Canale Monterano, north of Rome, is the new village of Monterano, now a ghost town destroyed by fire by Napoleon's troops. Monterano was first Etruscan and then Roman, an example of which is immediately apparent in a stretch of an aqueduct.
The village is formed around a castle where the people had taken refuge to escape the Barbarian invasions. For a few centuries (from the VI to X) it was episcopal and this conferred prestige. Having lost its bishop, Monterano began a decline that only ended in 1500 with the arrival of the Orsini family. In 1670 Altieri and Emilio Banaventura arrived. Altieri became pope with the name of Clement X.
The Pope called the famous architect Bernini to design the church, the convent, the front of the baronial palace and the fountain.
After the Pope's death, Monterano lost prestige and in 1770 malaria decimated the population. The definitive end of Monterano came however when the French army completely destroyed the town that had refused to grind corn for his army.
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