The village of Fara Sabina surprises the visitors with its amazing perfectly paved, clean, trafficless streets, its restored houses and quiet, peaceful atmosphere. But the main attraction is the impressing panoramic view from Piazza del Duomo, where, on clear days, it is possible to enjoy the most beautiful sunsets on the Seven Hills of the Eternal City.
In the Archaeological Museum, located on the square, foundings from excavations carried out since the 70s are displayed. Through these artifacts, coming both from the village (Cures) and from the necropolis (Eretum), it is possible to compare the two worlds of the dead and the living and to portray the Sabine society, which, until the beginning of the 900’s, was quite unknown among ancient Italian cultures.
But Fara Sabina is not only interesting for its rational history but also for the feelings visitors get in visiting the “Museo di Fara”, which preserves the throne in pink terracotta found in 2006 in Eretum, the largest funeral chamber ever found in Italy with its 37 meters total length and precious votive objects, the prince chariot and, above all, his throne.
Even more amazing is the “Museum of Silence”, inaugurated in 2004, an innovation in its impact to the visitors rather than in its setting. The choice of a strong but abstract theme such as the silence, which carachterised the nuns’ everyday life and gesture, led the architects Sveva Di Martino and Mao Benedetti, creators of the Museum, to an innovative project both in language and structure. The museum is located in a 60 square meters rectangular hall, which belonged to Santa Maria in Castello, an ancient church enclosed in the 17th century Monastery. In a completely dark area the objects are displayed in cases in small groups and illuminated according to a certain pattern. Significant themes from the nuns’ everyday life have been selected: the kitchen, the pharmacy, prayer, silence, discipline etc.. Projections on the vaults of the room, accompanied by illumination and sounds, emphasize the objects function.
Unique in its kind, the visit to the museum represents a way of escaping from everyday life and experience a dimension out of time and space, an indelible emotion.
The flavours of the past … can be found in the Ancient Bakery from the late Renaissance, located on the ground floor of the “Monte Frumentario”, where to taste products baked with the same gestures and ingredients as in the old days, such as natural yeast. The flavour of freshly baked bread will tempt you to a stop.
