Brochure on Cervara di Roma (EN)

CERVARA di roma History, Nature, Art, Sport and the Stars in the Park

AGENZIA REGIONALE DEL TURISMO

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The project has been financed with the contribution of the Lazio Region, the Municipality and local associations Info Point “The deer” Youth Community Centre for senior citizens “Tullio Carnicchia” “La Diana Alfredo Cecinelli” Marching Band Cultural Association “Le Selve”

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THE TOWN If you visit Cervara di Roma you will certainly appreciate the beauty of the landscape, the alleys and squares, the sculptures carved in the rock. The stars from Astronomical Observatory will also enchant you, and last but not least the local cuisine is just amazing!

The town takes its name from the many deers that populated this rocky outcrop. It gradually evolved itself with the construction of many nice simple houses that stand out in a unique natural landscape. Cervara is well-known as the “gateway” to the

Regional Natural Park of Monti Simbruini, an attractive green spot characterized by a rich variety of plants such as beech trees, pine and juniper trees, and many others.

In addition to all this beautiful greenery in the area there are about 2,000 species of animals, including the biggest Italian deer, located in Area of the Deer, in Prataglia. Of great interest is also Campaegli, just above Cervara di Roma. It’s a wild landscape where to practice one of most popular winter sports, the cross-country skiing. Here you

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will find very long sky slopes and numerous trails for snowshoeing. The scenic beauty of the nature of Cervara blends perfectly with its rich artistic heritage. There are so many international artists who chose this land in the nineteenth century as a source of inspiration. One of them Samuel FB Morse, inventor of the famous “Morse code”. Cervara in the eighties became the so-called “village carved out of the rock”.

ace, the Museum of the Mountain, the fountain and wash-house of Munistrigliu (an old wash used in the past by the women of the village), the remains of the medieval fortress (a real natural terrace from which you can admire the beautiful view over the Aniene Valley). Are also wonderful the churches, such as the Church of St. Mary of the Visitation and the Church of Santa Maria della Portella.

The students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, together with the residents, created here a real open-air museum with figures, shapes and portraits carved on limestone. A splendid example is the Staircase of the Artists: a romantic tribute to the city that connects the main entry point to the elegant Piazza Umberto I. In such an area cannot but be a rich historical and cultural heritage: the Staircase of Artists, the Staircase of Pe-

Cervara has also a remarkable culinary tradition, based on local products, genuine and obviously 0-km, such as fettuccine with truffles, gnocchi with mutton, special beef used for the preparation of dishes and recipes that still respect the ancient folk tradition. The best way to visit the natural and artistic heritage of the country is going up on trekking, hiking or just walking along the lanes and trails full of charm, to discover

Faunistic area of the Deer- Prataglia

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the beauty of a unique and uncontaminated area. Cervara di Roma is all this and even more: a town extremely rooted in its ancient traditions and rich in art, which led itself more and more day by day to be an important destination for tourism. One of the great expectations of the future is in fact re-creating that daily tourist flow already undertaken in the nineteenth century by many world famous artists.

Staircase of the artists

Astronomical observatory “Claudio del Sole� - Prataglia

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Regional Park of Simbruini Mountains - Campaegli

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Historical and cultural attractions Staircase of Peace Staircase of the Artists The Museum of the Mountain Church of St. Mary of the Visitation Church of Santa Maria della Portella The medieval fortress

Natural and environmental attractions Regional Park of Simbruini Mountains - Campaegli Faunistic area of the Deer- Prataglia Munistrigliu old fountain and wash - house Pine forest path (Il Palio) Cross country ski trails - Campaegli

Scientific attractions Astronomical observatory “Claudio del Sole�

- Prataglia

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Historical and cultural attractions Staircase of Peace The Staircase of Peace is a triumph of artistic figures representing animals, female images, and pages of books, totems and gnomes. The staircase is a connection point that from the town goes up to the ruins of the medieval fortress, and is a clear reference to the widespread thought that Art should work for peace, promoting solidarity and brotherhood among peoples.

Staircase of the artists The beautiful Staircase of the artists is one of the symbols of Cervara di Roma, pure testimony of how art is perfectly inserted in the urban and surrounding landscape.

