If you’re thinking of spending a romantic weekend on the shores of Lake Bolsena, I recommend a long walk and a visit to Marta!
I strolled through Marta breathing in the fresh air and the wind off the lake. In the distance, the two islands: Martana and Bisentina. The colourful houses of the fishing village, whose people still venture out on the typical boats, climb the hill up to the clock tower.
What struck me about Marta was the landscape, the vastness of the lake and the beauty of the medieval village. Among its alleys, full of adorable cats, you discover the slow, unchanged rhythm of life on the lake.
The legends of this land are fascinating and ancient, like the story of Queen Amalasuntha and the terrible betrayal she fell victim to.
Want to know more?
Off we go!
The story of Queen Amalasuntha and Martana island
Queen Amalasuntha was the only daughter of Theodoric, the enlightened king of the Ostrogoths (his mausoleum stands in Ravenna). She married Eutharic in 515 but was widowed a few years later, with two children. On her father’s death, in 526, she became regent for her son Athalaric. She was a cultured, intelligent woman, raised with a Roman education.
She wanted the integration of Latins and Goths, but this only soured relations with the nobility of her own people. When she decided that her son would be educated by Roman tutors, her opponents rose against her: they couldn’t bear being ruled by a woman and certainly couldn’t accept that their future king would be raised in the ways of the people they had subdued.
So they forced a strictly Gothic education on the young Athalaric.
The queen, meanwhile, was forging alliances with the Byzantine emperor Justinian. This policy of balance with the Eastern empire too made her suspect in the eyes of the Gothic nobility, who accused her of wanting to usurp her son’s throne.
Her position became even more critical when her son died, in 534. No longer able to rule alone as a woman, she decided to associate her cousin Theodahad, duke of Tuscia, with the throne.
The delicate political balance of the time shattered soon after. It was Theodahad himself, her husband and cousin, who ordered her to be exiled to Martana island, right opposite Marta.
It was here that the unhappy queen was killed on 30 April 535, betrayed by the person dearest to her (tradition says she was strangled while bathing). It was precisely this murder that gave Justinian the pretext to begin the bloody Gothic Wars, which pitted Byzantines against Goths for almost twenty years.
The clock tower of Marta
The clock tower is the symbol of Marta.
It towers over the town from its 21 metres of height, and from the top you enjoy a magnificent view of Lake Bolsena. The structure is very old, perhaps even earlier than the 12th century: originally it had no clock but was a defensive bastion for watching over the area.
From up there, among the seagulls wheeling over the rooftops of Marta, I could take in the whole expanse of the lake. A sight not to be missed if you’re visiting the town!
Among the various lords who fought over Marta for centuries, the tower suffered much damage and was restored several times: it was rebuilt in 1323 under Pope John XXII and then reworked by the Farnese in the 15th century.
The specialities of Marta: what to eat
The specialities of Marta are the lattarini, small lake fish, the excellent olive oil and the DOC Cannaiola wine. Among the traditional dishes are scafata (a humble broad-bean dish) and sbroscia (the lake’s fish soup). Eels, whitefish and pike are also part of the catch and appear in many local recipes.
If you’re in the area, I recommend rounding off your trip by visiting the nearby villages: neighbouring Tuscania, with its Romanesque basilicas, and the spectacular Civita di Bagnoregio.
And you, are you drawn more to the quiet of Marta’s fishing harbour or to the tragic legend of Martana island?
