Mountain in Italy
Monte Soratte
(ancient:
Soracte
) is a mountain ridge in the
Metropolitan City of Rome
, central
Italy
. It is a narrow, isolated
limestone
ridge with a length of 5.5 km (3.4 mi) and six peaks. Located some 10 km (6.2 mi) south east of
Civita Castellana
and c. 45 km (28 mi) north of
Rome
, it is the sole notable ridge in the
Tiber Valley
. The nearest settlement is the village of
Sant'Oreste
. Saint Orestes or
Edistus
, after whom the settlement is named, is said to have been
martyred
near Monte Soratte.
The highest summit is 691 m (2,267 ft) above sea-level. The ridge is part of a 444-hectare (1,100-acre) Natural Reserve housing a variety of vegetation and fauna.
[1]
It is also characterized by the so-called
Meri
, pits which can be up to 115 metres (377 ft) deep.
History and sights
[
edit
]
The area was used by the ancient
Italic peoples
of the area (
Sabines
,
Capenates
,
Falisci
) and the
Etruscan civilization
for the cult of the God
Soranus
.
[2]
Mount Soratte was mentioned by
Horace
("vides ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte?"
Carm.
i. 9), and
Virgil
, who stated that
Apollo
was its guardian deity.
The hermitage of St. Sylvester is just below the summit. According to a
legend
, its church was founded by
Pope Sylvester
, who had taken refuge there to escape
Constantine
's persecution. The church houses 14th- and 15th-century frescoes.
[3]
Another four hermitages are on the ridge.
[4]
The church of
Santa Maria delle Grazie
was built in 1835 over a pre-existing 16th-century edifice and houses a once highly venerated image of the
Madonna
.
[
citation needed
]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
mentioned the peak in
Italian Journey
, his diary of his travels through Italy from 1786?1788. He wrote that "Soracte stands out by itself in magnificent solitude. Probably this mountain is made of limestone and belongs to the Apennines."
[5]
In his 1902 memoir
The Path to Rome
,
Hilaire Belloc
sketched the mountain in the final days of his walking pilgrimage from
Toul
and wrote: "It stood up like an acropolis, but it was a citadel for no city. It stood alone, like the soul that once haunted its recesses and prophesied the conquering advent of the northern kings."
[6]
During World War II, after the 8 September 1943
Frascati air raid
, Field Marshal
Albert Kesselring
moved his headquarters from Frascati to the
bunkers in Monte Soratte
.
[7]
[8]
References
[
edit
]