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Forum Novum (Torri in Sabina)
The ruins of the ancient roman municipality of Forum Novum stand in the area of Torri, precisely in Vescovio. It is not clear how this roman living area became a municipality (it seems though it obtained the status of a municipality in augustan period) nor which were the political and institutional structures of Forum Novum, but the diggings carried out a few decades ago have unearthed a large part of the public living area: the forum, the basilica, some shops, a temple, arches of an aqueduct and some funeral monuments. The remains of Castrum Domini Episcopi can be admired on the above rising hill. This building was abandoned and restored several times in the Middle Ages, last time towards the end of the eighteenth century, just before it was transformed into an Augustinian convent.
Sanctuary of Vescovio
The church of S. Maria della Lode in Vescovio rises isolated among the pines and cypresses in a level countryside with scattered roman ruins, only a few kilometres from Casperia, in the territory of Torri in Sabina. According to a tradition S. Pietro had been a guest of gens Ursacia and the church that acted as the Cathedral of Sabina until the fifteenth century, was built on the ruins of their house. The portal surmounted by a prothyrum and adorned with an inscription in lapidary capital letters (Ecclesia Cathedralis Sabinorum), is the entrance to a small courtyard in front of the façade of the building. The façade is flanked by the Bell tower, which podium dates back to the eleventh century a.C., while the four floors with windows with one light and those with three lights go back to the twelveth century.
The building has the form of a Latin cross, with only one nave, and was reconstructed in the eleventh century, but the oldest part of the church, besides the apse and transept, is the Crypt. This rare example of a crypt with a semi circular design, indeed dates back to the ninth century.
Castle of Rocchette and Rocchettine
In Rocchette, a small hamlet of Torri with a charming landscape, there are two fortified twin settlements which overlook a gorge created in the rock by the stream Laia. The original names of the castles were Rocca Bertalda (currently Rocchette) and Rocca Guidonesca (currently Rocchettine) and were built towards the end of Middle Ages in order to control the strategic road between Rieti and Valle del Tevere. The two castles were initially possessed by the Bishop of Sabina but passed then under the dominion of the Holy See. At the end of the 14th century they were occupied by the Savelli but at the beginning of the 16th century with a short interregnum of the Orsini, it returned to the Apostolic House. The living area of Rocchette that rises around the castle is still today inhabited, while the castle has been abandoned and therefore fallen into disrepair.
Regional Nature Reserve Tevere Farfa:
The Nature Reserve Tevere Farfa was founded in 1977, after the construction of a hydroelectric dam. The reserve extends on 700 hectares around the confluence of River Tevere and River Farfa and is characterized by marshy areas and sheets of water. Today the park is one of the most important damp areas in Lazio and it provides elevated routes that allow crossing the damp areas, and also several look-out points. In 1994 an Educational park was created. It offers an anthropological museum and guided tours for example by bicycles, and equipped picnic areas.
For further information:
Centro visite ed Uffici:
Casale della Cesa
Via Tiberina km. 35
Torrita Tiberina (RM)
0765-30271 |
