THE TERRITORY AND ITS HISTORY

Since ancient Sabine times to the birth of the Province of Rieti in 1927. History of a land rich with different cultures that inhabited it.

The first human settlements in the Sabine territory went back to Palaeolithic times. Archaeological remains from prehistoric eras dot the entire province, as seen in the pieces found in Piediluco-Contigliano, where bronzes from Cyprus and the Aegean Sea were discovered.

The history of this area is tied firmly to the Sabines, people coming from the area of Gran Sasso (central Apennine Mountains) who then settled in the Velino River and Tiber River Valleys.
The Sabine people, protagonists of myths and legends from the “Rape of the Sabines” at the beginning of Sabine history, to having been some of the first kings of Rome, are today object of a lively rediscovery, confirmed by archaeological excavations and shows.

The Cicolano area (within the Sabine territory) in the first thousand years B.C., was instead, the undisputed kingdom of the Equi, a proud and warring people, that in 494 B.C. invaded Rome.

The year 290 B.C. was the end of an era. In that year the Romans conquered the whole territory, leading to a radical social, economic and residential change. The land reclamation done by the Romans in the Rieti plain by means of excavating a channel at Marmore (mountain into which the channel was cut creating waterfalls) confirms the fame of the Romans as having been unsurpassable engineers. From the II century B.C. the Sabine territory was populated with large rural estates, centers for agricultural production almost at an “industrial” level. Some of these settlements have left an indelible imprint on the territory, as have the villas belonging to Vespasian and Tito.

Already in the II century A.D. a new era began: the Christianisation of the Sabines, with the birth of the Diocesan cities of: Cures Sabini, Forum Novum and Reate, between the V and VIth centuries.

Continuing on into the middle ages, Rieti withstood many invasions. It became first, part of the Ducato Longobardo di Spoleto, and then underwent devastations by the Saracens. Numerous centers, among these, the Farfa Abbey and Rieti itself, were taken and destroyed. The Saracens also appropriated the Cicolano valley before being overcome by the local troops (about 915). A few years later, in 942, the whole area was scene of a raid by the Hungarians.

The diffusion of monastic life took place well before these invasions, halfway through the Middle Ages, and had become a cultural, economic and demographic renewal for this area. The presence of the abbeys of Farfa and San Salvatore Maggiore, profoundly marked the history of the territory.

The first evidence of installed municipalities was seen between 1140-1141. A short time passed and then, in 1143, Rieti endured another invasion: that of the Normans who held the city captive and set it on fire. The Diocese became the real uniting force for the Rieti people, so much so, that in 1198 Pope Innocenzo III placed the area under the direct control of the Papal State. Thus began a 13th century of extraordinary flowering for Rieti: expansion of the city walls, construction of civil and religious buildings and the settling of the Mendicant Orders.

In the meantime, part of the territory, under direct dominion of the Angevin Kingdom, became florid and saw the development of important municipalities such as Cittaducale, founded in 1309 by Duke Robert d’Anjou. In the Sabines, the Roman baronial families imposed their dominion: the Orsini family, the Sant’Eustachio, the Savelli. The XIVth century saw the territory torn by battles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, from which Rieti was able to escape, thanks to a firm rule, except for a brief time during the Alfani government.

In modern age, at a later date the Sabine was consolidated in large ruling families: the Orsini, Savelli and Colonna that were then joined by the Barberini and the Borghese. The Rieti plain was instead, involved in the huge land reclamation conducted by the best of the architects of that period: in 1545 it was Sangallo’s turn, followed by Giovanni Fontana, at the end of the century.

At the end of the 1700’s the Sabine was one of the poorest areas of the Papal State passing through a brief and intense Napoleonic period and then being restored to the church. With the Unity of Italy, Rieti and the Sabine were included in the province of Perugia, nonetheless; they were not able to overcome their difficult economic condition. In fact, in the Cicolano valley, acts of brigandage exploded, similar to those in southern Italy.

In 1927 the province of Rieti was formed uniting areas that were geographically very different and this, today enriches and makes Rieti unique exactly because of this diversity.