Fara in Sabina (RI)

Fara in Sabina is a medieval village in the province of Rieti, in Lazio, perched at 482 meters above sea level on a ridge that looks over the Tiber valley and, opposite, Monte San Martino. The historic center belongs to the municipality of Fara in Sabina (reference address of the town hall: Piazza del Duomo, 02032 Fara in Sabina RI). From the capital you get there in a little under an hour: by car you take the A1 to the Fiano Romano exit, then the Salaria toward Passo Corese and the climb to the village. By train the station is Passo Corese, on the FL1 regional line Rome, Orte, continuing by Cotral bus toward the center. The jewel of the area is the Abbey of Farfa, which is in the hamlet of the same name at the foot of the hill: the basilica and the abbey's museum are visited at fixed times (guided visits at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 in the morning, at 15:00 and 16:00 in the afternoon, shifted to 15:30 and 16:30 during daylight saving time, closed Monday) and with a guided-visit ticket of €6.50 full price, free under six and reduced to €5 for children from 7 to 12 years. For organized groups, schools and parishes booking is mandatory, while individual visitors and groups of fewer than 10 people enter without booking. The Museo Civico Archeologico, in the upper village inside Palazzo Brancaleoni, has its own admission and hours: it's best to check them on the town's website before going up, because they follow the calendar of the municipal openings.

Whoever wants to line up the other destinations of the Roman countryside and the Sabina finds a good starting point on the page of tourist attractions, where you can save the itineraries that interest you inside Il mio viaggio.

Fara in Sabina (RI): Where It Is and How to Get There

Fara in Sabina is the gateway to the Sabina of Rieti that looks out toward Rome. The municipality is large and spread out: the inhabitants number over 13,000, but most live in the lowland hamlets, first of all Passo Corese, the most populous center and the seat of the railway station. The historic village at the top of the hill counts very few permanent residents, a few hundred people, and for this very reason it keeps the intimate air of a settlement that has not been enlarged in height or swollen by mass tourism. Around it are the other hamlets: Coltodino, Canneto Sabino, Talocci, Borgo Quinzio, Borgo Salario, each with its own farming history.

Getting to Fara in Sabina (RI) by Car

From Rome the fastest way is the A1 motorway toward Florence to the Fiano Romano exit. From there you take Via Salaria north, cross the bridge over the Tiber at Passo Corese and climb to the village following the signs for the historic center. The whole trip, traffic permitting, takes less than an hour. As an alternative to the Salaria you can use the SS4 to Osteria Nuova and climb by the provincial roads that cross the hamlets. The historic center is a limited traffic zone with narrow alleys: you leave the car in the parking lots just outside the walls and enter on foot from Porta Romana. The Abbey of Farfa has its own parking lot at the foot of the abbey village.

Getting to Fara in Sabina (RI) by Train and Bus

The reference station is Passo Corese, served by the FL1 regional line that links Rome with Orte via Fiumicino Aeroporto, Roma Tiburtina and Fara Sabina, Montelibretti. The name of the railway stop, it should be said, is precisely Fara Sabina, Montelibretti, and it corresponds to the settlement of Passo Corese, on the plain. From the station, the upper village and Farfa are reached by Cotral buses or with a short taxi ride, because the historic center and the abbey are on the hill, a few kilometers from the tracks. Anyone traveling without a car should check the connection times on the day, because the runs toward the village thin out in the afternoon.

What to See in Fara in Sabina (RI)

The area offers three distinct and complementary visits, and whoever does only one gets it wrong. There is the Abbey of Farfa, one of the most important monasteries of medieval Europe, which deserves the trip on its own. There is the historic village of Fara, a maze of Renaissance palaces, gates, towers and churches that culminates in Piazza del Duomo. And there is the Museo Civico Archeologico inside Palazzo Brancaleoni, which since 2024 has displayed a find that came home after half a century, the Chariot of the Prince of Eretum. Around it, the countryside of Sabina DOP olive oil, the nature reserves of the Tiber and the Farfa, the ruins of ancient abbeys and the Sabine necropolises. It's worth taking a whole day and not rushing.

The Abbey of Farfa, the Imperial Abbey of the Sabina

The Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria di Farfa is the monument that made this corner of the Sabina famous well beyond the regional borders. In the early Middle Ages it was one of the most powerful and wealthy abbeys in Europe, an imperial abbey that at its peak controlled, according to the sources, around 600 churches and monasteries, 132 castles and strongholds and six fortified cities. Whoever enters the basilica today walks inside a history 1,500 years long. To learn more about the history of the complex and its works you can also read the page dedicated to the Abbey of Farfa, while the small settlement at the foot of the monastery is described on the page of the village of Farfa.

