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{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Sutri
| official_name       = Comune di Sutri
| native_name         = 
| image_skyline       = Panorama di Sutri.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = Panorama
| image_shield        =
| shield_alt          = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|42|14|N|12|17|E|region:IT_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| region              = [[Lazio]]
| province            = [[Province of Viterbo|Viterbo]] (VT)
| frazioni            = 
| mayor_party         = 
| mayor               = Matteo Amori
| area_footnotes     = 
| area_total_km2      = 60.94
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total    = 6565
| population_as_of    = 30 November 2021
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Sutrini
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 291
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
| saint               = Sta. Dolcissima
| day                 = September 16
| postal_code         = 01015
| area_code           = 0761
| website             = {{official website|http://www.comunesutri.it/}}
| footnotes           = 
}}
'''Sutri''' (Latin ''Sutrium'') is an Ancient town, modern ''[[comune]]'' and former bishopric (now a Latin [[titular see]]) in the [[province of Viterbo]], about {{convert|50|km|mi}} from [[Rome]] and about {{convert|30|km|mi}} south of Viterbo. It is picturesquely situated on a narrow [[tuff]]<!--NOT tufa, whatever you read in the sources--> hill, surrounded by ravines, a narrow neck on the west alone connecting it with the surrounding country. It is one of [[I Borghi più belli d'Italia]] ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://borghipiubelliditalia.it/lazio/|title=Lazio|date=9 January 2017 |access-date=1 August 2023|language=it}}</ref>

The modern ''[[comune]]'' of Sutri has a few more than 5,000 inhabitants. Its ancient remains are a major draw for tourism: a Roman amphitheatre excavated in the tuff<!--NOT tufa, whatever you read in the sources--> rock, an Etruscan necropolis with dozens of rock-cut tombs, a [[Mithraeum]] incorporated in the crypt of its church of the Madonna del Parto, a Romanesque Duomo.

== History ==
Ancient Sutrium occupied an important position, commanding as it did the road into [[Etruria]], the later [[Via Cassia]]: [[Livy]] describes it as one of the keys of Etruria, nearby [[Nepi]] being the other. It came into the hands of Rome after the fall of [[Veii]], and a Latin colony was founded there; it was lost again in 386&nbsp;BC, but was recovered and recolonized around 383 BC. It was besieged by the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] in 311&ndash;310 BC, but not taken. With [[Nepi]] and ten other Latin colonies it refused further help in the [[Second Punic War]] in 209&nbsp;BC. Its importance as a fortress explains, according to [[Sextus Pompeius Festus|Festus]], the proverb ''Sutrium ire'', of one who goes on important business, as it occurs in [[Plautus]]. It is mentioned in. the war of 41&nbsp;BC, and received a colony of veterans under the [[Second Triumvirate|triumviri]] (''Colonia coniuncta lulia Sutrina''). Inscriptions show that it was a place of some importance under the empire, and it is mentioned as occupied by the [[Lombards]].

Sutri retained its strategic importance as a fortified place near the borders of the [[Duchy of Rome]]. The [[Donation of Sutri]] was an agreement reached at Sutri between the Lombard king [[Liutprand the Lombard]] and [[Pope Gregory&nbsp;II]] in&nbsp;728. At Sutri the two reached an agreement, by which Sutri and some hill towns in [[Latium]] (see [[Vetralla]]) were given to the [[Papacy]], "as a gift to the blessed [[Twelve apostles|Apostles]] [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]]" according to the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]''. The pact formed the first extension of [[Papal territory]] beyond the confines of the [[Duchy of Rome]]. An important hoard of jewellery dating from this time, known as the [[Sutri Treasure]], was found near the town in the 19th century. It is now in the [[British Museum]].<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/g/grave_group_from_sutri.aspx British Museum Highlights]</ref>

Sutri, the seat of a bishopric (see below), was retrieved for the Papacy after the defeat of the Lombards.

[[Pope Gregory VI]] abdicated at Sutri on December&nbsp;20, 1046, following the [[Synod of Sutri]] convened at the request of [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry&nbsp;III]]. In 1111 it was the seat of the treaty between [[Pope Paschal II|Paschal&nbsp;II]] and [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry&nbsp;V]]; in 1146 and 1244 [[Pope Eugene III|Eugene III]] and [[Pope Innocent IV|Innocent&nbsp;IV]] took refuge here, respectively. In 1244 it was conquered by Pietro di Vico, but was later taken by Pandolfo, count of [[House of Anguillara|Anguillara]], who gave it back to the Papal States.

The city witnessed the struggles between [[Guelphs and Ghibellines]]. In 1433 the condottiero [[Niccolò Fortebraccio]] set fire to Sutri, and from that point onward the city declined in favour of [[Ronciglione]].

