The Rieti area is a very ancient land, inhabited by the Aborigines until the arrival of the Sabines. It was an area of Roman expansion, as testified by the remains of the ancient Baths of Vespasian at Cittaducale and the traces of the ancient Via Salaria that can still be seen in the area around Posta. The Pietre experience aims to offer visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves where history speaks to us among the ruins that bear witness to ancient civilisations or more recent events.
Ascrea
Starting from Ascrea, following a path immersed in the woods, you can reach the ancient village of Mirandella. Just Ascrea would have originated from this ancient settlement: with its strategic position from the top of Mount Filone, Mirandella offered a complete view of the Turano valley and the surrounding area. However, towards the end of the 14th century, the residential nucleus decided to move further down and found Ascrea, whose territory was acquired by the noble Mareri family, which still today gives its name to the main square. Today in Mirandella you can admire the ruins of some houses, and of a rectangular building, perhaps the ancient church.
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Belmonte in Sabina
Near Terze Ville, 6 km from Belmonte, the remains of walls dating back to a period between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st century BC are visible. The walls probably supported a terrace for agricultural or residential use. The portion of the surviving walls is approximately 20 meters long and 4 meters high. Walls of this type are called “polygonal” or “cyclopean” due to the shape and volume of the boulders used in the construction, stacked dry one on top of the other . This technique was very common in the Republican age.
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Cittaducale
In the locality of Caporio-Cesoni, in the territory of Cittaducale, the remains of the ancient baths of Vespasian, also frequented by emperors Titus and Vespasian, are visible today. The baths were fed by the Acquae Cutiliae, thermal springs known since antiquity for their curative power. Today we can recognize the rooms, of various sizes, where baths and dressing rooms were located, the nymphaeum with three fountains and a large pool, the natatio. The construction technique used makes it possible to date the complex between the second half of the second century B.C. and the first half of the first century B.C., but it is highly probable that the area was also frequented in earlier times.
Collalto Sabino
Starting from Collalto Sabino and following the path to Monte San Giovanni, you reach a real archaeological area. The excavations have identified three main phases of settlement. The first phase of occupation of the area dates back to the III-II century BC, and is attested by the findings of an ancient sanctuary dedicated to Jupiter Pollente; the second phase sees the construction, in the Middle Ages, of the church of San Giovanni Battista, on the ruins of the ancient sanctuary; and the third phase, dating back to the 11th century, saw the construction of the monastic complex of San Giovanni, around the already existing church of the same name. During the excavations, the remains of the city walls, rooms, furnaces for the production of bronze and ceramics, numerous burials, coins and devotional objects re-emerged from the ground.
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Collalto Sabino
Partendo da Collalto Sabino, seguendo un sentiero che tra pascoli e campi coltivati, costeggiando il fontanile denominato “ Fonte dello Spirito”, si arriva nel luogo in cui era situato il borgo di Montagliano, di cui oggi si possono ammirare solo alcuni ruderi immersi nella vegetazione. Fondato intorno al IX secolo, Montagliano fu abitato da piccoli nuclei di popolazione rurale. La leggenda vuole che sia stato “sfasciatu” dalle cannonate provenienti dai bastioni del Castello del rivale borgo di Collalto. Da qui il nome di Montagliano Sfondato. Più verosimilmente però il borgo di Montagliano fu abbandonato in maniera spontanea e i suoi abitanti si spostarono nel nuovo nucleo di San Lorenzo a Collalto, o a Collegiove.
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Colli sul Velino
In the locality of Grotte San Nicola, in the Colli sul Velino area, there are the remains of the ancient Roman villa of Senator Quinto Assio. The villa was probably located on the shore of Lake Velino, which no longer exists today. The sources report that Quinto Assio, on the occasion of the legal dispute between Reatini and Ternani in relation to the situation of servitude which arose for the Ternani damaged by the floods of the Velino coming from the Piana di Rieti, was a guest in his villa in 54 BC. M. T. Cicero, defender of the Reatini. The complex of the c.d. Villa d’Assio was still frequented in the V-VI century. A.D.
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Contigliano
In the middle of a small hill just outside Contigliano you can admire the remains of a small church, now in ruins but which has undergone restoration work. The ancient church of San Lorenzo was built by Cistercian workers in the 12th century on the ruins of a Roman villa. The importance of the church began to decline towards the end of the 13th century, when the church of San Michele Arcangelo was built inside the fortified village of Contigliano.
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Contigliano
On the provincial road n. 1, immediately outside Contigliano, is the village of Reopasto, a hamlet which, due to depopulation, was abandoned during the 1960s. What you see today is a sort of ghost town. The remains of a village that originated in the early Middle Ages, developed around the castle founded by the Counts of the Marsi and sold by them in 1069 to the monastery of Farfa. The buildings are unsafe and surrounded by vegetation, but the eighteenth-century church of Sant’Andrea is still visible.
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Fiamignano
A short drive from Fiamignano leads to the Rocca di Poggio Poponesco fortress. These are the ruins of the ancient castle around which, following the Saracen invasions, the first settlement developed around the 9th century. The castle was part of the fief of Rainaldo di Sinibaldo, then belonged to the Mareri and Colonna families. Later the village was rebuilt further down, where Fiamignano still stands today. Legend has it that in the castle of Poggio Poponesco St. Chelidonia was born about 1077, important for the spread of Christianity in the lands of Rieti.