The Foundation of the Abbey of Farfa

The foundation is placed, by tradition, around 560, 570 AD, by the work of San Lorenzo Siro, a monk of Syrian origin whom tradition then makes bishop of Forum Novum. After his death, at the end of the 6th century, the events of the Lombard invasions led to the abandonment of the monastery. The rebirth is owed, at the end of the 7th century, around 680, to Thomas of Maurienne, who according to the Constructio monasterii farfensis received in Jerusalem the vision of the Virgin with the invitation to restore the ruined church. Thomas had the protection of Faroald II, duke of Spoleto, who offered land and buildings, ruled the monastery for about 40 years and was buried there at his death, in 720. It is from this second foundation that the rise of Farfa begins.

Charlemagne and the Imperial Period of Farfa

The leap comes in the Carolingian era. In 774, while the clash between Franks and Lombards was playing out, Abbot Probatus shifted the monastery's alliance toward Charlemagne. The following year, in 775, the king of the Franks granted Farfa immunity and royal protection with special diplomas. Charlemagne visited the monastery in person shortly before his imperial coronation in Rome, which took place on Christmas Day of 800. Having become an imperial abbey, Farfa enjoyed an almost princely autonomy: it owned land in half of central Italy, it even had a merchant ship exempt from duties in the ports of the Carolingian empire and, among its Roman possessions, was the area on which Palazzo Madama, seat of the Senate of the Republic, stands today. In the shadow of the imperial eagle the monastery maintained schools, workshops, hospices for pilgrims and a pharmacy that served the poorest free of charge.

The Scriptorium and the Regesto di Farfa

Farfa was not only economic power: it was a cultural center of the first rank. Its scriptorium, among the most active on the continent, developed its own script, the so-called romanesca farfense, which distinguished the monastery's codices. At the turn between the 11th and 12th centuries the monk Gregorio da Catino, born around 1062 and dead after 1130, compiled a mass of documentation that few European archives can claim: the Regesto di Farfa, which collects over 1,300 documents, the Chronicon farfense, the Liber largitorius and the Liber floriger. Thanks to him the history of the abbey and its possessions is known with a detail rare for the Middle Ages. This wealth of papers is, still today, one of the reasons historians return to Farfa.

The Siege of the Saracens

Greatness also attracted misfortune. At the end of the 9th century the Saracens came up from the south and laid siege to the monastery. Farfa, fortified, held out for seven long years before yielding. Abbot Peter led the monks to three separate refuges, in Rome, in Rieti and in the Fermano, carrying relics and treasures to safety. The attackers, curiously, did not destroy the buildings but made them their headquarters, and only an accidental fire, during the sack, damaged the buildings. After the Saracen defeat at the river Garigliano, in 915, the monks returned and rebuilt. The church was completed in the first decades of the 10th century. The full recovery came later, with Abbot Hugh, between 997 and 1038, who restored discipline, introduced the Cluniac customs and relaunched Farfa as a small monastic state.

The Present Basilica of Farfa

The church you visit today is the one wanted by the Orsini, commendatory abbots of the monastery, and is datable to the end of the 15th century: it was consecrated on March 25, 1496. The facade keeps a Renaissance portal with plant friezes and a lunette with the Virgin and Child. The interior has three naves, divided by two rows of elegant Ionic columns, and above the central nave runs a coffered ceiling of 1494 with the Orsini coat of arms in a central panel. In 1928 the Abbey of Farfa was declared a national monument, a recognition that fixed its protection. The Benedictine community that lives in it today descends from the monks who returned in 1920 from San Paolo fuori le Mura, sent by Abbot Ildefonso Schuster, later cardinal of Milan.

The Last Judgment and the Works of the Basilica

On the inner facade stands a large fresco of the Last Judgment, dated 1561 and the work of a Flemish painter active in Rome in the middle of the century. Along the naves are 16th- and 17th-century fresco cycles with Marian stories and saints. Some chapels of the left nave are tied to the workshop and followers of Orazio Gentileschi, with Saint Ursula, the Madonna with Child and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter. In the second right chapel a 13th-century icon of the Madonna of Farfa is venerated, covered in the 19th century with a sheet of embossed copper that leaves only the faces uncovered. The wooden choir of the apse dates to the early 17th century. Before these works it's best to slow down: each chapel tells a piece of the long abbey patronage.

The Crypt and the Roman Sarcophagus of Farfa

Beneath the presbytery opens a semicircular crypt of the early medieval age, between the 7th and 8th centuries, which keeps one of the most remarkable pieces of the complex: a beautiful Roman sarcophagus of the end of the 2nd century AD, sculpted with battle scenes between Romans and barbarians. It is an example of how, at Farfa, the layering of the centuries is not a figure of speech: a pagan artifact of the imperial age reused inside a Christian church, a short distance from the Renaissance frescoes. Whoever loves archaeology finds here a direct dialogue between ancient Rome and the medieval monastery.

The Bell Tower and the Library of the Abbey of Farfa

The bell tower, raised between the 9th and 13th centuries, keeps at its base frescoes of the Roman school of the middle of the 11th century with biblical stories and an Ascension, while in the upper rooms there appear 15th-century prophets. The Lombard cloister shows a 13th-century Romanesque two-light window. The great cloister, from the end of the 17th century, gathers Roman sculptures and inscriptions. The abbey's library keeps over 35,000 volumes and precious codices, direct heir of that scriptorium which in the 11th century was among the richest in Europe. Part of the rooms, in recent years, has housed archaeological and medieval collections of the abbey, from the Cures cippus to the Sabine finds.

