It's uncertain, to know Deruta's actual origins, or the etymology of its name. Various hyposthieses derived from inspiration of antiquity and multiple denominations of the area, were distinguished by different names-during different eras; Ruto, Ruta, Direpta, Druida. In the end, the name Deruta had been stabilized. We can say that its name was conceived as a variant of the onomastic "Diruta" meaning "destroyed".
Earlier than the medieval period, no specific knowledge of Deruta's past is available. A great part of archeological discoveries came about towards the end of the 19th century, proving the existence of Neolithic or agricultural settlements in its immediate neighborhood.
There are abundant testimonies of residents during the Roman Epoch. Confirmed were fragments of inscriptions, amphora's, sculptures and top sections of columns conserved in the foyer in the city's municipal.
Very scarce, on the contrary, were settlements of Etruscan peoples. Some patriotic memories can be referred to around 990 when Emperor Ottone II had to compensate a few German Barons, in granting them land and entitling them "Nobiles de Deruta". In 1264, Pope Urbano IV died, as he travelled from Todi. In 1312, the leader of the ten of Perugia feared that the Imperial militia of Arrigo VII could possibly damage areas subjected to the city-- arranging a reinforcement defense.
In the year 1370, the church's army, aspired to reestablish a leadership in the rebellious towns of Perugia; Todi, Spoleto, Citt� di Castello, Gubbio, Viterbo, Ascoli Piceno and other towns conquered countryside lining the city---which devastated Deruta and Pontenuovo. In the end of 1300, Deruta was often a theatre for military conflictions between Perugine refugees and the army of the dominating city. Biordo Michelotti, captain of the Perugian army, based his troops there around 1395-97. They victoriously confronted the refugees and Giantedesco nicknamed Broglia from Brandolino led the way. Then in 1400, Deruta and Perugia survived with the likes of Giangaleazzo Visconti. And in 1451, arrangements were made for the restoration of the city's walls; with the opportunity for rebuilding the wall.
The walls were reduced in correspondence to the North-East, toward the hill of battle. In a place called "le Cerquelle" they were still visible towards the end of the 1700's, so were traces of the antique fortification. Between 1456 and 1477-78, a great plague ravished Perugia and its surrounding villages. Deruta suffered too, and they kept track of their diminishing population.
Starting in the mid 1500's Deruta also, like Perugia enjoyed a lasting period of peace, during the time of reorganization of their social and political life. The production of majolica joins in during this period, with a maximum development and the most ample diffusion. Towards the first part of 1600's, the city assumed a stable economic and social stability, but also acquired a role of fame in confronts to other centers nearby. In the 18th century Deruta worried still about improvements and renovation.
It's in these years that the archival reconstruction of the communnity (1744) began. A census was well stabilized with inhabitants (1784), the restoration of the internal streets and the project revival of the antique hospital S. Giacomo (1751).
Deruta hangs over a hill at the feet of high ground covered on a sharp Mediterranean patch, in which a natural division is constructed along a vast marsh of the Tevere river. The morphologic characteristics of the territory vary from zone to zone. One of which is Fosso della Rena, Molinella, and Piscinello which have produced cliffs. Soils here are composed of fluvio-lacustrine especially to the left of the river, and deposits of silt-clay -- a medium to high plasticity, which provides for good raw materials in the production of ceramics. The land's fertile soil supports the cultivation of grains, sunflowers, vegetables and fruits.
