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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
At the foot of Monte Soratte - Sant'Oreste
(A view of S. Oreste)

Introduction

"Vides ut alta stet nive candidum
Soracte, .." (Horace, Ode, I, IX)
In J. V. Cunningham’s translation, “See how resplendent in deep snow/ Soracte stands.”

“Summe deum, sancti custos Soractis Apollo" (Virgil, Aeneid, XI, 785)
In J. Dryden's translation, "“O patron of Soractes' high abodes, Phoebus."

"These hills seem things of lesser dignity,
All, save the lone Soracte's height displayed,
Not NOW in snow, which asks the lyric Roman's aid." (Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, IV, LXXIV)

"The view from the castle of Civita Castellana is magnificent. Soracte stands out by itself in picturesque solitude." (J. W. Goethe, Italian Journey, 28 October 1786)

"Soracte, be it in January or May, rises from its blue horizon like an island from the sea and with an elegance of contour which no mood of the year can deepen or diminish. You know it well; you have seen it often in the mellow backgrounds of Claude (Lorraine); and it has such an irresistibly classic, academic air that while you look at it you begin to take your saddle for a faded old arm-chair in a palace gallery." (Henry James, Italian Hours - Roman Rides)

This impressive literary florilegium is related to a pretty low mountain (691 m.), so it was not its height which raised such an enthusiasm. It is rather the fact that it stands alone and it is visible from a very vast area which includes Rome.

View of Monte Soratte from Villa Medici
View of Monte Soratte from Villa Medici (detail of a painting by a French artist working in Rome, circa 1790, courtesy of Guy Stair Sainty see www.europeanpaintings.com).

Not only writers and poets were attracted by Monte Soratte, but painters too added to the celebrity of this mountain: French painters in particular, following the example of Claude Lorraine, painted several views of Monte Soratte, which they could see from the gardens of Villa Medici, the location of the French Academy. Giuseppe Vasi showed Monte Soratte in his 1765 View from the Janiculum and the mountain can still be seen from there, notwithstanding the expansion of modern Rome.

View of Monte Soratte from Rignano Flaminio
View of Monte Soratte from Rignano Flaminio: on the right S. Oreste

Monte Soratte was sacred to Apollo and as has happened on many other occasions, the site of the ancient temple at its top was chosen by medieval hermits as the location to detach themselves from worldly affairs. Carloman, son of the French King Charles-Martel (who had defeated the Arabs at Poitiers in 732) founded a convent on Monte Soratte before moving to Monte Cassino.
For a map of the area near Monte Soratte click here (Monte Soratte is No. 6).

S. Oreste

Two gates and a section of the walls of S. Oreste
Two gates and a section of the walls of S. Oreste

S. Oreste, the small town at the foot of Monte Soratte was described by the 1883 Central Italy Baedeker as "a miserable village", but it was an unfair comment; S. Oreste has several interesting buildings in addition to an almost intact curtain of walls and three gates, whereas most of the nearby towns have just one gate.

Palazzo Abbaziale; coat of arms of Cardinal Aldobrandini
Palazzo Abbaziale; coat of arms of Cardinal Aldobrandini

S. Oreste has a medieval origin, but it knew a period of expansion in the XVIth century and in particular at the end of that century, when Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, a relative of Pope Clement VIII (Ippolito Aldobrandini), built a large monastery on the upper part of the town and more in general promoted the economic development of the area around S. Oreste.

Renaissance buildings
Renaissance buildings

This explains why S. Oreste has so many Renaissance buildings: their size is modest but their design is elegant: a sign that at least a certain number of families in S. Oreste were wealthy enough to care about the external appearance of their homes.

Collegiata di S. Lorenzo; symbol of St. Paul; statue of S. Edisto; the bell tower of S. Nicola
Collegiata di S. Lorenzo; symbol of St. Paul; statue of S. Edisto; the bell tower of S. Nicola

S. Oreste: you would vainly look for such a saint; the name of the town is just a corruption of Soractes, the Latin name of the mountain: medieval amanuenses thought the initial S stood for S(aint) and then changed the rest of the word to the most similar name they knew, the Greek Orestes. So the statue in the main church of the town, as well as the chevalier shown in the image used as a background for this page, are not related to S. Oreste, but to another saint, Edisto, who was recorded as a Roman soldier, but who is no longer in the official list of saints, as the historical evidence related to him was found to be rather shaky.

View of the Tiber valley from S. Oreste; in the foreground Ponzano; in the background the hills of Sabina
View of the Tiber valley from S. Oreste; in the foreground Ponzano Romano; in the background the hills of Sabina

S. Oreste enjoys great views over the surrounding countryside: in theory it is possible to see Rome, because from Rome one can see S. Oreste.

Move on to Rignano Flaminio and Faleria.


Pages on towns of historical Latium other than Rome: hover and click on the dots of the map below which shows a current map of Latium (left) and its historical smaller size (right).

Pages on towns of Latium other than Rome In the Duchy of Castro: Farnese, Ischia di Castro, Valentano, Gradoli, Capodimonte, Marta In Maremma: Corneto (Tarquinia), Montalto, Canino A Pilgrim's Way: Via Francigena: Acquapendente, Bolsena, Montefiascone In and about Viterbo: Viterbo, Bagnoregio, S. Martino al Cimino, Tuscania, Bomarzo, S. Maria della Querce, Bagnaia, Orte, Vasanello, Vitorchiano From Civitavecchia to Civita Castellana: Civitavecchia, Tolfa, Allumiere, Oriolo Romano, Capranica, Sutri, Bassano, Monterosi, Nepi, Castel d'Elia, Civita Castellana From Bracciano to Viterbo: Manziana, Canale Monterano, Vejano, Barbarano, Blera, Vetralla Around Monte Cimino: Ronciglione, Caprarola, Carbognano, Fabrica, Corchiano, Vignanello, Vallerano, Soriano The Bracciano Lake: Bracciano, Trevignano, Anguillara At the foot of Monte Soratte: S. Oreste, Rignano, Faleria Land of the Romans' wives: Montopoli, Poggio Mirteto, Casperia, Cantalupo, Roccantica Sentinels on the Highway: Fiano Romano, Civitella S. Paolo, Nazzano, Torrita Tiberina, Filacciano, Ponzano A Walk to Malborghetto: Prima Porta, Malborghetto Branching off Via Cassia: S. Maria di Galeria, Formello, Isola Farnese To Nomentum and beyond: Mentana, Monterotondo, Palombara A Walk to Ponte di Nona: ancient monuments along Via Prenestina Via Appia Antica A short and delicious digression: Tivoli, Montecompatri, Monte Porzio Catone, Frascati, Grottaferrata, Marino, Castelgandolfo, Albano, Ariccia, Genzano, Velletri, Nemi, Rocca di Papa, Rocca Priora, Civita Lavinia (Lanuvio), Porto, Ostia Where the painters found their models: Anticoli Corrado, Castelmadama, Vicovaro, Arsoli Subiaco The Roman Campagna: Palestrina, Genazzano, Paliano, Anagni The Ernici Mountains: Ferentino, Alatri The Volsci Mountains: Valmontone, Colonna, Segni, Norma, Cori On the Latin Shores: Anzio, Nettuno, Torre Astura On the edge of the marsh: Sermoneta, Sezze, Priverno Veroli Branching off Via Flaminia: Riano, Castelnuovo di Porto, Morlupo, Leprignano (Capena) Circe's Cape: S. Felice, Terracina