The Village of Fara in Sabina (RI): Palaces, Gates and Piazza del Duomo

Going up into the upper village is an experience of its own. You enter from Porta Romana and take the weave of narrow uphill alleys, where the Renaissance of the families tied to the Farfa abbey left elegant palaces grafted onto older buildings. Along the way you meet Palazzo Orsini, of the 15th century, Palazzo Manfredi (formerly Foschi) and Palazzo Martini, until the route opens onto Piazza del Duomo, the heart of the village.

Piazza del Duomo and the Collegiata di Sant'Antonino

Piazza del Duomo is the theatrical stage of Fara. On one side stands out the bell tower with, next to it, the aedicule Cistern, built by the Farnese in 1588 to guarantee water to the settlement at the top of the hill. Opposite rises the austere mass of the 15th-century Palazzo Brancaleoni, today the seat of the Museo Civico Archeologico. Closing the square, like the backdrop of a stage, is the Collegiata di Sant'Antonino, the Duomo of Fara, attributed to the school of Vignola: dedicated to Saint Antoninus of Pamiers, patron of the town, celebrated on September 2. From here, between one palace and the next, views open onto the valley that are worth the climb.

The Noble Palaces of Fara in Sabina (RI)

The village is a catalog of gentry residences. Besides Palazzo Orsini, of the 15th century, and Palazzo Farnese, of 1585, worth noting are Palazzo Foschi, later Manfredi, of the 15th century, and Palazzo Castellani, later Brancaleoni, which houses the museum. There is also a memory of the civic uses of the past: the grain depot and monte di pietà, of the 15th century, is today the seat of the municipal Library. These buildings tell of the season when the families holding posts at the abbey transformed the old fortified houses into elegant small palaces, redrawing the urban structure of the village and opening the two access gates still visible today.

The Museo Civico Archeologico of Fara in Sabina (RI)

Inside Palazzo Brancaleoni, on Piazza del Duomo, is the Museo Civico Archeologico, which since 2024 has become one of the strong reasons to go up into the village. The museum collects the materials of the Sabine territory, from the protohistoric necropolises to the finds of Cures, and has undergone an important expansion with the opening, on March 16, 2024, of new rooms dedicated to Tomb XI of the Colle del Forno necropolis.

The Colle del Forno Necropolis and Ancient Eretum

The Colle del Forno necropolis served the ancient Sabine city of Eretum, which stood in the area of present-day Montelibretti, in a strategic position along Via Salaria, the ancient salt road that connected Rome to the Adriatic coast. The burials, between the eighth and sixth centuries BC, have yielded grave goods of great richness, which document a powerful warrior aristocracy, able to control the trade routes of the Tiber valley. The territory of Fara in Sabina, with Cures and Eretum, lies at the center of the history of pre-Roman Sabina.

The Chariot of the Prince of Eretum

The piece that brought national attention back to Fara is the Prince's Chariot, part of the grave goods of Tomb XI at Colle del Forno, a princely burial of the sixth century BC. Its story is a small novel. The chariot was looted by clandestine diggers in the 1970s and illegally exported, ending up in the collections of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Identified by the Italian authorities and recovered thanks to the work of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the find was returned to Italy in 2016 and, after the restoration and the fitting out of Palazzo Brancaleoni, it went back on permanent display right here in Fara in Sabina in March 2024. Seeing that chariot in the village museum, and not in a display case abroad, is a small victory for heritage that is worth the ticket.

Cures Sabini, the Cradle of the Sabines

A few kilometers away, in the locality of Santa Maria in Arci, stood Cures, the Sabine city par excellence. Inhabited between the ninth and sixth centuries BC, it kept living on in Roman times, and from that phase there remain the ruins of baths, of a small theater and of the necropolis. Cures has a place of honor in the history of Rome: tradition names it as the homeland of Titus Tatius and of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, and even the name of the Quirites, by which the Romans called themselves as citizens, is said to derive from Cures. The territory of Fara thus holds one of the very roots of Roman identity.

The Religious Architecture of Fara in Sabina (RI)

Besides the Collegiate Church, the village and its territory preserve several churches that tell the story of Sabine devotion across the centuries. They are worth walking through as a small itinerary, from the square to the edges of the town.

The Historic Churches of the Village

The Collegiate Church of Sant'Antonio dates to the 16th century. The Church of San Giacomo bears the date 1619. The Church of Santa Chiara, from 1643, is now deconsecrated and used as a hall for municipal ceremonies, a clever way to keep an old building alive without distorting it. Each of these churches preserves, in the sobriety of its interior, traces of the patronage of the families who ruled the village.