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Fiamignano
On the Rascino plateau about 20 km from Fiamignano stand the ruins of the ancient Rascino Castle. The castle from its commanding position about 1250 meters above sea level offered and still offers a wide view of the plateau and surrounding mountains. The name Rascino is perhaps derived from the Latin word “Raxis,” meaning in fact “back of the mountain.” The foundation of the castle dates to 1083; it was part of the L’Aquila area until the 15th century when it was ceded to Petrella di Cicoli. The castle underwent a long process of depopulation and is now in the state of ruins, the walls and some fortifications can be recognized.
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Frasso Sabino
Nel territorio di Frasso Sabino si trova la cosiddetta Grotta dei Massacci. Si tratta di un sepolcro monumentale risalente all’età romana, in particolare al II secolo d.C., oggi inglobato in un casale agricolo nel XVIII secolo. La grotta è costruita con enormi blocchi di calcare sovrapposti a secco uno sull’altro. Alla fine di un lungo corridoio a volta si trova la camera funeraria, rivestita da lastre di marmo travertino, a pianta quadrata e con delle nicchie nelle pareti predisposte per ospitare i sarcofagi. Uscendo dalla grotta, sul fronte opposto del pianoro di Vicus Novus, lungo l’antica via Salaria verso Rieti, si riconoscono i resti di tre grandi sepolcri a torre di età imperiale.
Monteleone Sabino
In the territory of Monteleone Sabino, between Osteria Nuova and Poggio San Lorenzo, not far from the Via Salaria, was the ancient Sabine city of Trebula Mutuesca, mentioned by Publius Virgil Marone in the Aeneid. In fact, several inscriptions found during the archaeological excavations carried out in the area bear the name of the people who lived in the centre: Plebs Trebulana. The portico of the ancient sanctuary of Feronia, goddess of Italic origin and protector of wild nature and woods, was also found in the area. When Sabina became a Roman province, trade developed in Trebula Mutuesca, the population grew and built larger inhabited centers until, in the 1st century BC. an authentic town arose, with the Forum, the temples, the basilica, the baths and other public buildings, the remains of which can be admired today.
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Montenero Sabino
Beginning in 2019 in Leone locality in the territory of Montenero Sabino, important excavations have begun that will continue at least until 2024. The results so far, have led to the identification of the first sanctuary of the goddess Vacuna, an ancient Italic deity with an agricultural character. The many archaeological finds collected, and those yet to be found, allow light to be shed on this Sabine site, which will only benefit from these studies.
Paganico Sabino
In the municipality of Paganico Sabino, close to the Turanense provincial road, you come across the so-called “written stone”: it is a quadrangular sepulcher of the ancient Muttini family. The funerary monument dates back to the second half of the 1st century BC and bears an epigraph in which we read the names of Publio Muttino, the pater familias, his wife Clodia and his son Publio Muttino Sabino. This stone is an important testimony to the presence of Roman settlements in the Turano Valley.
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Posta
In the municipality of Posta there are many remains of the ancient consular road Salaria. Most are located on the coast of the mountain, others are easily visible from the road, the current SS4. Well known is the large cylindrical stone on a square base, almost one meter wide and more than two meters high, located at the tunnel at km 105, near the so-called Mass of the Bear. It is an ancient Roman mile, i.e. the milestone that marked the distance from Rome, the 69th mile of the Via Salaria.
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Pozzaglia Sabina
Just outside Orvinio are the remains of the abbey church of Santa Maria del Piano. Legend has it that it was built by Charlemagne as thanks to Providence for the victory against the Saracens in 817, fought in a nearby plain. Today you can admire the majestic ruins of the church of which the Latin cross plan and the longitudinal nave can be recognized, and next to it the remains of the convent walls. The complex belonged to the Farfa Abbey and the Benedictine monks. It was gradually abandoned starting from the 16th century and then became a cemetery in the 19th century; it has suffered several lootings and today is in a state of ruin.
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Rocca Sinibalda
In Posticciola, a hamlet of Roccasinibalda, which in Roman times was part of the territory of the ancient city of Trebula Mutuesca (now Monteleone Sabino), you can admire while walking various architectural remains that testify to the Roman presence in the area. Among these, the ancient Roman bridge, called Ponte Vecchio, which can be reached on foot from the town.
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Scandriglia
Halfway up the mountain that rises above Scandriglia is the former convent and church of San Nicola, at about 650 meters above sea level. Today abandoned, the complex was built at the behest of the minor Capuchin Franciscan order around 1530, on the pre-existing medieval church of San Nicola, dating back to the 13th century. The convent housed up to 22 monks, had a library and several workshops. By virtue of the suppression law of 19 June 1866, the convent became state property and was closed. The Church remained open and officiated for worship by the Capuchins until 1888. When the last custodian died in that year, the convent lost its religious purpose.
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Torricella in Sabina
In the area of Torricella in Sabina, you can see the ancient Sambuco Bridge, a suggestive and well-preserved testimony of the ancient Salaria consular road. The Sambuco bridge was built, probably around the first half of the 1st century AD, in limestone blocks. it is about 66 meters long and allows you to cross a ditch which immediately flows into the Raiano stream which, in turn, flows into the Turano stream. To reach Sambuco Bridge, an integral part of the Way of St. Francis, from the “Turanese” road (SP 34) you need to follow the directions on the “Romans Bridgs” tourist sign, and continue until you see the bridge half hidden by vegetation.
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Registered office: Via Manzoni 10, 02100 Rieti
c.o. V^comunità montana
Tax code: 01235650577
