Routes from Torvillage
The abbey of San Salvatore Maggiore
The abbey of San Salvatore Maggiore, partially restored, is found between the towns of Longone and Concerviano, at about 18 km from Rieti.
It was founded in 735 by a group of monks sent by the abbey of Farfa, which was the mother abbey to which it always remained tied. It underwent a rapid development, obtaining vast amounts of land and being known for its doctrine and severe life style of its monks.
Set on fire by the Saracens in 891, it was reconstructed almost a century later. It never returned to its original splendor, nevertheless it again obtained wide feudal control, often disputed by the Rieti municipality.
The decadence of the monastery began in the 1300's making the Pontifical State reduce it to a commenda in 1399 and to close down the congregation in San Salvatore Maggiore, called Berrettani, in 1629.
Useful addresses:
Comune di Concerviano
Tel. e Fax. +39 0765 714020
e-mail: comune.concerviano@libero.it
RIETI: THE CENTER OF ITALY
The very centrally located Vittorio Emanuele II Square corresponds to the highest point of the city, where the ancient Roman forum had been and where, around the III century B.C., were founded the first ancient settlements of Rieti. The fulcrum of the square was where the Dolphin Fountain (XIX century) is now. In front of this is the Municipal Hall, its original construction was from the XII century. There are frescoes inside by the Rieti artist Antonino Calcagnadoro.
From the square begins the Via Garibaldi, where we find Palazzo Cappelletti (first half of the XVII century) and Palazzo Vincenti Mareri, finished being constructed around 1820 by the architect Giuseppe Valadier.
On Via Garibaldi, is the Flavio Vespasiano Theatre, modernized by the architect Achille Sfrondini and inaugurated in 1893. The vestibule has paintings by Antonino Calcagnadoro. "The Triumph of Vespasian and Tito after the Conquest of Jerusalem", painted by Giulio Rolland in 1901, occupies the entire dome. Annexed to the Theater building is the Circolo di Lettura, (Literary Circle), its ceiling frescoed by the same Rolland, depicting a Musical Allegory.
From Via Cerroni, one arrives in the "Center" of Italy, recorded by a plaque placed in Saint Rufo Square. Here we find the Church of Saint Rufo with its sumptuous interior, ever more beautiful because of the painting of the Custodian Angel by Giovanni A. Galli, called the Spadarino (XVII century).
From San Ruffo's square one goes down Via Roma, where, on the left, is: Palazzo Vecchiarelli, by Carlo Maderno. Next to Palazzo Vecchiarelli is the Romanesque church of Saint Peter the Apostle.
Going down Via San Francesco, one comes to the Church of Saint Francis (XIII century), in gothic-Romanesque style. Passing by the church and continuing down Via San Francesco, you arrive at the Roman bridge over the Velino River, and from there to piazza Cavour. In the center of the piazza is the spectacular Monument to the Lire, created by the artist Daniela Fusco and inaugurated in 2003.
Curiosity: tradition has it that Rieti "Umbilicus Italiae" (.. center of Italy) is very ancient, and goes back to 116-27 B.C. when Marco Terenzio Varrone wrote about it. It was also mentioned by Virgil in his Aeneid and also by the writer, Plinio.
Useful addresses:
Comune di Rieti
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
Tel. +39 0746 2871
Urban Public Transport Services.
Via Tancia, 23 - Rieti
Tel. +39 0746 25649
The Velino River, the medieval walls and the panoramas
On this excursion you discover nature right in the middle of Rieti. The Velino River, the city's symbol of its history and of its natural environment, divides the center of the city from its southern part. The WWF has created an excursionist path on the river's edge that begins at the hook in the river in front of the Roman Bridge and continues on its left bank. Walking down this path you discover the vegetation and the river's fauna and one enjoys the unusual and fascinating panorama of the city, going by its historical buildings and the city's vegetable garden area.
The path continues on to Porta d'Arce, in front of which are the medieval walls and where a road leads to Colle San Mauro, the San Mauro hill, where there is a convent founded in 1578 by the Capuchins. From this hill (503 meters elevation) the whole city can be viewed in an unusual panorama. The vegetation that surrounds the convent is quite interesting: century-old holm oaks, monumental pines, and the rare Aleppo pine. At the top of the hill, other than the convent, is the villa that had belonged to the Potenziani princes.
Curiosity: The Roman Bridge was along the principal ancient road of Rieti: the Salaria road. The well-kept remains of this bridge are still visible along the Velino River: it was made up of three imposing arches with blocks of travertine.
Useful addresses:
Comune di Rieti
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
Tel.+39 0746 2871
Urban Public Transport Service A.S.M.