The Monastery of the Poor Clares Hermits

On the highest point of the hill, built in the 17th century on the ruins of the old castle, stands the Monastery of the Poor Clares Hermits, founded in 1678 by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, when the lordship of the village passed from the Orsini family to the Barberini. It is still a cloistered convent, home to a community of nuns. It cannot be visited freely, but its silent presence, at the top of the town where the fortress once stood, is part of Fara's identity. That a place of prayer now stands where a castle of war once did is one of those reversals that history hands out.

Around Fara in Sabina (RI): San Martino, Cures and Torre Baccelli

Outside the village, the landscape fills up with ruins and archaeological sites that deserve a detour for those with time and good shoes. Facing the hill of Fara rises Monte San Martino, and some of the oldest memories of the territory are concentrated right there.

The Ruins of the Abbey of San Martino

On Monte San Martino there remain the ruins of an ancient abbey, wrapped in vegetation, which make a picture of great appeal for those who love abandoned places and the lesser monastic history of Sabina. The mountain was already inhabited in protohistoric times by a large settlement of the Late Bronze Age, and research has identified terracing works and dry-stone walls. The ruins of the abbey can be reached on a short walk and repay the climb with silence and with the view.

Mefula and the Walls of the Aborigines

The protohistoric settlement on Monte San Martino has been identified with Mefula, an ancient city that the classical sources link to the Aborigines of the area. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Mefula stood just five kilometers from Suna, present-day Toffia, and had walls. It is a rare detail, because the historian reports this fortification as a unique case among the Aboriginal people. The presence on the mountain of dry-stone masonry attributable to the protohistoric era gives substance to the ancient account. The settlement disappeared already in the early Iron Age, perhaps in connection with the birth, on the plain, of the Sabine centers such as nearby Cures.

The Roman Villas and Torre Baccelli

In Roman times the territory was intensively farmed, covered by a dense network of rustic villas built on terraces: in the second century BC in polygonal masonry, in the first century in quasi-reticulate work. The sources mention the villa of Grotte di Torri and those of Fonteluna, Mirteto, Cagnani, San Lorenzo a Canneto, Sant'Andrea and San Pietro near Borgo Salario. On the edges of the town there then remain the ruins of Torre Baccelli, evidence of the old system of towers and fortified houses that, from the 12th century, the local aristocracy scattered across the territory.

Nature Around Fara in Sabina (RI)

Sabina is not only stone and history. It is a landscape of olive trees, woods and waters that deserves as much attention as the monuments. Around Fara in Sabina there are protected areas that lend themselves to half days in the open air.

The Nazzano Tevere, Farfa Nature Reserve

The Nazzano Tevere, Farfa Regional Nature Reserve protects the stretch where the Farfa River flows into the Tiber, a wetland of great interest for birdwatching, with a lake formed by the Nazzano dam and a visitor center. It is the oldest river reserve in Lazio and a reference point for those looking for nature a step from Rome. The area can also be explored through the page on Nazzano Tevere Farfa. Not far away, the Farfa Gorges offer a route among rocks and small waterfalls along the river.

The Aceretum La Cianfronara

In the locality of Borgo Quinzio you find the Aceretum La Cianfronara, an arboretum that gathers several species of maples and other trees, designed for botanical knowledge and for quiet walks. It is the kind of place that appeals to those traveling with children or to those who want to alternate visits to monuments with a stop among greenery.

Sabina DOP Olive Oil, the First Protected-Designation Oil in Italy

You can't understand Fara in Sabina without talking about oil. Sabina has been a land of olive trees for millennia, and Sabina extra virgin olive oil was the first oil in Italy to obtain recognition of protected designation of origin, confirmed at the European level by the Community regulation of 1996. It is a primacy this land claims with pride. The production area includes the province of Rieti and the Metropolitan City of Rome, and the olive mills of the territory work local cultivars that give an oil with a balanced fruitiness. Anyone who visits the village in autumn, during the harvest, finds in the mills and farms the chance to taste and buy directly. Taking home a bottle of Sabina DOP is the most honest souvenir you can make here.

Events and Folklore in Fara in Sabina (RI)

The calendar of the village and of the abbey marks the year with events that are worth, on their own, choosing the date of your visit.

The Fara Music Festival

In summer Fara in Sabina hosts the Fara Music Festival, one of the most interesting jazz-related festivals on the scene, with concerts in the village and, for those who want it, a summer school dedicated to musical training. It is the chance to see the town come alive on summer evenings, when the medieval alleys become an audience and the palaces serve as backdrop.

The Antiques Market at Farfa Abbey

Within the setting of Farfa Abbey, every first Sunday of the month from dawn to dusk, the usual market of antiques, crafts, mid-century items and vintage collecting takes place, with stands reserved both for professionals in the field and for hobbyists who want to show off their own creations. It is an appointment that brings the curious and collectors to Farfa, and it combines well with a visit to the basilica.

