Marcetelli
With its 69 inhabitants Marcetelli is the smallest town of the province of Rieti and Lazio Region, but the bond and sense of belonging of its emigrated people make it a place of the heart where to return and discover its authenticity and beauty.
Population
85
Area
11,08 km²
Altitude
930 m
Where is it?
In the village of Marcetelli, perched at 930 m. above sea level between the Turano valley and the Salto valley, time seems to have stopped, marked by the seasons and works in the woods. Chestnuts, mushrooms, firewood: these are the resources that have guaranteed life to the “Marcetellani” for centuries. Today wealth is represented by the environment itself, in fact Marcetelli is included in the Nature Reserve of Monti Cervia and Navegna and thanks to the cultural and social events organized by its inhabitants it still resists the phenomenon of depopulation.
What to see?
Descending through the steep cobbled streets of the old village visitors are surrounded by a timeless atmosphere made of stone houses, winding and narrow streets all around the central square and the parish church of San Venanzio and San Martino. The square nown as Piazza della Porta is adorned at its center by an octagonal fountain overlooking the Palazzo Barberini. In the context of the historical-architectural heritage there is also the chapel of San Rocco, probably built in the 17th century and subjected to a challenging restoration that revealed what remains of the frescoes made in 1632 by the famous Sabine artist Vincenzo Manenti. Among the woods of the nearby Monte Santo, stands the 11th-century church of Santa Maria in Villa, that preserves a pictorial cycle representing the coronation of the Virgin, dating back to the 16th century.
