Toffia

What to see?

Visiting Toffia means walking among several districts divided since the past, each with its peculiarities. The main access door to the castle is the Porta Maggiore, which was equipped with a drawbridge. In the square, called Piazza Umberto I, there is a war memorial and a limestone lion from the Roman tombs along the Salaria. In the same district, there is also the ancient Church of Saint Lawrence and Palazzo Orsini, today the seat of the municipality, which dates back to 1400. A characteristic district is that of Montecavallo, owned by the Colonna family. Furthermore, to be mentioned, the small church of the Our Lady of Loreto was built between the 7th and 8th centuries. On its portal lintel, it is possible to read Sub-Solio lateranense because the church was built on land owned by the canons of St John Lateran. Also, an unmissable visit is the 16th-century Church of Saint Maria Nova, built at the highest point of Toffia in Romanesque style. The oldest place in the town is the Rocca, owned by the abbots of Farfa and later by the Orsini. Today it has very narrow streets and alleys overlooked by flowered balconies, certainly very picturesque. It is also in this district that the Maria Petrucci Museum resides, in a typical seventeenth-century building, the artist's paternal home: it is a permanent exhibition space not to be missed, in which it is possible to admire both the artist's works (oil paintings, sculptures in walnut wood and other experimental materials) and the traditional objects of peasant life, evidence of the rural civilization characteristics of the past Sabina. Another district is the Collitrone: it was under the old castle and was inhabited by those who worked inside. Walking through, it offers the visitor a scent of the past where you can meet ancient portals and breathtaking views. At the end of the walk, you will find a wide area from which you can enjoy a fascinating view of the neighboring villages. A picturesque area of Toffia is Cancello, the other entrance to the town, whose door has recently been restored to give the visitor the feeling of town simplicity. The last district to visit is a small area called the carbonara, because of the old coal shops that were there. Constitutive of this district is the small and picturesque square where groups of street artists often perform during the summer. When visiting the town of Toffia, one certainly cannot fail to stop at the Church of Saint Lawrence, the patron saint of the village. It was built on a pagan temple dedicated to Janus and later elevated to a cathedral.