The Feast of Sant'Antonino and the Christmas Nativity Scene

On September 2 the village celebrates its patron saint, Sant'Antonino of Pamiers, with the feast that enlivens Piazza del Duomo. In the Christmas season the abbey village of Farfa, with its artisan workshops gathered in the medieval alleys, becomes one of the reference destinations of Sabina for those looking for the Christmas atmosphere. It is best to check the dates and the program of the events on the channels of the abbey and the municipality before setting out.

The History of Fara in Sabina (RI)

The history of this territory begins long before the Middle Ages. The municipal area was already populated in prehistoric times, with remains from the Middle Paleolithic and the Bronze Age. On Monte San Martino, facing the village, rose the protohistoric settlement identified with Mefula. Between the ninth and sixth centuries BC, in the locality of Santa Maria in Arci, the Sabine settlement of Cures was established, which kept living on in Roman times, leaving the remains of baths, a theater and a necropolis. Around it, the countryside was organized into rustic villas on terraces.

From the Lombard Name to the Castle of 1006

The origins of the present town go back to the Lombard era, to the end of the sixth century, as the place name itself indicates. Fara derives from the Lombard term that designated the family clan, the kinship group that settled on a territory. An alternative tradition links the name to the devotion, also Lombard, to Saint Fara. The castle is documented from 1006 and from 1050 it came under the control of Farfa Abbey. From the 12th century a local aristocracy emerged that built the houses and towers still readable in the fabric of the village, and in the Renaissance the families tied to the abbey remodeled the old buildings into elegant small palaces, and opened up the walls and the two gates.

From the Orsini to the Barberini

Fara was a fief of the Orsini. From the 15th century it became the seat of the commendatory abbot of Farfa, and several families followed one another, starting with the Orsini themselves and up to the Barberini. It was Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, who founded in 1678, with its seat in the old castle, the monastery of the Poor Clares Hermits. The handover between the two great Roman families shaped the layout of the village for the following centuries and left its mark on the buildings and on the religious institutions.

A Curiosity About Fara in Sabina (RI)

Here is a fact that surprises those who arrive thinking of a quiet provincial village: the area where Palazzo Madama in Rome, seat of the Senate of the Republic, stands today was originally a possession of Farfa Abbey. In the period of its greatest splendor, between the ninth and 11th centuries, the monastery of Sabina controlled properties scattered across half of central Italy, and among them also land in the very center of Rome. The same abbey even owned a merchant ship of its own, exempt from duties in all the ports of the Carolingian empire, which gives the measure of how much a country monastery could weigh, at the time, on the economy of the continent. When people say that Farfa was one of the most powerful abbeys in Europe, it is not hyperbole. It can be read in the documents that Gregorio da Catino put in writing: 600 churches and monasteries, 132 castles, six fortified cities. The small village that today is reached in an hour from Rome commanded, 1,000 years ago, a small state with its own army, its own fleet and a network of possessions that reached as far as the Marche and Abruzzo. It is a disproportion between the sleepy present and the imperial past that makes the visit even more intriguing.

One Thing Nobody Tells You About Fara in Sabina (RI)

The surprise comes from the population registry. Fara in Sabina, as a municipality, has more than 13,000 inhabitants, a number that would suggest a lively, populous center. Yet if you climb to the historic village at the top of the hill, the one with the Renaissance palaces and Piazza del Duomo, you notice that the permanent residents are only a few hundred: the vast majority of the population lives on the plain, in the hamlets, and above all in Passo Corese, where the station and the services are. This explains why the upper village keeps its medieval and Renaissance look intact, without the modern superstructures that have altered so many historic centers: simply, the growth of the municipality happened elsewhere, down on the flat, leaving the hill to its silence. Anyone who arrives in the evening off-season often finds the alleys deserted and the windows dark, and this quiet, which to some may look like depopulation, is in fact the reason Fara has stayed authentic. Another thing few people know: the railway stop that bears the name Fara Sabina, Montelibretti is not at all at the top of the hill, but down in the valley, at Passo Corese, several kilometers from the village. Anyone who counts on arriving by train and finding themselves already in the historic center would do well to allow for the last stretch by bus or taxi.

The Advice I Give You for Visiting Fara in Sabina (RI)

The advice is simple: don't make the mistake of coming only for the abbey and then leaving. Farfa deserves the guided visit, with its precise schedules in the morning and in the afternoon, but if you stop only there you miss half of the territory. Build the day around three stops. In the morning, the basilica and the abbey museum, when the light comes in well into the nave and the market, if it's the first Sunday of the month, fills the churchyard. At midday, the climb to the upper village, from Porta Romana up to Piazza del Duomo, with a stop at the Museo Civico Archeologico to see the Chariot of the Prince of Eretum, the find that came back from Denmark. In the afternoon, if you have time and legs, the detour to the ruins of San Martino or a walk in the Tiber reserve. Bring comfortable shoes: the alleys of the village are uphill and the paving is ancient. Always check the hours and closing days of the civic museum on the municipality's website, because they follow the calendar of the municipal openings and not that of the abbey. And if you can choose the season, aim for autumn, when the oil harvest is at its best and the olive mills work at full pace.

