Subiaco and the Monti Simbruini
THE VIA SUBLACENSE
The via Sublacense follows the right bank of the Aniene and heads into the valley where the upper part of the river flows. The valley is closely connected to the memory of two extraordinary – though very different – historic characters: the emperor Nero, who built the ancient road, and San Benedetto – Saint Benedict – who founded 13 monasteries here.
The highest mountains in the Rome province, the Monti Simbruini, are covered in woods. The mountains, just 70km away from Rome, are a winter tourist destination thanks to peaks which pass 1,800 metres, ski slopes and refuges, combined with the fact that they have heavy snowfalls - as well as rain fall. This is indicated by their name, which in Latin – sub imbribus – means in the rain.
The road follows, in the first part, a wide alluvial plain which spreads on both sides of the river, and is the main feature in this landscape. The plain derives its name from the river Subiaco (sub laqueum). To be even more precise, this in turn gets its name from the three artificial lakes, which have hence disappeared, built by Nero (the Simbruina Stagna) and intended to be the heart of the landscape for the villa he built here.
Three itineraries start from the via Sublacense. The first visits Subiaco and its monasteries, great testimonies of spirituality as well as engines of the area’s history and cultural and artistic growth. In addition to being the site of power struggle, the fortified stronghold, above the town, also sparked important works of art. The second leads to the park of the Monti Simbruini, where magnificent woods alternate with surprising glades full of flowers, and where grottos and dolines, dug by water, create a very atmospheric landscape.
The third itinerary takes visitors to medieval Cervara, with its extraordinary role of a modern art inspirer, and Arcinazzo which, thanks to its green plateaus and its wide-range of sport activities, draws intensive tourism all year round.
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Historycal itineraries
