Italy Travelguide
Italy Travelguide Lazio Ruins of San Martino
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Ruins of San Martino

Not much is known about the ruins of this enormous building: the architectural forms make you think of a Romanesque abbey, but as for who decided to construct a church this big (quite a bit larger than Farfa Abbey) in such an isolated location, at the summit of a barren hill and without any other building is unknown. Construction began at the beginning of the 11th century and was never completed.
But Mount San Martino has another peculiarity: a view that extends of half of Sabina and over all of the marvelous Farfa Valley to the Tiber.
The walk that we recommend here is very short in terms of distance, but the route is a bit rough (there is practically no path); the climb is notable: to do it you need around 20 to 40 minutes to go up and another 20 to 40 minutes to go down. Also, because the route is completely in the sun, it is a nice walk in the cooler months, but in summer it is nice to go at dusk to see the sunset.
You park the car in Quattro Venti, which is the intersection in which, on the street between Coltodino and Farfa-Toffia, breaks off the deviation for Fara Sabina.
As was previously mentioned, a true path does not exist: having passed a small olive grove you'll find an enclosure with deer, which wander about right and left, and continues with a view towards the large ruins. The progression among the gigantic bunches of grass is a little easier than it seems from afar; however, you'll need to wear long pants and a good pair of shoes (I went up wearing a pair of sandals, and although it can be done, it's not a great idea to do so). If you wish you can depart a little further ahead, where the street passes under San Martino; it is a little bit steeper but shorter: in this case, you park your car in correspondence of the third sharp turn; you then turn around towards the second turn, and you can begin to go up where you want.
Having arrived up top, take the time to enjoy the view and wander among the ancient wall.


  GPS Coordinates: 42.213962°, 12.719336° - View in Google Maps


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Ruins of the Abbey of San Martino from the town of Farfa

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Sunset

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Goats along the path

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Abbey of San Martino

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Abbey of San Martino

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Abbey of San Martino

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The town of Farfa from San Martino

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Sunset towards the Tiber Valley and Mount Soratte

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Sponsored by:
APT di Rieti

Photographer:
Matteo Bordini

Written by:
Matteo Bordini

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