Palestrina

Palestrina rises above the Roman Campagna on the site of ancient Praeneste. The great sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, built in terraces on the hillside, still shapes the town above it. Palestrina was also the birthplace of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the celebrated Renaissance composer of sacred music.

The town belonged to the Colonna family, whose quarrels with the papacy brought repeated destruction. Papal forces took and razed it in 1298, and Giovanni Vitelleschi captured it again in 1437 on the orders of Pope Eugene IV. Stefano Colonna rebuilt and fortified it in 1448. The town was sacked in 1527 and occupied by the Duke of Alba in 1556. After further warfare in the sixteenth century, Palestrina was purchased by the Barberini in 1630 and became the seat of their principality.