Another Well-Known Fact, Yet Rarely Mentioned

Historians know it, visitors forget it: the territory of Fara in Sabina holds one of the very roots of Rome. A few kilometers from the village, in the locality of Santa Maria in Arci, stood Cures, the Sabine city that tradition names as the homeland of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, the ruler to whom the ancients attributed the religious order and the calendar of the city. Titus Tatius also came from Cures, the Sabine king who, according to the account of the fusion between Romans and Sabines that followed the famous abduction of the Sabine women, reigned for a time together with Romulus. Even the name by which Roman citizens called themselves, Quirites, was traced back by the ancients precisely to Cures. Put another way, before Rome was Rome, in this part of Sabina lived a people who would help found Roman identity. The fact is documented by the classical authors and remembered by archaeologists, but it rarely appears in guidebooks, which stop at the abbey. Anyone who visits Fara knowing this looks at the surrounding countryside with different eyes: it is not the outskirts of Rome, it is one of the lands from which Rome was born.

The Right Photo to Take in Fara in Sabina (RI)

The postcard everyone looks for is the abbey with its medieval bell tower standing out against the green of the countryside, taken from the square at the foot of the abbey village in the light of early afternoon, when the sun lights up the Renaissance facade. But the photo that brings Fara home, the less obvious one, is another. Climb into the upper village up to Piazza del Duomo and look for the glimpse between two palaces that opens onto the Tiber valley: the bell tower and the Farnese cistern in the foreground, and below, far away, the plain with the olive trees. Another shot worth the trip is the one from the ruins of the Abbey of San Martino, on the mountain opposite, from where you take in the village of Fara on its ridge, with the ivy-covered ruins in the foreground as a natural frame. For the interior, the photo not to miss is the great Last Judgment of 1561 on the inner facade of the Farfa basilica, if the light conditions and the rules of the moment allow it. And those who love details should aim at the Roman sarcophagus in the crypt, with its carved battle scenes: a piece from the second century AD that few expect to find under a medieval church.

Some Important Events That Happened Here in History

The territory of Fara in Sabina has seen great history pass through on more than one occasion. At the end of the ninth century Farfa Abbey resisted the Saracen siege for seven years before being abandoned, and its monks scattered among Rome, Rieti and the Fermano, carrying the treasures to safety: one of the most dramatic chapters of the monastic history of central Italy. Shortly before, at the close of the eighth century, Charlemagne himself had stopped at the monastery on his journey to Rome, where he would be crowned emperor on Christmas Day of the year 800.

Modern history knocked again in 1867, with the Agro Romano Campaign for the liberation of Rome. After the defeat at Mentana, Giuseppe Garibaldi reached with his volunteers the railway station of Passo Corese, in the territory of Fara, and from there set off again toward the north. Also from Fara, on the bank of the Tiber, the ill-fated expedition of the Cairoli brothers had set out with a few boats, ending tragically at Villa Glori, at the gates of Rome.

Then a grim chapter: on December 10, 1920 the hamlet of Canneto Sabino was the scene of one of the bloodiest massacres of the so-called Biennio Rosso. During a demonstration organized by farm laborers to obtain better working conditions, a group of carabinieri opened fire, killing 11 people at Colle San Lorenzo. And in 2016, in times close to us, another event marked local history: the return to Italy of the Chariot of the Prince of Eretum, looted decades earlier and returned by the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek of Copenhagen, now displayed in the village museum.

Who Has Passed Through Fara in Sabina (RI)

For such a small village, the list of figures tied to this land is surprising. In ancient history, nearby Cures gave Rome two founding figures: Titus Tatius, the Sabine king of the fusion with the Romans, and above all Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, the organizer of Roman religion. In the early Middle Ages Faroald II, duke of Spoleto, passed through here, protector of the revival of the monastery, and Charlemagne stopped here, who left signs of his munificence at Farfa before taking the imperial crown in Rome. At the abbey lived and worked Gregorio da Catino, the learned monk who between the 11th and 12th centuries wrote the Regesto and the Chronicon farfense, saving for us the memory of those centuries.

In the modern age the lordship of the village passed from the Orsini to the Barberini, and it was Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, who founded the monastery of the Poor Clares Hermits. In the Risorgimento Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Cairoli brothers crossed the territory in the events of 1867. In the 20th century one should remember the Benedictine abbot Ildefonso Schuster, later cardinal and archbishop of Milan, who in 1920 sent to Farfa the monks of San Paolo fuori le Mura to revive monastic life. A weave of Sabine kings, Frankish emperors, learned monks, Roman cardinals and patriots that says how much this corner of Sabina has counted, well beyond its size.

