umbria (central Italy).]

This is most of Viepri; we're looking east, more or less.

Viepri, a frazione of the comune of Massa Martana, 7 km N of that town and another 7 km SSW of Bastardo, is one of the more attractive medieval villages of Umbria, in part because of the almost exclusive use of stone in its construction: its two churches, the gates that remain of its fortifications, its arched streets and old houses, make Viepri a beautiful stop on a drive thru central Umbria, say from Todi to Spello or Trevi, or from Perugia to Spoleto.

[ 6/28/05: 1 page, 6 photos ]
A sampler of the medieval fabric of the town — no more than that, although it includes a quick view of the church of S. Giovanni Battista — and yes, Viepri is as neat as a pin, but it's hardly for tourists: there just aren't any. Why not is a mystery to me, except that there are a lot of people rushing along on highways on their way to big and famous things.

[ 6/28/05: 2 pages, 12 photos ]
Now the abbey of S. Maria was just such a famous sight once; the great 12c stone church is no less handsome today, of course.

Much of the character and beauty of the town is due to her aesthetic unity: pretty much all stone, and from the looks of her, built at the same time. In the streets of Viepri, the most telling clue to her history may be this plaque, one of the baldest statements of ownership I've seen anywhere, and one which surely explains the physical cohesion of this village as well as that of any 19c railroad town in America:

[image ALT: zzz. It is a 16c plaque in Viepri, Umbria (central Italy).]

Abbatia Sanctae Mariae
Castri Veprium possidet
C V

The abbey of Saint Mary of the Fort owns Viepri.

A couple of comments on our inscription:

1. If you're reading this page carefully, you noticed that I cheated: what's C V? Well, I have to admit I don't know, but I suspect no one else does either: this is exactly why every good teacher has taught us not to use abbreviations. My best guess is that it represents the date, the year 1605, where the initial MD was omitted: I've seen this occasionally elsewhere, and both the style of the lettering and the shape of the plaque fit that date perfectly.

2. As long as we're dealing in minutiae here, we might expect

Abbatia Sanctae Mariae

Castrum Vepri(i) possidet

The abbey of Saint Mary

owns Castrum Viepri.

since the usual form for the names of hundreds of fortified villages is Castrum X, literally "the Fort of X". But here we have a careful assertion of ownership, and with it, an indication of the town's history: the abbey was built as the abbey that went along with the fort, and the town that grew up near the fort to serve it — belongs to the abbey, and don't you forget it.

For once, though, the most important item is the easiest to notice. The coat of arms has been intentionally chiselled out: you run an autocratic government, and eventually people won't like it.

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