Rieti Valley

For this reason, in 271 BC (after Rome had defeated the Sabines and acquired control of the area), consul Manius Curius Dentatus decided to drain the lake by digging an artificial canal in the limestone rock at Marmore.

New draining interventions were ordered in 1545 by Pope Paul III; Antonio da Sangallo the Younger was charged to dig a new canal, but died of malaria in 1546 before the works were completed.

This problem was solved in the Fascist era, when two large dams were built along the course of the two main tributaries of Velino (rivers Salto and Turano) to control their flow.

[4] While in the valley Francis presented the first living nativity scene, wrote the final version of the Franciscan Rule, probably also the Canticle of the Sun, and founded four shrines that are located at the four borders of the plain: Sanctuary of Greccio, La Foresta, Poggio Bustone and Fonte Colombo.

The stay of Saint Francis coincided with a period in which Rieti enjoyed economic prosperity and became often a papal seat, from Innocent III in 1198 to Boniface VIII in 1298.

[5] Today, the Franciscan sanctuaries have become objects of pilgrimage; tourists and pilgrims walk a path known as the Cammino di Francesco, which links the shrines and other landmarks such as Rieti's mediaeval city centre, the Abbey of Saint Pastor and the Lungo and Ripasottile Lakes natural reserve.