| Farfa | ||
 | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Lazio | |
| Territory | Sabina | |
| Inhabitants | 42 (2011 census) | |
| Prefix tel | 39 0765 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 02032 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Farfa is a center of the Lazio.
To know
Small village, part of the municipality of Fara in Sabina, was formed around the famous Farfa Abbey (abbey of Santa Maria di Farfa). The town takes its name from the river of the same name (il Farfarus di Ovidio) that flows not far away and which also gave its name to the abbey.
Geographical notes
In Eastern Lazio, on the border between the Sabina and the territory of the metropolitan city of Rome, is 4 km from its municipal capital Fara in Sabina, 47 km from the capital, 41 from Rieti, 47 from Tivoli.
Background
The abbey grew in importance and consideration and received donations, privileges, exemptions from emperors and popes thus becoming a real power interposed between the patrimony of Peter and the Duchy of Spoleto. Farfa was an imperial abbey, released from papal control, but very close to the Holy See, so much so that its abbot was the head of a suburbicarian diocese; the one currently merged into the suburbicaria headquarters of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto it is only a part of it, since it originally followed the Apennine orography until it touched the territories of the first papal territorial nucleus, which Liutprando obtained from the "Byzantine corridor" with the donation of SutriAt the height of its power the abbey controlled 600 churches and monasteries, 132 castles or strongholds and 6 fortified cities, for a total of more than 300 villages: it was said that the abbot overshadowed the power of the pope, but in reality his power was that of a real imperial legatee in charge of the defense of Lazio and the representation of imperial interests at the Holy See.
Cultured, worthy and devoted men succeeded one another in the direction of the abbey, such as the Abbot Sicardo, a relative of Charlemagne. During the reign of Charlemagne, the abbey experienced the maximum building development, which changed the original structure so much that it was only recently possible to rebuild it. In a few decades it became one of the best known and most prestigious centers of medieval Europe; Charlemagne himself, a few weeks before being crowned in St. Peter's on 25 December 800, visited the abbey and stopped there. To understand the economic importance of Farfa just think that in the third decade of the ninth century, under the abbot Ingoaldo, it owned a commercial ship exempt from the duties of the ports of the Carolingian empire.
The penetration of the Saracens - after seven years of resistance by the militias to the orders of the chapter of the monastery - induced the abbot Pietro I to abandon Farfa; the abbey was taken and burned. One of the three groups of runaway monks found shelter in Rome. Traces remained of the presence of the monks in the French insula of Rome: near the church of San Luigi dei Francesi and in the places that had hosted the Baths of Nero they were found - during the restoration work of the basement of Palazzo Madama, by the administration of the Senate in the late eighties of the twentieth century - traces of a cemetery belonging to the chapter of the abbots of Farfa.
Once the danger passed, the chapter returned to Farfa under the guidance of Ratfredo who, having become Abbot, completed the church in 913. The monks of Farfa owned 683 churches or monastic communities; two cities (Civitavecchia is Alatri); 132 castles; 16 fortresses; 7 ports; 8 mines; 14 villages; 82 mills; 315 villages. All this heritage was an obstacle to religious life once again between 1119 and 1125. Farfa was troubled by the rivalries between the abbot Guido, and the monk Berard who aimed to be abbot. During the investiture fight, Farfa was on the Ghibelline side. The monks issued an orthodoxa Defensio imperialis in support of the Ghibelline party. The collection of canonical texts contained in the Regesto seems to deliberately omit any mention of the canonical texts of the reforming popes of the eleventh century, but in 1268 the victory of the popes over Corradin of Swabia brought an end to Germanic rule in Italy.
Under the direction of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the monastery entered the Cassinese Congregation in 1547. Over the course of the following two centuries, despite some restorations and new buildings, Farfa lost all importance. In 1861 part of the assets were sold to private citizens. Count Giuseppe Volpi donated property and some land to the monastery. In 1920 a group of monks sent by Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, then abbot of the Abbey of San Paolo Fuori le Mura in Rome (attached to the Basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura), gave a new life to the Abbey of Farfa. In 1928 Farfa was declared a national monument.
How to orient yourself
Farfa: full screen map.Around the abbey stands the suggestive Borgo di Farfa, inhabited by a few dozen people. In the village there are characteristic shops mostly artisan and with typical products.
Only resident residents can leave the car in the built-up area; others must use a 1 ample parking just outside the village.
How to get
By car
- Autostrada del Sole exit at Soratte. From here continue for about 20 km in the direction Poggio Mirteto before and Fara in Sabina then on the SP42. Take the SP41 and after about 2 km you will arrive at the town of Farfa. In Farfa village only residents can park, but just outside there is a large parking lot where you can leave your car.
