In the Archaic period, the Via Prenestina connected Rome to Praeneste, the current Palestrina. The road started from the Esquiline gate, passed the Aurelian walls from Porta Maggiore to cross, roughly like the modern path, the undulating Roman Countryside and the hills of the Monti Prenestini. The Via Praenestina reached Palestrina, the powerful Praeneste, which still retains a fascination of archaic suggestions, made even more evident by its modern history. In fact, coincidentally, the bombings that struck Palestrina during World War II have given back to the city the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, buried for a great part by the buildings that had overlapped it over the centuries. In pre-Roman and Roman times, it was one of the most revered places of worship by the Italic populations: they flocked from afar to consult the “sorti” (fate) that were extracted from a child, as Cicero narrates in a famous passage from De Divinitate. The sacred complex stretched along the slopes of Mount Ginestro, now occupied by the urban agglomeration, and culminated in three overlapping terraces, on the last one of which stood a circular building surrounded by a hemicycle.
In the Middle Ages, the site was a feud of the Colonna; in 1498 Francesco Colonna, a cultist of esotericism and alchemy, as well as a lover of antiquity, commissioned one of the greatest Renaissance architects, Donato Bramante, to erect a new building inside the hemicycle now known as Colonna Barberini Palace. The palace houses the National Archaeological Museum, where, among several remains, it is possible to admire the marvelous mosaic depicting the flooding of the Nile, an Alexandrian work of the 2nd century B.C., and the extraordinary sculptural group of the Capitoline Triad. A bit further, Castel San Pietro Romano deserves a visit just to go in search of its narrow streets, which made for a scenic backdrop to one of the most famous Italian movies, “Bread, Love and Fantasy”, starring Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida. The cultural heritage in the Praenestine territory is not only archaeological. An extraordinary series of initiatives aims at giving continuity to the memories from the past. An example, the new museums housed in famous noble residences, given back to the citizens. Cave and Rocca di Cave villages lie nearby. They are both connected to the tuff caves in the proximities and are where the castles and boroughs were built in the 10th century. The castle in Rocca di Cave is externally preserved and the bulk of it does not let the eye see how it is almost completely destroyed in its internal parts. San Gregorio da Sassola, whose name derives from Saint Gregory the Great, is overlooked by the Brancaccio Castle too, which dates back to the 10th century and, although widely reworked, has kept the look of castles we find in fairy tales and holds inside fantastic frescos by Federico Zuccari. Narrow alleys and typical houses give the impression that in the medieval hamlet time has stopped, while in Borgo Pio people can visit the church of Madonna della Cavata (1500s) and the church of San Sebastiano (1400s).
The main buildings of Genazzano were built by the Colonna, starting from the enormous castle. The first nucleus of the building dates back to the 11th century, when it was built as a medieval fortress, but the current appearance is the result of the 15th and 16thcentury interventions due to Pope Martin V Colonna and Marcantonio Colonna, who turned it into an elegant residence. Inside, the Renaissance frescoes exalt the Colonna family and its origins: in a beautiful chapel, there are 16th century frescoes attributed to the school of Cavalier d’Arpino. Not far from the castle, there are the ruins of a nymphaeum, used for theatrical performances and festivals that Bramante built between 1501 and 1503 on the model of an ancient nymphaeum, so much so that for a long time it was considered to date back to the Romans. The immense spaces of this beautiful building, purchased in 1979 by the Municipality, have become the headquarters of the International Museum of Contemporary Art, which has begun its exhibition activity in over twenty rooms, covering a total of 3,000 square meters. Subiaco is known for the Nero’s villa, consisting of several pavilions around three artificial lakes, and its monasteries. In the 5th century, in fact, the young Benedict, horrified by the infighting of the Roman Church, withdrew in the mountains and here lived in complete solitude inside a cave. After beginning his preaching to the shepherds of the area, he founded thirteen monasteries based on the Benedictine rule “ora et labora” (pray and work). Nowadays, the Saint Scholastica and the Holy Cave Monasteries remain magnificent examples of the spirituality of this territory, immersed in a still wild nature.
