At 60 kilometres from Rome, with origins dating back to the end of the 10th century and beginning of the 11th: after being given to Farfa Abbey, the village of Frasso Sabino became the property of the Brancaleoni and later the Sforza Cesarini, which led to the construction of the Castle that dominates the town.
The historic village has a main street lined with numerous buildings up to the fortress or Rocca and on the opposite side, the Piazza del Belvedere, overlooking the valley, Valle del Farfa.
Of notable interest is the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli built in the early 13th century with frescoes dating from the 15th century depicting “The Annunciation”, the “Flight into Egypt” and “Christ among the Doctors”.
In 1916, the beautiful Roman tomb called “Grotta dei Massacci” was declared a monument of national interest.
Worth visiting are the Romanesque Church of San Pietro in Vincoli and a few steps away an old 18th-century mill restored and used as an Astronomical Observatory with an astronomy museum called “La Città delle Stelle (The City of Stars)” and an interesting planetarium.
The cave, Grotta dei Massacci, located in an 18th century farmhouse in the territory of Osteria Nuova, is a large funerary monument built by overlapping huge blocks of limestone without the use of mortar or other binding elements, attributed to the ancient family of Bruttii Praesentes.
Sabina DOP extra virgin olive oil is one of the typical products in the area as well as the cheese and pork cheek; some of the most common dishes are fregnacce alla sabinese pasta, grain soups, chicken “alla diavola”, and lamb stew.
The spelt with truffle, the strengozzi pasta “alla reatina” and sour cherry tart are all excellent.