Subiaco

Subiaco is the main center of the mid-Aniene Valley, at 408 meters above sea level; with approximately 9000 inhabitants it is a vacation spot in both winter and summer.
The ancient town seems to have been born with the works for the nearby Nero's villa, to house all of those who worked on the gigantic project. In the 11th century the Abbot of S. Scolastica, Brother Giovanni, constructed the Abbatial Fortress at the top of the hill and of the inhabited area.
The medieval church of San Francesco
It was erected in 1327 on the old oratory of S. Pietro in the desert, which approximately one century before was donated to San Francesco by the Abbot of Santa Scolastica.
Both the inside and the outside of the church are Franciscan simplicity: covered with a gable roof with wooden trusses, it has one nave with three chapels to the left of the entrance. A larch arch separates the nave from the presbytery, the chapels are frescoed, and the frescoes of the third one are attributed to Sodoma.
On the central altar a beautiful triptych by Antonazzo Romano stands out, depicting the Virgin with Child, St. Francis and St. Antonio from Padova; on the wall to the right you will find three altars from the 1500's in wood sculpted by a local cabinet-maker who signed his name "Rheatinus", also the sculptor of the choir in the apse. On the first of these is the Wedding of the Virgin by Giulio Romano. From the square opposite the church there is a beautiful view of the historic center.
The medieval bridge of San Francesco
Before entering Subiaco there is a new bridge on the right that goes to the cemetery of St. Francis and to the beautiful medieval church with the same name.
It was erected in 1327 on the old St. Peter in the desert oratory, which had been given to St. Francis by the Abbot of Santa Scolastica one century before. Both the inside and the outside of the church are Franciscan simplicity: covered with a gable roof with wooden trusses, it has one nave with three chapels to the left of the entrance, but there are beautiful frescoes and important paintings by 15th and 16th-century artists such as Sodoma, Antonazzo Romano, and Giulio Romano. From the square opposite the church there is a beautiful view of the historic center.
The Abbatial Fortress
The Fortress, known as "dei Borgia", originally Abbatial Fortress, was built in the 11th century on behalf of the Abbot of Santa Scolastica, Brother Giovanni who wanted it strategically and symbolically placed at the top of the hills and the inhabited area, in control of a vivacious and restless people.
Equipped with fortifications, enriched with rooms and apartments and a little church, it was the residence of the Abbots of Santa Scolastica. But in the mid-1400's, the Pope, Calisto III, dismissed the Abbot and nominated a Commander, a sort of feudal pope, with temporary powers over the territory. The various commanders that followed undertook further works, among which the fortified quadrangular tower, work of Baccio Pontelli, under Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. Under Borgia lived Vannozza De Captaneis, his lover, and there were born the two most famous Borgia: his children Cesare and Lucrezia.