A Jacobite Gazetteer - Lazio

Soriano

The town of Soriano nel Cimino is located about 60 kilometres north of Rome. The town can easily be reached by bus or train from Viterbo.

Castello Orsini

The town of Soriano nel Cimino is located about 60 kilometres north of Rome.

At the highest point of the town is the Castello Orsini. King James III and VIII was a guest of Cardinal Albani at the Castello Orsini in 1718. A Latin inscription on one of the outer walls records the visit: ¹

QVOD
IACOBVS III MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ REX
ROMA VRBINVM SECEDENS
AD HANC ARCEM DIVERTERIT
ANNIBAL S·R·E·CARDINALIS CAROLVS ET ALEXANDER
ALBANI FRATRES CLEMENTIS XI P·M· NEPOTES
TANTI PRINCIPIS HOSPITIO DIGNATI
REGIÆ HVMANITATIS
MONVUMENTVM P·P·
ANNO DNI MDCCXVIII

Inscription

The castle now serves as a prison. The inscription is exceedingly difficult to see since the gates to the area immediately around the castle are habitually locked.

Palazzo Chigi-Albani

Palazzo Chigi Albani

King James III and VIII and his wife Queen Clementina stayed in this palace at least twice. The second time was in May 1725. ²

Today much of the palace is in a state of disrepair.

Notes

¹ Mary Jane Cryan, "The Secrets of Soriano", Affreschi: Exploring Etruria (Vetralla, Italy: Davide Ghaleb, 2001), 52.

²"Nobile Contrada Papacqua", http://art.supereva.it/papacqua/fontanapapacqua.htm?p, quoting Pennazzi, Istoria di Soriano (1734): "Nel suddetto delizioso palazzo si trattennero per alcuni giorni il Re e la Regina d'Inghilterra per la seconda volta che furono a Soriano, e fu nel mese di maggio del 1725."

Image 3 (Palazzo Chigi-Albani): http://art.supereva.it/papacqua/fotocomplessomonumentale.htm?p.