From Poli you can admire Monte Guadagnolo and the Prenestini Mountains. It is the village where, already in 1300, the Fraticelli della Vita Povera or Fraticelli della Opinione had spread, a group condemned as heretical by the popes.
Continuing to Villa Luana, you will recognize the set where some scenes of “Paparazzi” were filmed, the movie starring Christian De Sica, Massimo Boldi and Diego Abatantuono.
40 km from Rome, this “acropolis spindle” village has its residential nucleus on the highest and widest floor of a tuff ridge. The historic centre extends over more than thirty narrow alleys in a herringbone structure, with a long road crossing the town longitudinally.
The name of Poli derives from Castrum Poli or Castrum Pauli and its origins date back to 992. For a long time, it was a possession of the Benedictine monastery of Clivo di Scauro in Rome.
Among the main artistic works: the Church of Santo Stefano, built before the year 1000 and decorated with frescoes by Taddeo Zuccari and Antonio Rosati, and the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate from 1400 with seventeenth-century frescoes. And don’t miss the beautiful Baronial Palace, made up of two parts, one dating back to the Oddoni era (last year of the 1000s) and the other from the sixteenth century, when it was transformed into the palace where the Baron resided. The Cappella della Pietà, in the direction of the village of Casape and embellished with splendid marble, is very interesting.
Among the typical dishes: sagne with sauce, polenta called “ponente”, the famous pizza azima, cucchi co li phasori, panzanella and long gnocchi with tomato. Among the desserts, pangiallo and stuzzicotti.
The patron saint is Sant’Eustachio, celebrated on September 20th. The Infiorata in June and the Feast of Sant’Antonio in August are very folkloristic.