How to Really Visit Fara in Sabina (RI): Duration, Route and Accessibility

The ideal visit is on foot, but with a few precautions. The historic village of Fara is entirely uphill, with paved alleys and flights of steps. Those with mobility difficulties or who move in a wheelchair will find the upper town not very convenient, while the abbey village of Farfa, on the flat, is more accessible and suitable even for those who walk slowly. The interior of the Farfa basilica is visited with the guide, who accompanies groups along a route of about an hour through naves, chapels, crypt and cloisters. The abbey museum and the Museo Civico Archeologico in the village are added to this time. Anyone who wants to see everything without rushing should allow, as said, the whole day. Anyone who has only half a day should choose between the abbey and the upper village, because doing both in a hurry means enjoying neither.

How Much You Save and How to Plan Your Spending in Fara in Sabina (RI)

Visiting the territory is not expensive. The ticket for the guided visit of the abbey, 6.50 euros full price, is the main expense, with reductions for children, schools, groups and parishes. The walk in the upper village, among gates, palaces and Piazza del Duomo, is open and free. Entry to the Museo Civico Archeologico follows municipal rates. The nature reserves and trails have no entrance fee. The real spending, if anything, is done gladly in the olive mills and farms, where Sabina DOP oil and local products are bought at honest prices directly from the producers. A lunch in a trattoria in the village or in the hamlets completes the day without weighing too much on your wallet.

The Abbey Village of Farfa, a Town Inside the Abbey

It is worth spending a couple of words on the small village that surrounds the abbey, because it is unique. The medieval houses leaning against the monastery, with their artisan workshops, ateliers and laboratories, form a compact settlement that over the centuries grew in the shadow of Benedictine power. Strolling among these alleys, going into the workshops, is an integral part of the visit and not a side dish. In the Christmas season the village comes alive in a special way, and in general the Sunday of the market brings a steady flow of visitors here. It is the kind of place where it's best to arrive without hurry and let your pace set the rhythm, not the clock.

Fara in Sabina (RI) with Children

The territory lends itself well to a family outing, as long as you pace the stops. The abbey village of Farfa, flat and compact, with the artisan workshops in the alleys, is perfect for a quiet walk even with a stroller. The Museo Civico Archeologico, with the adventurous story of the looted Chariot of the Prince that came back from Denmark, can be told to kids as a real archaeological mystery and holds their attention. To burn off energy there are the Cianfronara arboretum in Borgo Quinzio and the trails of the Tiber and Farfa reserve, with the lake and the birdwatching. The climb to the upper village, steep and on paving stones, is less suited to the youngest in strollers, but older children take it on without problems. A gelato in Piazza del Duomo, at the end, closes the day well.

When to Go to Fara in Sabina (RI)

The best season is autumn, between October and November, when the oil campaign is in full harvest and the olive mills are working: it is the time to taste freshly pressed Sabina DOP. Spring is ideal for walks in the reserves and for the green of the valley. Summer brings the Fara Music Festival and the evenings in the village, but the middle hours of the day can be hot and sunny on the ridge. Winter gives the atmosphere of Christmas in the abbey village. Whatever the season, my advice is to aim for the first Sunday of the month if you want to combine the visit with the Farfa antiques market, and to avoid Monday for the abbey, the day the guided visits are closed.

What's Around Fara in Sabina (RI)

Fara in Sabina is an excellent base camp for exploring the Sabina of Rieti, a land of perched villages and olive groves that few people know. A short distance away you meet Toffia, the ancient Suna mentioned by the classical sources, and Castelnuovo di Farfa, with its oil museum. Toward the west open Poggio Mirteto and Montebuono, while the villages of Casperia and Bocchignano are among the most characteristic of the area. Heading back up toward the provincial capital you find Poggio Catino, Torri in Sabina and, farther on, Rieti, the geographic center of Italy. All reachable by car in a short time, to build an itinerary of two or three days among abbeys, oil and Sabina landscapes.

Quick Questions About Fara in Sabina (RI)

Where Is Fara in Sabina (RI)?

Fara in Sabina is in the province of Rieti, in Lazio, at 482 meters above sea level on a ridge that looks over the Tiber valley. It is a little under an hour by car from Rome.

How Do You Get to Fara in Sabina (RI) from Rome?

By car you take the A1 to the Fiano Romano exit, then Via Salaria toward Passo Corese and the climb to the village. By train you get off at Passo Corese, on the regional line FL1 Roma, Orte, and continue by bus or taxi to the historic center and Farfa.

How Much Does It Cost to Visit Farfa Abbey?

The guided visit of the abbey has a full ticket of 6.50 euros. It is free for children up to six years old and reduced to 5 euros for those aged 7 to 12. For groups, schools and parishes there are dedicated rates and booking is mandatory.

What Are the Opening Hours of Farfa Abbey?

Guided visits are held at 10, 11 and 12 in the morning and at 15 and 16 in the afternoon, shifted to 15:30 and 16:30 during daylight saving time. On Mondays the abbey is closed to visits. It is still best to check the updated calendar before leaving.

Do You Need to Book to Visit Farfa Abbey?

Booking is mandatory for organized groups, associations, tour operators, parishes and schools. Individual visitors and groups of under 10 people can show up without booking.

What Is the Chariot of the Prince of Eretum?

