Rocca d’Arce, whose origins date back to the Iron Age, is a balcony overlooking the Liri Valley, perched on a rocky spur five hundred metres above sea level.
The Polygonal Walls of Rocca d’Arce – comune.roccadarce.fr.it
In pre-Roman times, a fortress with polygonal cyclopean walls, still visible today, was built on the mountainside. In the Middle Ages, under the rule of the Della Rovere and Boncompagni Families, it was the centre of the road system in the Middle Liri Valley, which controlled the border between the Papal States and the southern regions.
The Church of Santa Maria Assunta and San Bernardo – comune.roccadarce.fr.it
The Church of Santa Maria Assunta and San Bernardo, located in the highest part of Rocca d’Arce, dates back to the fourteenth century, but was rebuilt in the mid-1500s. The bell tower, known as “Cappellone”, was erected at the end of the eighteenth century. After centuries of abandonment, it was restored in the 1920s. The church houses the bones of San Bernardo Confessore, the patron saint of Rocca d’Arce, who died in Arpino.
The Church of San Rocco – comune.roccadarce.fr.it
At the end of August, the Madonna del Riparo, or Paris, is carried on procession from the Chiesa del Riparo to the medieval Church of San Rocco, featuring a three-Romanesque-arches beautiful portico, and then, with a torchlight parade, the statue is brought back, accompanied by the Banda Musicale Città di Arce.
During the same period, the event “Rocca d’Arce, Antiche Tradizioni” is celebrated, with food and wine tastings, cellar openings, and an exhibition displaying rural tools, period photographs and costumes, and folk music.
The Church of San Agostino, probably dating back to the eleventh century, is a rare example of pre-Romanesque style, with a rose window at the centre of the façade. Adjacent to a Benedictine monastery, it was originally dedicated to Santa Maria dello Stincone and Sant’Antonio Abate. In 1343, Queen Giovanna I granted it to Riccardo Bartolomei. In the central chapel, an ancient fresco depicting the Crucifix with the Madonna and Sant’Antonio Abate stands out. On August 28, Sant’Agostino is celebrated with a fair of goods and livestock in the surrounding districts.
Museo dei Fossili del Pensiero dell’Arte – comune.roccadarce.fr.it
The Museo dei Fossili del Pensiero dell’Arte , established by Vincenzo Bianchi, is dedicated to the figure of Charles Darwin. The exhibition, located inside the Palazzo ex Raimondi, displays three-hundred works of art and spaces created by the artist, along with plenty of fetishist and sacred subjects, materials, and techniques.
The Museum, that hosts conferences, exhibitions, and concerts, is a reference point for the students of the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze, who decorated the streets of Rocca d’Arce with faces sculpted in the rock. The structure has recently been expanded with a new section, the LABRIS, dedicated to the research of the village’s origins and to international conferences. The museum is accessible to the disabled.