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Sanctuary of Grecchio, one of the four shrines of St. Francis around Rieti Valley. Here, Francis depicted the Christmas story with living figures to help the local farmers understand it. Since then, setting up a nativity scene at Christmas has been a custom throughout most of the Christian world. Grecchio is a very special place

A small hamlet of Terni, on the border between the Terni basin and the Rieti plain, crossed by the Velino river, it gives its name to the homonymous waterfall. An almost obligatory passage if you are between Terni and Rieti

The walls surround the entire center, of Roman origin, of which few traces remain; the medieval walls built in the 13th century are still widely visible with their towers and portals, which are considered "among the most imposing and best preserved in Lazio. Very suggestive

Surprise; suddenly passing over a bridge the attention comes from the right side the crystalline green of a river at first and then we discover that it is a canal where the trout swim calmly in freedom showing themselves in their beauty thanks to the clarity of the waters also populated by two splendid specimens of white swans

It is early morning and the air is still like the lake water, everything is silent before the awakening of nature and man. The sun is there and begins to make visible the palette of a thousand colors. It is life that gives itself

The name Piediluco derives from Latin and means "at the foot of the sacred forest", the town stands on the shores of the lake of the same name and at the foot of Mount Luco. Once upon a time the main commercial activity was fishing. This close relationship with the lake is also visible in the bas-reliefs of the entrance door of the church of San Francesco where fish and fishing tools are depicted. On the day of the summer solstice the town comes alive for the Water Festival with concerts, dances and a parade of allegorical boats.

This is the place where St. Francis created the first crib of the Christian tradition. The Sanctuary stands in an exceptional position, clinging to the rock and with a unique view of the Rieti plain, nearby Greccio and the Terminillo massif. It can be visited every day and is open from 09.00 to 18.00. Whether you are a believer or not, it is highly suggestive to visit this place, especially during the Christmas period.

It seems that San Cataldo has never actually passed through these places. Yet the legends about the saint are not lacking. It is said that the rock that leads from the hermitage to the valley floor is full of hollows and fissures, marks of the elbows and feet of the saint who went to the stream every day to wash himself. Legends aside, the hermitage is a wonderful example of the union between human architecture and nature. The interior of the chapel and its ancient Byzantine fresco can be visited only during FAI days.