Rieti Valley
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TheRieti ValleyorRieti Plain(Italian:Piana ReatinaorConca Reatina) is a smallplainincentral Italy,where lies the city ofRieti, Lazio.It is also known asSacred ValleyandHoly Valley(Italian:Valle Santa) since saintFrancis of Assisilived here for many years and erected four shrines, which have become the destination of pilgrims.
It is the center of theSabine regionand an important part of theprovince of Rieti.Originated from the draining of the ancientLake Velino,it is crossed by theVelino riverand bordered byMonti ReatiniandMonti Sabini.
Origin
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Inprehistory,the Rieti Valley was entirely occupied by a large lake which ancient Romans calledLake Velinus,since itstributarywas theVelinoriver. The lake was formed during thequaternary,whenlimestonecarried by water in the river deposited in the tight canyon where it flowed, shortly before joining theNerariver, near the present-day village of Marmore. As a result, the riverbed was occluded and the Rieti Plain was flooded becoming a lake. The water level in the lake rose and lowered several times during the centuries, favouring the formation of wide marshy zones around the lake where it was unhealthy to live because ofmalaria.
For this reason, in 271 BC (afterRomehad defeated theSabinesand acquired control of the area), consulManius Curius Dentatusdecided to drain the lake by digging an artificial canal in the limestone rock at Marmore. This imposing engineering achievement created theCascata delle Marmore,a 165-metre (541 ft) tall waterfall which allowed the Velino river to flow into theNerariver, and create a large and fertile valley to be farmed. Of the original great lake only some minor lakes remain, the largest beingLago di Piediluco.
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After the fall of the Roman Empire, lack of maintenance caused the canal to become obstructed again and in the Middle Ages the lake partially reformed.
New draining interventions were ordered in 1545 byPope Paul III;Antonio da Sangallo the Youngerwas charged to dig a new canal, but died of malaria in 1546 before the works were completed. Only in 1596pope Clement VIIIordered new interventions, andGiovanni Fontanacompleted the new canal, ultimately draining the valley.
Even after the lake was drained, recurring floods of the Velino river still caused problems for farmers, damaging their fields. This problem was solved in theFascist era,when two largedamswere built along the course of the two main tributaries of Velino (rivers Salto and Turano) to control their flow. As a result, the large artificial lakesSaltoandTuranowere formed (around 20 km southeast from the Rieti plain).
Geography
[edit]The Rieti Plain has a semi-circular shape and covers around 90 km2(35 sq mi),[1]ranging from 370 to 380metres above sea level;it is 14 km long and averages 7 km in width.[2]It is bordered all round by mountains:Monti Sabinito the west and south andMonti Reatinito the east (the highest peak beingMonte Terminillo,a popular skiing resort, 2,217 metres (7,274 ft) high).
On the plain two minor lakes can be found, the remains of the ancient Lake Velinus:Lago LungoandLago di Ripasottile.These smallwetlandshave preserved similar conditions to those present before the draining of the valley, and are a resting area for many migrating bird species; for this reason the area is now a nature reserve.
Agriculture
[edit]The Rieti Valley has always been known for its fertility, and was sometimes nicknamed "the granary ofRome".Virgilwrote that, if a stick was planted in a field, it could not be seen anymore on the day after, due to the grass that had grown around it.[3]
In the 19th century, wheat native to the Rieti Valley was famous all over Italy for being very productive and disease-resistant; agronomistNazareno Strampelliused it as a starting point for his experiments, which led to the creation of wheat varieties that became popular all over the world in the mid-20th century.
Other crops in the past includedwoadandsugar beet(which was refined at the Rieti sugar mill). Today the most important crops are corn, sunflowers and vegetables.
Tourism and pilgrimages
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In the course of his life, saintFrancis of Assisivisited repeatedly the Rieti Valley: the first time probably in 1209, then a long stay in 1223 and then another from the autumn of 1225 to April 1226.[4]While in the valley Francis presented the first livingnativity scene,wrote the final version of theFranciscan Rule,probably also theCanticle of the Sun,and founded four shrines that are located at the four borders of the plain:Sanctuary of Greccio,La Foresta,Poggio Bustone andFonte Colombo.
The stay of Saint Francis coincided with a period in whichRietienjoyed economic prosperity and became often a papal seat, fromInnocent IIIin 1198 toBoniface VIIIin 1298.[5]
Today, the Franciscan sanctuaries have become objects of pilgrimage; tourists and pilgrims walk a path known as theCammino di Francesco,which links the shrines and other landmarks such as Rieti's mediaeval city centre, theAbbey of Saint Pastorand the Lungo and Ripasottile Lakes natural reserve.
References
[edit]- ^"Un'escursione geologica a Rieti e nella Piana Reatina"(PDF).
- ^Riccardo Riccardi,Francesco Palmeggiani,Doro Levi,Eugenio Duprè Thesèider(1936)."Rieti".Enciclopedia ItalianaTreccani.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^Antonio De Nino (1884). R. Carabba (ed.).Briciole letterarie.p. 150.
- ^"San Francesco a Rieti".Cammino di Francesco.
- ^Ileana Tozzi (29 April 2012)."Rieti, città dei papi".Frontiera.
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