== Ecclesiastical history ==
Established circa 500 as Diocese of Sutri (Italian) or Sutrium (Latin), without direct predecessor.

In 900 it gained canonical territory from the suppressed [[Diocese of Monterano]].
[[Pope Gregory VI]] abdicated at Sutri on December&nbsp;20, 1046, following the [[Synod of Sutri]], a non-ecumenical council convened at the request of [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry&nbsp;III]] to resolve three rival claims to the papacy, ultimately in favor of an imperial German protégé, [[Pope Clement II]].

On 1435.12.12 it was suppressed itself, its territory and title being merged into the newly renamed [[Diocese of Nepi-Sutri]].

Recorded incumbent Bishops ''(very incomplete):''
* Tommaso, [[Dominican Order]] (O.P.) (1325.06.07 – ?)

=== Titular see ===
The diocese was nominally restored in 1991 as Latin [[Titular bishopric]] of Sutri (Curiate Italian) or Sutrium (Latin).

It has had the following incumbents, of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank ''with two archiepiscopal exceptions:''
* ''Titular Archbishop: [[Paolo Sardi]] (1996.12.10 – 2010.11.20), between Roman Curia offices: previously Vice-Assessor for General Affairs of [[Papal Secretariat of State]] (1992 – 1996.12.10), later [[Vice-Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church]] of the [[Apostolic Camera]] (2004.10.23 – 2011.01.22), Pro-Patron of [[Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta]] (2009.06.06 – 2010.11.30), created [[Cardinal-Deacon]] of [[S. Maria Ausiliatrice in Via Tuscolana]] (2010.11.20 [2011.05.24] – ...), promoted Patron of above Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (2010.11.30 – 2014.11.08)''
* Titular Bishop: [[Christoph Schönborn]], [[Dominican order]] (O.P.) (1991.07.11 – 1995.04.13) as Auxiliary Bishop of Wien (Vienna, [[Austria]]) (1991.07.11 – 1995.04.13); later promoted [[Coadjutor Archbishop]] of above Wien (Austria) (1995.04.13 – 1995.09.14), succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of above Vienna (Wien, Austria) (1995.09.14 – ...), also Ordinary of [[Austria of the Eastern Rite]] (1995.11.06 – ...), created [[Cardinal-Priest]] of [[Gesù Divin Lavoratore]] (1998.02.21 [1998.11.22] – ...), President of Episcopal Conference of Austria (1998.06.30 – ...), Member of Commission of Cardinals overseeing the Institute for Works of Religion (2014.01.15 – ...)
* Titular Archbishop: [[Antonio Guido Filipazzi]] (2011.01.08 – ...)

== Main sights ==
[[File:Amphitheatre of Sutri.jpg|thumb|Entrance to the amphitheatre of Sutri]]

The most striking edifice is the rock-hewn [[amphitheatre]] of the [[ancient Rome|Roman period]], one of the most suggestive monuments of the ancient [[Latium]] (Lazio). Of elliptical plan, it measures about {{convert|49|by|40|m|ft}}.

There are some remains of the ancient city walls of rectangular blocks of tuff<!--NOT tufa, whatever you read in the sources--> on the southern side of the town, and some rock-cut sewers in the cliffs below them.

The cathedral, of [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] origin, is largely modern: of the medieval edifice the belltower (1207) and the crypt, from the Lombard period, with seven naves divided by twenty columns of different origin.

In the cliffs opposite the town on the south is the rock-cut church of the ''[[Madonna del Parto (church)|Madonna del Parto]]'', developed out of one of the numerous [[Etruscans|Etruscan tomb]]s of the area (according to some scholars, it was a [[mithraeum]], pagan soldier cult site).

== Transportation ==
Sutri can be reached through the [[Via Cassia]] from Rome or [[Viterbo]]. The nearest railway station, on the line for Rome, is that of [[Capranica, Lazio|Capranica]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

* {{cite book|title=Pasquale's Nose: Idle Days in an Italian Town|first=Michael|last=Rips|date=9 April 2002 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=0-316-74864-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/pasqualesnose00mich}}, an account of the author's time in Sutri.
{{Commons category|Sutri}}

== Sources and external links==
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/_Periods/Roman/Archaic/Etruscan/_Texts/DENETR*/4.html George Dennis on Sutri in 1848]
<br>
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t1675.htm GCatholic ecclesiastical history]

{{Province of Viterbo}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Roman sites in Lazio]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Lazio]]
[[Category:Roman amphitheatres in Italy]]
[[Category:Borghi più belli d'Italia]]