Photo Alessandro Antonelli, CC BY 3.0
Rieti · Lazio
Things to see in Rieti
In Rieti the atlas lists 32 historic places: 12 historic villas and palaces, 7 abbeys and monasteries, 6 fortresses and towers, 3 museums, 2 archaeological sites, 1 castle and 1 historic theatre.
Of these, 2 list opening hours.
Don’t miss: Teatro Flavio Vespasiano (1883), theatre and opera house in Rieti, Italy.
- 32historic places
- 45,276inhabitants
- 405 maltitude
The town
Rieti is a small city in the region of Lazio in central Italy. It has a population of close to 50,000 and is the capital of the province of Rieti. The beauty of the landscape and the city's quietness, still uninvolved by mass tourism, make it a livable place and a favourite destination for many weekend tourists, coming mainly from Rome.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
32 places
Villas and palaces 12
Abbeys and monasteries 7
Fortresses and towers 6
Museums 3
Castles 1
Historic theatres 1
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Getting there
Rieti is a bit away from Italy's main traffic routes: it is not crossed by any toll motorway (autostrada, green on the map), state roads (blue on the map) are far to be uprated to a double carriageway standard, and the only train link is a lesser, almost forgotten railway.
However, despite the lacking infrastructures, Rieti is still fairly easy to access, since it is only 75 km (47 mi) away from Rome.
By train: A bit complicated. Surprising as it may be, there is no railway to Rome: politicians have been promising such railway to the local population for over a century, but its funding is not foreseen anytime soon. Instead, Rieti has a less useful and important line, the outdated and underused railway which leads to Terni (Umbria) or L'Aquila (Abruzzo), which is operated with old and rather dirty diesel railcars, although it has a scenic and daring route through the Apennines. Rieti's 1 Train station. is north of the mediaeval city centre, just outside the city walls, 500 m (1,600 ft) from the main Vittorio Emanuele square.
Going from Rome to Rieti by train usually requires to take a train to Terni: they start from Rome’s Tiburtina or Termini station, and destination may appear on timetable as "Perugia" or "Ancona" (all of them stop in Terni). Then you have to get off in Terni and wait for the next diesel railcar to Rieti; destination may appear on timetable also as "L'Aquila" or "Antrodoco Centro" (all of them are ok, since all stop in Rieti).
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
What to see, according to Wikivoyage
Main square: Immediately out of the train and COTRAL bus station, before crossing the street on the crosswalks, you will see the Mediaeval city walls. Many Italian cities had defensive walls in the Middle Ages, but few in Lazio still have such an imposing and well preserved one. Rieti's walls were built in the 13th century and enclose the northern side of the city centre; they were not needed at the southern side, enclosed by the Velino river, a natural defence. Unfortunately, you can't get on top of the walls, so the only way to visit them is to take a walk along viale Canali and viale Morroni, which border them. Nearest city gate is 1 Porta Conca, Via Nuova, 126. It maintains the original 16th-century wooden doors.
After crossing the street, the 2 St. Augustine Basilica, Piazza Mazzini. Built in the 13th century, it retains the beautiful Romanesque-Gothic exterior. Sadly the interior was later renewed in a less impressive neoclassical style, but it is still worth a visit for some remaining 15th-century frescoes (mainly Crocifissione by Liberato di Benedetto) and for the funeral monument of Angelo Maria Ricci by neoclassic sculptor Giuseppe De Fabris. free.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage · Underlined names link to our own pages.