Alban Hills
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2008-06-24T18:20:11Z
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The '''Alban Hills''' {{in it|Colli Albani}} are the site of a quiescent [[volcano|volcanic complex]] in [[Italy]], located 20 [[kilometer|km]] southeast of [[Rome]] and about 24 km north of [[Anzio, Italy|Anzio]].
The dominant peak is the ''[[Monte Cavo]]'', at 950 m (3,115 ft, {{coor d|41.76|N|12.73|E|}}). There are two small [[caldera]]s which contain [[lake]]s, [[Lago Albano]] ({{coor d|41.712|N|12.703|E|}}) and [[Lake Nemi]] ({{coor d|41.747|N|12.668|E|}}). The rock of the hills is called Peperino (lapis albanus) a particular [[Tuff]], a combination of ash and small rocks that is useful for construction, and provides a mineral-rich substrate for [[grape]] vines.
==History==
The area was inhabited by the [[Aequi]] during the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. The ancient [[Rome|Romans]] called them '''Albanus Mons'''. On the summit was the [[sanctuary]] of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] Latiaris, in which the [[consul]]s celebrated the ''[[Feriae Latinae]]'', and several [[general]]s celebrated victories here when they were not accorded regular [[Roman Triumph|triumph]]s 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 prehistoric times, from the 9th to 7th century BC there were numerous villages (see the legendary [[Alba Longa]] and [[Tusculum]]). In Roman times these villages were inhabited as a way to escape the heat and crowds of Rome, and there are many [[villa]]s and country houses.
{{wide image|Latium_Volcano.jpg|1200px|The Alban Hills.}}
==Towns and cities==
The towns and villages in the Alban Hills are known as the [[Castelli Romani]]:
*[[Albano Laziale]]
*[[Ariccia]]
*[[Castel Gandolfo]]
*[[Colonna, Italy|Colonna]]
*[[Frascati]]
*[[Genzano di Roma]]
*[[Grottaferrata]]
*[[Lanuvio]]
*[[Lariano]]
*[[Marino, Italy|Marino]]
*[[Monte Porzio Catone]]
*[[Monte Compatri]]
*[[Nemi]]
*[[Rocca Priora]]
*[[Rocca di Papa]]
*[[Velletri]]
==Volcanic activity==
Examination of deposits have dated the two most recent eruptions to around 37,000 and 41,000 years ago.<ref>http://www.ingv.it/~roma/profilo/fondazione/sezioni/romauno/webuf2/marra/table1.html</ref>
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;<ref>[http://boris.vulcanoetna.com/ALBANI.html Colli Albani volcano, Italy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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 discredited it as a volcanic event<ref>[http://boris.vulcanoetna.com/ALBANI.html Colli Albani volcano, Italy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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 [[cow]]s 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%.<ref>http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/ivhhn/guidelines/gas/co2.html</ref> Eight [[sheep]] were killed in a similar incident in October 2001.<ref>http://www.ipcc.ch/activity/srccs/SRCCS_Chapter5.pdf</ref>
{{wide image|Alban_lakes.JPG|1200px|Volcanic lakes view from Monte Cavo.}}
==People==
Writers and artists who have produced work about this area include:
*[[Clara Louisa Wells]] in The Alban Hills ed. 1878
*[[Charles 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)|Villa Torlonia]] - [[Frascati]]
*[[Gavin Hamilton, artist and antiquarian]], painter and archaeologist, in Genzano and Lanuvio (XVIII century)
*[[Stendhal]], writer, in Albano Laziale, Chroniques italiennes (1836-1839):L'Abbesse de Castro
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.citiesonvolcanoes4.com/abstracts/numerados/43.doc The INGV-Italian Civil Protection research program on Italian active volcanoes: Alban Hills Volcanic District (Central Italy) (abstract)]
*[http://www.ingv.it/~roma/profilo/fondazione/sezioni/romauno/webuf2/marra/index.html Geochronology and stratigraphy of the Alban Hills and Monti Sabatini Volcanic Districts]
*[http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/ivhhn/guidelines/gas/co2.html Gas and Aerosol Guidelines at the University of Cambridge Department of Earth Sciences - Volcanic Examples and Incidents]
*[http://boris.vulcanoetna.com/ALBANI.html Colli Albani or Alban Hills volcanic complex, Latium, Italy at Italy's Volcanoes - The cradle of geology]
[[Category:Geography of Roman Italy]]
[[Category:Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy]]
[[Category:mountains of the Lazio]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Italy]]
[[Category:Articles with sections needing expansion]]
[[de:Albaner Berge]]
[[fr:Mont Albain]]
[[it:Colli Albani]]
[[nl:Albaanse Heuvels]]
[[no:Albanerfjellene]]
[[nn:Albanarfjella]]
[[pl:Góry Albańskie]]
[[pt:Colinas Albanas]]
[[sk:Albánske vrchy]]
[[sr:Монти Албани]]
[[sv:Albanobergen]]