The Staircase is today one of the entrances to the old town, from Piazza Giovanni XXIII

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goes up to Piazza Umberto I. It’s considered a tribute to the many artists who have chosen Cervara in the nineteenth century as a place and source of inspiration, including, Adrian Ludwig Richter, Samuel FB Morse and Ernest Antoine Hebert.

The staircase is the result of the inspiration of young people arrived in Cervara from all over the world, as well as the students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. It’s a sort of “rosary beads” of sculptures, paintings, murals and poems carved on limestone, alternating between the charming stone houses and the beautiful natural landscape.

Among the artistic works are also the notes engraved on the wall, taken from the score of “Passacaglia for Cervara”, the composition of the maestro Ennio Morricone, an honorary citizen of Cervara di Roma.

The Museum of the Mountain The Museum of the Mountain of Cervara di Roma encloses on the one hand the rural culture of the shepherds getting ready to face the transhumance, and on the other the creativity of the artists who came to the village. The museum, located near the Church of St. Mary of the Visitation, sprads over two floors and is divided into two main sections: one relating to agriculture and daily life of the shepherds, and one dedicated to modern and contemporary works relating to the pictorial and artistic.

Exhibited in the museum are the tools used by shepherds during transhumance, relics, vestments and ritual objects of local fraternities.

The Museum of the Mountain

The medieval fortress

The medieval fortress The medieval Fortress of Cervara di Roma is perched on the highest rocky outcrop of Simbruini Mountains and dominates the enchanting landscape of the Aniene Valley made of pure nature and characteristics stone houses.

The fortress was erected towards the middle of the eleventh century as a military fort to defend the surrounding territory. Around 1200 became the fulcrum of the power of the schismatic monk Pelagius. In later centuries, apart from a period of maximum splendour in the early 1500s under the Colonna family, the fortress suffered a slow structural deterioration.

Today this ancient fortress looks like an impressive heap of ruins, protected by the statue of Our Lady Immaculate, built on it in 1954.

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Church of St. Mary of the Visitation

Church of Santa Maria della Portella

Church of St. Mary of the Visitation

Church of Santa Maria della Portella

The Church of St. Mary of the Visitation is the Collegiate of Cervara di Roma, the most important place of worship of the town.

Located at the foot of the medieval fortress has a simple façade of local stone, featuring a Renaissance central portal and two smaller side doors, accessible by a suggestive staircase placed on the left side of the structure.

The small Church of Santa Maria della Portella stands near Cervara di Roma, along an ancient sheep track of transhumance that connects the village to Subiaco.

This rural church dominates the charming Aniene Valley. It’s placed near a beautiful forest characterized by oaks at the gates of the town, hence the name (tn Portella is a small door).

Of great importance also the old bell tower that stands on the austere landscape.

Within this place of worship are kept real artistic treasures, like the oil on canvas painting depicting “The Visitation” from the first half of the seventeenth century. Of particular interest are the apse frescoes and the high altar; under it is kept the body of a martyr of the church.

The church got established by the Jesuits way back in 1702. In this place of worship is venerated a valuable terracotta statue depicting the “Madonna and Child”, placed over the elegant altar decorated with rare marbles. Memorial stones characterize the interior, simple and essential, in correspondence of the sidewalls.

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Natural and environmental attractions Regional Park of Simbruini Mountains The Regional Natural Park of Simbruini Mountains is the border between Lazio and Abruzzo. An impressive landscape formed by a series of valleys, plains and rivers, such as the Aniene Valley, the Liri Valley and the Aniene river. The area includes several municipalities, each of which still preserves historical, artistic and religious raditions, as the Sacro Speco at Subiaco and the Staircase of Artists in Cervara di Roma.

The park is characterized by a rich variety of plants: beech forests, junipers, oaks, red lilies and some spruce. Beautifully in green meadows can be found even porcini mushrooms. On the top of the beautiful greenery there is a great variety of animals such as deer, wild boars, wolves, porcupines and griffins.The best way to discover the whole

area of the Park of Monti Simbruini, is through the bucolic walks on foot, horseback or biking along the many paths marked by the CAI (Italian Alpine Club).