It is a ceremonial chariot from the sixth century BC, part of the grave goods of Tomb XI in the Colle del Forno necropolis. Looted decades ago and illegally exported, it had ended up at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. It was returned to Italy in 2016 and has been on display since 2024 in the Museo Civico Archeologico of Fara in Sabina.

Where Is the Museo Civico Archeologico of Fara in Sabina (RI)?

The museum is housed in Palazzo Brancaleoni, on Piazza del Duomo of the historic village. Hours and admission follow the calendar of municipal openings: it is best to check them on the municipality's website before the visit.

How Much Time Do You Need to Visit Fara in Sabina (RI)?

To do the three main stops properly, Farfa Abbey, the historic village and the Museo Civico Archeologico, it is best to allow a whole day. Those who want to add the ruins of San Martino or the nature reserves will do well to plan for two days.

Is Fara in Sabina (RI) Suitable for Children?

Yes. The abbey village of Farfa is flat and also suitable for strollers, the museum with the story of the Chariot captivates kids, and around there are the Cianfronara arboretum and the trails of the Tiber reserve. The climb to the upper village is more demanding for the youngest.

What Is the Difference Between Fara in Sabina and Farfa?

Fara in Sabina is the municipality and includes the historic village at the top of the hill and many hamlets. Farfa is one of these hamlets, at the foot of the mountain, and it is the small village that surrounds the famous abbey. Many visitors confuse the two names: the abbey is in Farfa, not in the upper village of Fara.

Why Is Fara in Sabina Called That?

The name derives from the Lombard term fara, which indicated the family clan, the kinship group that settled on a territory. An alternative tradition links the place name to the Lombard devotion to Santa Fara. The settlement in fact dates back to the Lombard era, to the end of the sixth century.

What is Sabina DOP oil?

It is the extra virgin olive oil of the Sabina, the first oil in Italy to obtain the protected designation of origin, recognized at the European level in 1996. The production area includes the province of Rieti and the Metropolitan City of Rome.

When is the antiques market held at Farfa?

Every first Sunday of the month, from dawn to dusk, in the setting of the Abbey of Farfa, with stalls of antiques, crafts, modern collectibles and vintage collecting.

Can you take photos inside the Abbey of Farfa?

In general photos without flash are tolerated in the visitable spaces, but during services and in some areas limitations may apply. It is best to ask the guide at the time of the visit and respect the instructions, since it is an active place of worship.

Is the Abbey of Farfa still an active monastery?

Yes. It is inhabited by a Benedictine community, heir to the monks who returned in 1920 from San Paolo fuori le Mura. The Monastery of the Clarisse Eremite, at the top of the village of Fara, is also a cloistered convent that is still active.

What do you eat in Fara in Sabina (RI)?

The cuisine is that of the Sabina, centered on Sabina DOP extra virgin oil. Cured meats, pecorino cheeses, homemade pasta and dishes of the farming tradition are not lacking. At the olive mills and farms of the area you can buy oil and typical products directly from the producers.

How do you reach the upper village of Fara in Sabina (RI) from the station?

The station, called Fara Sabina, Montelibretti, is located at Passo Corese, on the plain, several kilometers from the historic village. From the station the center and Farfa can be reached by Cotral buses or by taxi, because both are on the hill.

What is the best time to visit Fara in Sabina (RI)?

Autumn, between October and November, is the season of the olive harvest and of freshly pressed Sabina DOP oil. Spring is ideal for the nature reserves, summer brings the Fara Music Festival, winter the Christmas atmosphere in the abbey village. Avoid Monday, the closing day of the abbey's guided visits.

What is the connection between Fara in Sabina (RI) and ancient Rome?

A very close one. A few kilometers away stood Cures, the Sabine city that tradition indicates as the homeland of Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, and of Titus Tatius, the Sabine king of the merger with the Romans. The territory of Fara thus holds one of the historical roots of Roman identity, well before the Middle Ages of the abbey.

How powerful was the Abbey of Farfa?

At its peak, between the ninth and 11th centuries, it was one of the richest abbeys in Europe: according to the documents compiled by Gregory of Catino it controlled about 600 churches and monasteries, 132 castles and strongholds and six fortified cities, besides properties scattered across half of central Italy and even in the area of today's Palazzo Madama in Rome.

Is it worth visiting the ruins of the Abbey of San Martino?

For those who love abandoned places and walks, yes. The ruins are on Monte San Martino, opposite the village, and are reached by a short walk. They give you silence, vegetation and a nice view of Fara on its ridge.

To sum up

If I had to say in one sentence why to come back to Fara in Sabina, I would say that here history has a density that the quiet landscape doesn't let you suspect: an abbey that commanded half of Italy, a Sabine city that gave kings to Rome, a princely chariot that came home after half a century abroad. Take the whole day, climb slowly, bring good shoes and an empty bottle to fill with oil before going back down to the valley. This is the Sabina worth the trip.

Article written by the editorial team of TourLeaderPro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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