Ruderi di San Martino
Description
The ruins of San Martino are the remains of a large, never-completed abbey dating to the 11th century. They stand on the summit of Mount Acuziano, facing Mount Bruzio, where the town of Fara in Sabina (province of Rieti) is located. The history of the abbey at Fara in Sabina is tied to that of Farfa Abbey: it was commissioned by Saint Laurence Siro, also the founder of Farfa, to replace the latter after years of war and destruction.
History
The oldest traces on the site date to the late Bronze Age: archaeologists have identified an ancient villa and the remains of a temple dedicated to Vacuna, an ancient Sabine goddess. Cells for hermits were later built on the villa’s remains, while an oratory was created inside a cave. Today, the visible ruins belong to the construction begun by Saint Laurence Siro, celebrated in legend for freeing Farfa by slaying a dragon. The name San Martino comes from the old oratory dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, where the Farfa chronicler Gregory of Catino (11th–12th century) also died. In the 15th century, Pope Sixtus IV ordered restoration works that destroyed earlier frescoes.
In 1097, because Farfa Abbey had sided with Emperor Henry IV against the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy, Abbot Bernard II planned to move the monastery to the more defensible summit of Mount Acuziano. The construction, however, was never completed due to his death. In 1142, even after the monastery passed under papal authority with the Concordat of Worms, Abbot Adinolfo I attempted to restart the project, but the works again stopped when he died.
The trail
The ruins of San Martino can be reached by trail no. 493, which climbs from the locality of Quattro Venti to the mountain’s summit. From the top, in addition to visiting the (currently unstable) abbey ruins, visitors can enjoy views of the Tiber Valley on one side, the Terminillo, Pellecchia, and Gennaro mountains on the other, and Fara in Sabina on the facing hill. Mount Acuziano is also used as sheep pasture.
Address
Fara in Sabina, Italy
Established
11th century