The Roman Villa in Cottanello was just one of the many rustic villas that dotted the territory of the Sabine countryside: in particular, this belonged, from an administrative point of view, to the municipality of Forum Novum, today’s Vescovio. However, it is through Cottanello that a profound bond is kept alive, and today it is found in a hamlet in this Rieti municipality, precisely in Collesecco.

Who did the villa belong to in Cottanello?

The name Cottanello suggested, by assonance linked to the Aurelii Cottae, a branch of the gens Aurelia which tradition traced back to the Sabine king Numa Pompilius, the mythical ruler who, according to legend, planted the millennial olive tree in Canneto Sabino.

Archaeologists, comforted by this basic idea also thanks to the discovery of two rims of dolia – the dolio was a large container used for the storage of cereals and other agricultural products – bearing the words MCOTTAE, believe that the owner should be considered as being Marco Aurelio Cotta Massimo Messalino, consul in 20 AD and friend of the emperor Tiberius. Continue reading “The villa of Marco Aurelio Cotta, in Cottanello” →

The Sabina region, nature, the paths that wind along the CAI (Italian Alpine Club) trails, outdoor activities and Sabine religious cults: many of the characteristic features of this territory enclosed in just one place. The Hermitage of San Leonardo is located in Roccantica, in the province of Rieti, halfway up the  Hermitage Path that leads to another famous sacred location in the area, San Michele al Tancia.

The Hermitage of San Leonardo rises in the heart of wild nature. Even today, it appears coherent with the surrounding environment, in a truly suggestive backdrop. A forest surrounded by rocky walls and crystal clear springs. This is what you will find when you venture to discover this mystical place.

Excavated in the bare stone, without tinsel, with spartan windows and walls that divided very small rooms: at the entrance you’ll notice the fragments of frescoes, which reveal the polychrome and mastery of the artist, attributed to Jacopo da Roccantica and others with respect to its foundation, dating back to 1450 – the subjects were San Leonardo and Santa Caterina da Alessandria. Continue reading “The hermitage of San Leonardo in Roccantica: trekking, free climbing and Sabine cults all in one place” →

If you’re thinking that Cottanello is just one of the numerous small villages that are scattered in the Sabina region, well think again! Cottanello has, in fact, numerous small realities which put together make it quite unique.

The village of Cottanello is entirely pedestrianized and this characteristic will allow you to visit it in complete tranquillity, strolling along the patrol path, or rather the space between the two town walls. Some towers still survive today, which you can find walking around the town and that also correspond to the town’s entry gates.

The door to the south is also called Porta Romana (Roman gate), so called because it looks towards Rome. This was the old main entrance, judging from the fact that three defensive coats of arms are visible on it. The northern gate is also called the Porta del Regno (Kingdom gate), so called because it looked towards the Kingdom of Naples. Continue reading “Itineraries in Sabina • Cottanello: the historic village, the marble quarry, the Roman villa and the “pratoni”” →

A tree-lined avenue, meadows to your right and to your left, at the end of the road you see a bell tower rise: you are in Vescovio! Roughly ten km from Cicignano, in the heart of Sabina and in the municipality of Torri, is the Church of Santa Maria della Lode di Vescovio and its Sanctuary; definitely one of the most iconic places of the Sabina territory.

Forum Novum

Forum Novum is a place immersed in the Sabine countryside, where once stood the ancient Roman city of Forum Novum. Also ideal for a picnic on sunny days.

The area has been the subject of archaeological excavations since the late 1990s. Here, the excavations area is still clearly visible, albeit fenced. The investigations led to an understanding of the function of Forum Novum, which was not an actual inhabited centre. Rather, a set of public buildings: a civil basilica, a temple complex dedicated perhaps to Hercules, the forum, an amphitheatre, the baths, the market, a series of tabernae, an aqueduct and a public fountain.

At the end of the fourth century it seems that the Church of Santa Maria was placed side by side these buildings, although in a primitive state compared to its current features. Continue reading “The Sanctuary of Vescovio and the Forum Novum, among the most iconic places in Sabina” →

Sabina is a land strongly dedicated to the production of extra virgin olive oil. And it’s not hard to see why. Even if you arrive by car in this area, your first sight will be filled with olive groves; olive groves as far as the eye can see.

You well be amazed by the incredible number of thousand-year-old olive trees found in the Sabina territory: there are at least twenty-four thousand specimens. These plants are still here today to testify the Sabina area’s vocation for olive oil production; not just an activity that came about a few decades ago, but an actual tradition whose roots date back to the distant past, at least since Roman times. Historical findings indicate that olive cultivation and olive oil production in Sabina began 2,600 years ago. Continue reading “Sabina’s thousand-year-old olive trees: in Canneto and in Palombara in the region of Lazio” →