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| SACRED AND RELIGIOUS
PLACES |
Religious devotion profoundly marks our land. |
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You can breathe an atmosphere of profound spirituality and mysticism throughout
the entire province that pervades not only religious places but also its countryside
and its nature.
There is an ideal path that one can take where Rieti’s spiritual walk in
history is told: special mention should be made about the beautiful and isolated
Romanesque church of Santa Maria in Vescovio, near Torri in Sabina, built in
IX-XI century and reconstructed about |
1250; it
had been the ancient capital of the Sabine people up to the XV century
and had witnessed the precocious spread
of Christianity in the province.
The Rieti area was the crib of ancient monastic life. The Benedictine
Order made an indelible mark on Sabine history; the splendid, imposing
Farfa Abbey was built on hills in the southern Sabine area, and
became one of the greatest monuments of the European Middle Ages.
At the height of its splendor, the Farfa Abbot possessed a vast
portion of central Italy. Its origins go back to the VI century,
by work of San Lorenzo Siro. Destroyed by the Longobards and later
by the Saracens, each time it was reborn even stronger. In 775
Charlemagne conceded its autonomy from every civil and religious
power: from which came its splendor and wealth.
Rieti was seen as protagonist in the course of history during the
XIII century, which was when the Order Of Mendicant Friars was born.
It was also at this time, 1234, that Pope Gregory IX canonized Saint
Dominic di Guzman.
The Holy Valley, the basin that embraces Rieti, is one of the favored
scenes in the life of St. Francis. The Saint himself founded four
sanctuaries set within Rieti’s very green valley and Mount
Terminillo. These sanctuaries are built in the rock, surrounded by
woods, permeated by evident essentiality. The Franciscan message
is still relevant and palpable today and comes from the places where
St. Francis made his bed from the rock and had nature as his company.
The sanctuaries are important historic, cultural and religious monuments;
the sanctuary names are tied, not only to the history of “the
Nature-loving Saint” but also to all of Catholicism.
To discover the mystic fascination of the Rieti area…be guided
by our Routes outlined in Holy and Religious places. |
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