The best traffic-free bike rides around Poggio Bustone

Via Roma is the central shopping street of Rieti.

The town of Pian de’ Valli, is located in the municipality of Rieti, stands at the foot of Terminillo, at an altitude of 1620 meters, hosts many accommodation and commercial activities, and the departure station of the ski lifts is located a few steps from the center. The famous Terminillo cable car is still in operation today both in the winter and summer seasons and is the historical symbol of Pian de’ Valli.

Palazzo Governo, Piazza Cesare, Rieti Historical Notes on the Government Palace The Palazzo Vincentini, located on Piazza Cesare Battisti in Rieti, is remembered in ancient documents as Casa Poiana, since the powerful Marco Antonio Vincentini purchased it from the Poiani family of Amelia in 1589. Renovation work began that same year and was completed after 1624. According to literary tradition, the architect responsible for the construction was the nineteenth-century painter Jacopo Barozzi, known as Vignola. The palace, in the late Mannerist style, has an elegant door on its main façade, decorated with the family coat of arms with the flame in the center, five eight-pointed stars in the central band, and the sea in the background. When the Vincentini family sold the palace to the Province of Rieti in 1927 to provide a worthy home for the Prefecture, the garden fence was demolished, transforming it from a place of private entertainment into a place of popular assembly. Inside the building are the Prefectural offices, and on the ground floor are the Prefect's private apartments. From an artistic point of view, it is important to remember two valuable pictorial works by local artists active in the various fields. On the ground floor, in front of the entrance, there is a small room painted by the painter Arduino Angelucci (Rieti 1901-1981), who in 1931 created the pictorial decorations of the wall in tempera and the safe. The murals tell the ancient history of Sabina through medallions, coats of arms, and monumental figures in niches celebrating the region's historically significant figures: the scholar Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC) and the Emperor Flavius Vespasian (9 AD). The coats of arms of the most important villages of Sabina are highlighted: Rieti, Cittaducale, Poggio Mirteto, Fara Sabina, Orvinio, Leonessa, Borbona, Rocca Sinibalda, Borgorose, Amatrice, and Magliano. In addition, views of the centers of Rieti, Vescovio, Amatrice, Farfa, and the forged bronze medallions depict four episodes from the Legends of the Sabine Women: the "Rape of the Sabine Women," the "Sacrifice to Rhea," the "Sacrifice to Saturn," and the "Sacred Spring." Text / Source: Prefecture - Territorial Office of the Government of Rieti https://www1.prefettura.it/rieti/contenuti/Cenni_storici_sul_palazzo_del_governo-8273.htm

Rieti - Historical and Natural Treasures of the Region Rieti, a passport to all the historical and natural treasures of the region. A historic center made up of architectural wonders and a history spanning centuries, reaching today: a small gem protected by perfectly preserved medieval walls, through which flows a river of brilliant crystalline colors. "Visit Rieti" tells of the historical figures who have made the city famous over time, of the unspoiled nature to be experienced and discovered, of Mount Terminillo, beloved in summer and winter alike, of the Sacred Valley with its sanctuaries chosen by Saint Francis, now a destination for pilgrimages of all ages, of the beautiful popular traditions and those of the table, of sports, dance, and culture that, year after year, bear the name of the city, an increasingly popular destination for national and international events. Rieti is all this and much more: it's what every tourist gives to the city with every visit, discovering aspects and places that can be experienced and viewed with different eyes each time, and feeling part of the beauty that characterizes it. Text / Source: Official Tourist Portal of the City of Rieti https://www.visitrieti.com/

Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, Rieti The Cathedral of Saint Mary, Mother of God The Cathedral of Rieti, dedicated to Santa Maria Madre di Dio and commonly known as the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was rebuilt on the foundations of the early Christian basilica, documented since the fifth century, between 1109 and 1225. The lower basilica, consecrated in 1157 and striking for its sober and composed forms, is divided into nine naves supported by columns made from the rubble of ancient Roman buildings, among which stands out a milestone of the consular salaria. The upper basilica, in which the architectural lines of the Romanesque plan have remained intact, demonstrates the radical changes resulting from the adaptation of liturgical norms and the change in tastes and styles. Of particular value is the decoration of the main portal, which interprets the motif of acanthus spirals, with clear classical assonance, reinterpreted in the Christian iconography of the Tree of Life. Text / Source: Official Tourist Portal of the City of Rieti https://www.visitrieti.com/2020/01/25/la-cattedrale-di-s-maria-madre-di-dio/

Umbilicus Italiæ - Centro d'Italia, Rieti / Geographical Center of Italy In Piazza San Rufo, Varronian tradition places the so-called Umbilicus Italiae, the geographical center of Italy, commemorated by a plaque. Piazza San Rufo is located amidst the imposing buildings of the historic center, which line the main streets Via Roma and Via Garibaldi. In the center of the square, a section of wall, a remnant of the Roman city's first city walls, can be seen beneath the pavement. The value of this area is commemorated by a plaque and a monument with a unique shape, located exactly in the center of the square and aptly called "la caciotta" (the caciotta) for its rounded and circular design. The work, created between the 1980s and 1990s following the city's twinning with the Georgian capital Tbilisi, appears to resemble the base of a column and features the design of the Italian peninsula on its surface, accompanied by the inscription "Umbilicus Italiae" (Umbilicus Italiae), which runs along half the circumference of the monument itself. Text / Source: Official Tourist Portal of the City of Rieti https://www.visitrieti.com/2020/01/25/rieti-umbilicus-italiae/

The abundance of water in the city of Rieti and the recurring floods of the Velino river also made it necessary to build a viaduct to raise the Salaria and cross the river with a solid stone bridge, the remains of which are still visible under the current bridge.

The three entrance portals to the cathedral and the bell tower maintain the original Romanesque style.