Pine Forest path “Il Palio” The best way to discover Cervara di Roma is step by step: it’s an area rich in art and culture; there are so many trails and amazing woods immersed in the green.

Among the various paths to walk, don’t miss the Pine Forest path, better known as “The Palio”: a lovely trail through pine, beech forests and luxuriant vegetation

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Faunistic Area of the Deer The Faunistic Area of the Deer was created specifically to bring back the deer in the Regional Natural Park of Simbruini Mountains. The park is located in the City of Prataglia, hamlet of Cervara di Roma. Its ultimate aim is the reintroduction in the territory of this beautiful animal, spreading the biology of the species. Thanks to the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, today the area houses some wildlife deer living in a condition of semi-freedom.

Cross country ski trails

If you’re looking for cross country skiing, you have to come to Campaegli (one of the hamlets of Cervara di Roma). In the whole area you can hire all the equipment you need to take on the slopes. There are numerous hiking trails also suitable for snowshoeing and skijoring, the Nordic sport where the skier is pulled by one or more dogs. The ski area of Campaegli, as well as being the ideal destination for winter sports, is a fascinating experience in the wild and untouched nature of Regional Park of Simbruini Mountains.

Munistrigliu fountain and wash – house

Munistrigliu fountain and wash – house

Faunistic Area of the Deer - Loc. Prataglia

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Munistrigliu is the old wash-house of Cervara di Roma, a place for socialization and for the manual work. In the past the women of the village used to gathered here to wash up clothes by hand and, in the mean time buzz about things. Today this structure represents the historical memory of past generations, a fascinating testimony of a remote and rural social life. Just few steps from this charming structure there is Fonte Martino, another water source used by citizens to collect drinking water.

Scientific attractions Astronomical observatory “Claudio del Sole” Come to the Astronomical observatory “Claudio del Sole” in Cervara di Roma, the best spot to observe the universe, the rotation of the planets and the life of the stars. It was opened in 2008 in the area of Prataglia.

It’s a public structure dedicated to lovers of astronomy and astrophysics, a unique and suggestive place to better understand the

Detail of the Telescope

View of the Telescope

beauty of the universe.

Today the Astronomical Observatory of Cervara di Roma is open to amateurs, students and public in general, and offers the opportunity to observe the sun and galaxies through guided day and night tours.

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Discovering art and history in the alleys of Cervara The medieval fortress Rocca 5. Medievale

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Museum of 3. The the Mountain

Church of St. Mary of the Visitation Chiesa di S.Maria della Visitazione

Museo della Montagna

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Pine forest path “Il Palio” Sentiero della Pineta “Il Palio”

6. Staircase

of peace Scalinata della Pace

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Piazza Umberto I

1. Staircase of the artists Scalinata degli artisti

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Church of Santa Maria della Portella Chiesa di S.Maria della Portella

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Munistrigliu old fountain and wash - house Fonte Munistrigliu

We propose an itinerary to discover the historical, artistic and natural heritage of Cervara di Roma, a lovely and suggestive journey from the Staircase of the Artists up to Munistrigliu old fountain and wash – house, passing trough the Museum of the Mountain

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Informations Town of Cervara di Roma Via Giuseppe Verdi, 9 00020 - Cervara di Roma (Rm) Tel. 0039 - 0774 - 828715 Fax. 0039 - 0774 - 828762

Mayor: Giovanni Mitelli Town Council:

Lucia Arcangeli, Marco Cecili, Marcello Giubilei, Sergio Zerla, Claudio Nocente, Adriano Alivernini

Patron saints: San Felice and St. Elizabeth High day: 2 July Sister city: Struga (Macedonia)

Piazza Umberto I – The Town

Traditions 17 January “Feast of Sant’Antonio Abate” 1 - 2 - 3 July “Feast of the Patron Saints” 15 August “Procession dell’Inchinata” 16 August “Feast of St. Rocco”

16 August “Mammoccia dance” Last weekend of September “Feast of Artists” Last weekend of September “Truffle Festival”

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