Rocca Canterano
Rocca Canterano: a village in the Roman mountains
Hello everyone! Today I want to talk about Rocca Canterano, a small municipality of 174 inhabitants located in the Roman mountains, in the metropolitan city of Rome Capital, in Lazio. The particularity of this village is its location: it is located at 750 meters above sea level, on the slopes of the Ruffi mountains. The highest peak is Costasole, which reaches 1253 meters and represents the extreme border of the village's territory. The climatic classification is zone E, with 2640 GR/G.
The history of the village
Rocca Canterano has a very interesting history. After the conquest of these territories belonging to the Equi, the Roman Senate favored the settlement of its own colonists to maintain order and build forts to protect the area, of which there is still evidence under San Michele, the little church that stands on the Costasole mountain. In the 2nd century AD, the area became a holiday destination for Roman noble families who built villas there, and the remains of which are now embedded in the external walls of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta or piled up at the entrance of the road leading to the village cemetery.
The history of the village as a real "borgo" (medieval village) began in 1084, when the abbot of Subiaco ordered the construction of a fortified enclosure to protect the village that had arisen there and to oppose resistance to Landone, tyrant of Bellegra and Cerreto. Five hundred years after its construction, the fortress became unusable and from its ruins the current Moretti Palace was built. As the population grew, houses began to be built outside the walls, and since the times continued to be dangerous due to the groups that still infested the area, the internal streets of the village were built zigzag and only in the form of steps to make any attacks difficult, a conformation that still fully characterizes the entire urban fabric of the village.
The Abduction of Women
One of the legends surrounding Rocca Canterano concerns the so-called "Abduction of Women". When the fortress was completed, there was a shortage of women; the soldiers, farmers, and shepherds descended to Canterano and Cerreto Laziale and kidnapped and brought with them the women of the two villages. Later, to calm the resentment left by the kidnapping, a reconciliation festival was established. Since then, every year a public lunch was organized to which the families of the abducted women were also invited to participate. The festival, directed by a Camerlengo, was based on tasty tagliolini (today's cecamariti). For about a hundred years now, instead of lunch, a refreshment is organized offered by private citizens and the municipality that offers all guests cakes, pastries, and plenty of wine.
La Rocca di Mezzo
The only hamlet of Rocca di Mezzo (Rocca Canterano) owes its name because it is placed in the middle of Rocca Canterano and Rocca Martino, a castle that was a refuge for brigands led by Marco Sciarra, destroyed by Pope Sixtus V. As was customary in these places, each village had a bandit who tyrannized its territory and in Rocca Canterano lived a certain Santi, later hanged at Ponte S.
In conclusion, Rocca Canterano is a village with a very rich and interesting history that develops on the mountains of Lazio. Its fortresses, zigzag streets, and legends of the past make Rocca Canterano a unique place, where you can still breathe the atmosphere of the past. If you have the opportunity, go visit it!
