Overview

Bandiera Arancione of the Italian Touring Club

About an hour from Rome, Subiaco is the beating heart of the Valle dell'Aniene and combines a wealth of history, art and culture with the natural beauty of the Monti Simbruini Regional Natural Park. An ideal place for many outdoor sports, excursions and walks, it is also the cradle of monasticism and printing. It was awarded by the Italian Touring Club with the Bandiera Arancione (Orange Flag), a quality mark for environmental tourism.

Worth seeing are the monastery of San Benedetto or Sacro Speco, where the saint withdrew in prayer while still an adolescent and dictated the rule 'Ora et Labora', and the monastery of Santa Scolastica, founded in 520 A.D. with three marvellous kiosks (Renaissance, Gothic and Cosmatesque) and a splendid library that still preserves numerous manuscripts and where the first book with movable type in Italy was printed. Also worth a visit are the convent of San Francesco, which can be reached via the humpbacked bridge of the same name, the Rocca Abbaziale, which houses the MACS - Museo delle Attività Cartarie e della Stampa (Museum of Paper and Printing Activities), the church of San Pietro, the small square of Pietra Sprecata and the medieval Borgo degli Opifici (or papermakers' village).

For fans of sports and outdoor activities, the Valle dell'Aniene with the homonymous river, Monte Livata and the Monti Simbruini Regional Natural Park offer numerous possibilities, such as climbing, caving, soft rafting and kayaking.

At the table, you should try the homemade pasta (sagna and pezzole with Buccitti beans, an indigenous product) the characteristic Pappaciuccu (made with boiled black cabbage, stale maize pizza pieces and homemade bread) and the subiachini, typical biscuits made with almonds, egg whites, honey and sugar. Handicrafts are linked to the great tradition of paper production and processing. Among the most important events are the Palio di San Lorenzo (10th August) and the Festival dei Cortei Storici Borgiani, in September.