Category: Things to see in the surrounding area

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” →

Around the characteristic Sabine villages: today we take you to Casperia and Roccantica

Spring brings wonderful colours and scents, so why not discover them in the Sabine villages, which seem to awaken from the winter slumber and almost want to embrace the visitor with their cobblestone walkways smoothened by time, the colourful flowers on balconies and porches, the aromas of a delicious traditional cuisine. A stroll through the villages, then? Yes, but as usual, we have some suggestions for you.

Let’s start with Roccantica.

Roccantica: history, nature and spirituality in a unique combination

It’s true that the polenta (cornmeal) festival is held in winter, but the fame of Roccantica is certainly not limited to just one season. And the frittello (pancakes) festival, we’re certain, will get anyone’s mouth watering in an instant, even health enthusiasts.

Aside from the culinary aspects, Roccantica’s attractions are quite ancient and rich in history: worth noting is the Church of San Valentino, a building whose origins are dated around 870 AD or the eighteenth-century Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo. Continue reading “The scent of spring, the scent of walks through the villages” →

The Abbey of Farfa, our trip for today, seems to immediately impose peace and serenity to the visitor, with its majestic composure. Forty minutes by car separate the Residences of the Borgo di Cicignano from this treasure chest of art and history that rises in the hamlet of the same name in the municipality of Fara in Sabina, in the province of Rieti.

An ancient history

Today the small village of Farfa, which is called like the small river around which it rises, seems projected around its most famous and representative building, and it must be said that it has been so since its origins.

The Abbey was particularly important in its time from a political point of view. It was in the Benedictine Abbey of Farfa that Charlemagne was welcomed, on the journey that led him to Rome on Christmas night in 800 AD, where he was crowned emperor.
Continue reading “The Santa Maria di Farfa Abbey. A place of worship, history and art” →

The Residenze del Borgo di Cicignano are situated in an ideal location when it comes to discovering the Sabina and Reatino areas. So how can we not propose a visit to the capital, the Ombelicus Italiae, in Rieti? The charming and elegant beauty of the historic centre of Rieti amazes and enchants visitors, inspiring them to return soon.

Rieti, in the centre of Italy

That’s right. We are not only in Central Italy, we are literally in the centre of Italy. Both longitudinally and latitudinally, this traditional awareness is celebrated in a plaque placed in Piazza San Rufo. In the centre of the centre, we might say, where enjoying a delicious aperitif in company is practically a must. Or perhaps you prefer a stroll along the Velino River first?

In fact, Rieti is, above all, culture. Its history. Its river. Rieti rises along the Velino river, at the centre of the crossroads of the Ancient Roman’s salt trade, where, precisely because of the commercial trading, the Via Salaria was built. Walking on the Roman Bridge that allows to cross the river, we can see the remains of the ancient bridge on its bed; there is a serene nostalgia, in this slow flow that acts as a scenery, to distant eras that have left their traces. Continue reading “A stroll in Rieti: Ideas for a day in Sabina” →

The village that is an absolute must visit during your Christmas holidays in Sabina

If Christmas is something more for you than just a simple rush to buy gifts and sweets to put under the classic plastic tree, if Christmas is the feast of love, family, mutual respect, then there’s a place in Sabina that will allow you to take in the true essence of this celebration, to go beyond an exclusively consumerist mentality: you may wish to take into consideration Greccio, in the province of Rieti, the village where the nativity scene was born.

Saint Francis and his pilgrimages in Sabina

The Reatina Valley is often called the Holy Valley because here St. Francis, during his pilgrimages, left tangible signs of his passage: to date, the four Franciscan sanctuaries of Poggio Bustone, Greccio, Fonte Colombo and Santa Maria alla Foresta, coincidentally united on the map by an ideal cross, are a constant pilgrimage destination, given the link with the Patron Saint of Italy and his biography. Among these, the best known is certainly that of Greccio, which owes much of its fame to having been the setting of the first depiction of the Nativity in history. Continue reading “Greccio, the Sabine village where the nativity scene was born” →

The origins of the tradition of Christmas markets

The tradition of the Christmas market, rather new to Italy, was born in the distant fifteenth century in Germany, in Dresden, where the first Christmas Market was inaugurated in 1434. The origins are to be found in domestic, artisanal works, which in Northern Europe were made in the warmth of the houses during winter, unable to work in the fields due to the cold, along with the custom of giving gifts at Christmas: thus the so-called Striezelmarkt, later Christkindlmarkt, spread like wildfire, and in the twentieth century it also arrived in Alto Adige and from there to all of Italy.

Christmas holidays in Sabina, snow and Christmas markets near Rome

The Residenze del Borgo di Cicignano offer a unique location to spend the Christmas holidays. The glimpse of the snow-capped mountains in the surroundings, which almost seem to embrace this medium hill, transports you to an enchanted atmosphere. And the Christmas atmosphere, lively and cheerful, of the Christmas markets, is perhaps less spiritual, but quite a bit of fun and in full harmony with what Christmas represents for many families: the joy of being together, the pleasure of finding small gifts for loved ones that will make them smile. Yes, but where do we find the Christmas markets in Sabina? Continue reading “The Christmas markets in Sabina, Lazio. Santa Claus is waiting for you in the Sabine villages” →