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Rocca Priora used to be the ice-house of Rome until the early 1900s, strategically overlooking the valley, with beautiful mountain atmospheres and panoramas. It’s 2.519 ft high – the highest of the Castelli Romani municipality -and it’s usually covered in snow in the winter. As a result, it was called “the snowfield of Rome”, thus providing a profitable opportunity in the snow trade.
The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Neve is the most striking legacy of those times.
A walk along the quaint alleys of the city center, perched on the side of a high hill facing Monte Ceraso, offers many glimpses of such glorious past. The belvedere, at the top, offers a spectacular view of Tiburtini, Prenestini, and Ernici mountains.

The name Rocca Priora comes from the medieval term “Perjura”. According to ancient chronicles from the town of Subiaco, a small settlement stood on the top of the hill – the Castrum Arcis Perjuriae – at the end of the eleventh century. Count Agapito from the Tuscolo Family eventually gave it to his daughter.

Colle di Fuori was built around 1860, by settlers from Capranica Prenestina. In the early twentieth century, a masonry school was opened, funded by a group of intellectuals (founders of the “Peasant School for Agro Romano and Agro Pontino”). Among the latter, Giovanni Cena (1870, Montanaro -1917, Rome) from Piedmont, dedicated himself to the education of the poor, launching a special project, and opening 70 schools for farmers by 1912 – including the one in Colle di Fuori.

In 1904, Giovanni Cena partnered with Dr. Angelo Celli – founder of the “Society for studies against malaria” – and began fighting for the reclamation of Agro Romano and Pontine marshes, and improvement of the literacy rate of the locals. They did so, together with a small group of scholars including, Angelo Celli, Anna Celli, Duilio Cambellotti, Alessandro Marcucci, and Sibilla Aleramo.

In the village of Rocca Priora, Saint Antonio Abate’s Festival takes place in January: a celebration honoring the patron saint of animals. The latter usually go on parade, along with wooden carnival floats decorated with fruit and bread. The feast of the Patron Saint Rocco, on August 16, is also very popular.

Text and photo source: https://www.borghimagazine.it/it/borgo/119/RM/rocca-priora

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)