How to get around
What see
- 1 Abbey of Santa Maria di Farfa. Founded in the sixth century, between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries it became one of the most powerful monastic centers of thecentral Italy. Its prosperity began in 775, when Charlemagne granted the privilege of autonomy from any religious and civil power. The abbey still preserves some evidence of Carolingian architecture unique in Italy which can be distinguished in the base of the only bell tower that has come to us and in the perimeter wall at the base of the same, where the characteristic pilasters are perfectly preserved. The rest of the bell tower with the triple lancet windows is the work of a later period. Traces have been found in the structure that testify to the presence of the westwerk.
- The abbey church is located in the center of the complex: it is a basilica type with a Latin cross plan and three naves. The façade has salient features and has in the center a portal with a marble frame and surmounted by a fresco painted lunette depicting the Madonna and Child who is crowned by two angels between Saints Benedict and Scholastica. In the façade, which ends at the top with a simple triangular pediment, there are three rose windows, one in correspondence with each internal nave, of which the central one is larger. : The interior of the church, while maintaining the original structure, is in Baroque style, with the naves divided by two rows of round arches resting on Ionic marble columns. The counter-façade is entirely painted with Universal Judgment by Dirck Barendsz (1561).
- Beyond the cross, in line with the central nave, there is the deep polygonal apse with the wooden baroque stalls of the monks' choir. : The high altar is surmounted by the valuable ciborium which presents, on the cusp, the bas-relief of theAssumption of Mary. The pipe organ of the church, located behind the three-light window of the back wall of the apse, with an independent mobile console in the presbytery, was built by the Pedrini organ-building company in 1947. With electro-pneumatic transmission, it has twelve registers divided between the two keyboards. , of 58 notes each, and the concave-radial pedalboard of 30.
- 2 Monastery. Inside the monastery, which is organized around the cloister, many pieces of medieval structure are exhibited; among these a plaque relating to the Abbot Sicardo (9th century), found in 1959 in the church where at the time it had been reused. At the base of the abbey tower some medieval frescoes have been found.
Events and parties
- San Martino Fair - Agricultural New Year.
in November. Exhibition stands of typical agricultural products, chestnuts, mushrooms, oil, new wine, with the possibility of tastings. Crafts, pets. Exhibitions and educational workshops - Christmas melodies. in December. Instrumental and / or vocal concerts of the schools inside the basilica.
- Farfa in bloom. Market exhibition of unusual and rare plants and flowers.
- Liberi sulla Carta - Independent Publishing Fair. literary festival
in November. Exhibition stands of typical agricultural products, chestnuts, mushrooms, oil, new wine, with the possibility of tastings. Crafts, pets. Exhibitions and educational workshopsWhat to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Average prices
- 1 La Badiola, Location S. Giovanni, ☎ 39 0765 277218.
- 2 La Torre Restaurant, Via Degli Inglesi, 97, ☎ 39 333 2230551.
- 3 Lupi restaurant, Via Di Porta Montopoli 8, ☎ 39 0765 277307.
- 4 The specialties of the Borgo, Via Di Porta Montopoli, 25, ☎ 39 0765 277096. Pastry.
Where stay
Average prices
- 1 Guest house of the Abbey, ☎ 39 0765 277152, @[email protected]. In the monastery it is possible to stay in the internal area, for those who wish to dedicate themselves to spiritual activities (hospitality reserved for men only), and for groups. It is essential to make arrangements in advance. with the structure. Two other complexes are under construction which will make it possible to welcome larger groups and even families.
- 2 Guest quarters of the Community of Sisters of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Santa Brigida, ☎ 39 0765 277087, @[email protected]. The Brigidine nuns run a shelter house next to the Abbey.
Safety
Pharmacies
- Municipal Pharmacy, Via Borgo Nuovo, snc (Borgo Quinzio locality), ☎ 39 0765 398002.
- Farense Pharmacy, Via Farense, 99 (Coltodino locality).
- Passo Corese Pharmacy, via Enrico Fermi, 13 (Passo Corese locality), ☎ 39 0765486507.
How to keep in touch
Post office
- 2 Italian post, Via Vittorio Veneto, 15 (nwl capital Fara in Sabina), ☎ 39 0765 277231.
Around
- Rieti - Considered by the authors of the classical age the geographical center of Italy (Umbilicus Italiae) was founded at the beginning of the Iron Age and became an important city of the Sabines; still today its territory is identified as "Sabina".
- Tivoli - At the gates of the city there are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Roman Villa Adriana and the Renaissance Villa d'Este.
Itineraries
- Franciscan sanctuaries in the Rieti plain - A path of nature, faith and art in the Sabina crossed by San Francesco, to visit the four Sanctuaries of the Holy Valley: Greccio, Poggio Bustone, The Forest, Fonte Colombo.
