Parco Fluviale del Nera: Itineraries: Arrone

Arrone - Monte di Arrone

Trail Conditions: On foot

Departure: Arrone
Duration: 45 minutes
Difficulty Level: T - Tourist (level)
Length: 1.2 km

Travelling back in time
This itinerary, particularly interesting for its noteworthy environmental aspects and the striking landscape views, is mainly characterized as an archeological one. The trail starts from the centre of Arrone (245 m. amsl), the ancient castle which, according to tradition, was founded around the year 880 by Attone, progenitor of the Arroni family; it later became the seat of one of the most important feuds in Valnerina, which reached out from Papigno to Monteleone di Spoleto. The inhabited centre is placed on a rocky headland at the foot of Mount Arrone, at the end of the Valley of Rosciano, and in ancient times its western side was lapped by the waters of the ancient Lake of Arrone, which stretched over the valley of Castel di Lago. Arrone is formed by two units. The most ancient one is called "the earth" and appears as a feudal castle surrounded by towered walls with an orthogonal road network centered on the main road axis; this road connects the Keep of the Castle (the Olive Tower, which is also the town's symbol), located on the highest point of the hamlet, to the church of San Giovanni. The most recent historical centre, called "Rione Santa Maria" stretches on the saddle that connected the castle to Mount Arrone on the outline of the ancient route and is organized around the square, where the church of Santa Maria Assunta (15th century) is located. The trail, short and rather easy, clambers the slopes of Mount Arrone (420 m. amsl) up to its top, privileged viewpoint on the neighboring towns and the area of low Valnerina. Here, at the end of 19th century, some particularly valuable schematic bronzes were found; this and the further discovery, in the nearby, of a marble goddess head, seems to confirm the presence in the area of a place of cult of great importance, most likely linked to the phenomenon of monumentalization of local sanctuaries during the phase of Romanization of the Sabina. From the mountaintop you descend to locality La Valle (243 m. amsl), where the trail goes on to Tripozzo.