Via Tancia, 23 - Rieti
Tel. +39 0746 25649
Salto Lake:
An engineering feat in the heart of the Equi people's land.
At 535 meters above sea level, we find the Salto Lake, a large artificial basin created in the 1940's by way of a dam on the Salto River that begins in the Marsica Mountains and joins the Velino River near Rieti.
The lake, ten kilometers long and one wide, occupies the wide Cicolano Valley, ancient land of the Equi people, and is dotted with ancient towns and small villages on the surrounding hills. The towns of: Borgo San Pietro, Tiglieto, Fiumata and Sant'Ippolito had been in the area where the water is today and were later reconstructed on the lake's edge. Today they are bright tourist centers. The chapel of the Saint Clair's Monastery at Borgo San Pietro, from the XIII century, was salvaged from the water, was dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt next to the new church of the town, even putting back its ancient renaissance frescoes.
The Lake Salto has a very irregular shape with inlets and fiords that penetrate the valleys carved by torrents in the soft mountain rock. The two sides of the lake are distinctly different. On the right side, exposed southwest, there are more towns and cultivated fields. On the left side of the Salto Lake, exposed to the northeast, and more solitary than the other, is covered with oak and chestnut woods.
At an elevated position are the villages of Petrella Salto and Fiamignano. Petrella Salto, a medieval town, noted as a vacationing center, is dominated by ruins of a castle in which, in 1698, Francesco Cenci was assassinated. The terrible event was ended, a year later, with the sentencing and beheading of his daughter, Beatrice, accused of having instigated the crime.
The Turano Lake
The Turano Lake (536 kilometers above sea level) is a large hydroelectric basin created on the Turano River with a dam that was constructed in 1939 near the village of Posticciola. It is ten km long and is connected to the Salto Lake by way of a gallery that feeds the Cotilia Electrical plant (at Cittaducale). It is at the foot of the Navegna Mountain (1506 meters), a natural reserve park covered with woods, and characterized by the presence of ancient towns and castles on its water's edge that are mirrored in its limpid waters.
Halfway up the lake, one in front of the other, are two towns: Colle di Tora and Castel di Tora, the first on a peninsula and the other on a rocky mound. The names of which bring to mind the ancient Sabine-Roman city of "Thiora".
In front of the town, on a peninsula, is a rocky summit, a conical form, with remains of the Castello del Drago. At the foot of this are the remains of the ancient town of Antuni. Further along on the side of the lake, are two small towns hanging on rocky edges: Ascrea and Paganico. Other important centers for art and history in the vicinity of the Turano Lake are: Rocca Sinibalda and Collalto Sabino. Rocca Sinibalda, dominated by a famous 16th century castle, arises off of a rocky cliff that barricades the Turano Valley a few kilometers downstream from the dam. Collalto Sabino prides itself of its castle from the XVth century and of a Franciscan convent in its vicinity.
From Rocca Sinibalda it is advised to take the panoramic trip, crossing the Salto Lake, then passing over Mount Navegna, passing through Longone, Vallecupola and Varco Sabino (about 30 km, 3 of which are not asphalted). It is a road from which you can enjoy splendid views of Terminillo, Monte Velino and mountains descending towards Rome that unite Rieti to Longone. You can also use this road as a means to get from Lake Salto to Lake Turano.
The ancient Romans in the Velino Valley
In this splendid valley, lush and unpolluted, are numerous archeological sites set between meadows and thousand-year-old woods.
Vespasian's Thermal Baths
In the vicinity of Cittaducale, in the area of Caporio, is an archeological complex, one of the most imposing of the area, called: Thermal baths of Cotilia or Vespasian's Thermal baths. The origin of the Thermal baths goes back to the II century B.C., but the buildings were reconstructed in later centuries. Because of the sloping land, the buildings are placed on 4 terraces. One can still see the large square pool, one time fed by a spring whose waters fell spouting from the niches above. Praises of the curative powers of this water were sung by some major Latin authors: Seneca, Plinio, Tito Livio and Vergilio.
The, so-called, Villa di Tito
In the territory of Castel Sant'Angelo, sitting above the Lake of Paterno, is a very imposing monument: the, so-called, Villa di Tito. It is not clear what the functions of this grandiose monument were, maybe belonging to an imposing rural villa, certainly property of an important family, maybe even the Flavi family themselves (Roman emperors born in this area).
The Flavi Ninfeo
In the heart of the town of Borgovelino one can see the remains of an extraordinary building. It seems probably to be identified as the remains of a monumental nymphaeum, part of a rural villa, dating back to the Flavia era. The structure is 31 meters long and 6 meters tall. Constructed in brickwork, it is divided in three large areas covered with barrel vaults, and between these are niches.
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