Antrodoco ( Sabino: ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Rieti The Province of Rieti ( it, Provincia di Rieti) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rieti. Established in 1927, it has an area of with a total population of 157,887 people as of 2017. There are 73 ''comuni'' i ...

, in the

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region of central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The name derives from the Latin Interocrea (between the mountains).

Geography

Monte Giano - bosco DUX da Calcariola 01

Antrodoco is located along the Velino river, in the confluence point of two apennine valleys: the Velino valley, at North, and the Rio creek valley (a tributary of Velino) at East. Both are highly suggestive valleys, so narrow that they form

canyons A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

with sheer rock over the river: the first canyon is known as ''Gole del Velino'', the latter as ''Gole di Antrodoco''. Monte Giano, the mountain where ''Gole di Antrodoco'' is located, is known for a pine tree forest with the shape of the word "DVX" (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for

duce ( , ) is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word 'leader', and a cognate of ''duke''. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as ('The Leader') of the movement since the birth of the in 1919. In 192 ...

) which was planted in 1939 and is visible from miles of distance.

Main sights

* Church of Santa Maria Assunta * Santa Maria Extra Moenia * Santa Chiara * Sant'Agostino

Transport

Thanks to its position, Antrodoco has been an important transportation hub since the time of the Roman Civilization. Antrodoco was crossed by the ancient

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, Via Salaria, and was the starting point of

Via Caecilia Via Caecilia, an ancient highroad of Italy, which diverged from the Via Salaria at the 35th mile (56 km) from Rome, and ran by Amiternum to the Adriatic coast, passing probably by Hadria (Atri). A branch ran to Interamna Praetuttiorum ( Teramo) ...

. The same route is maintained by two modern

state highways A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

: *

Strada statale 4 Via Salaria Strada statale 4 ''Via Salaria'' is an Italian state highway, linking Rome to the Adriatic sea passing through Rieti and Ascoli Piceno. Its route retraces that of the ancient Via Salaria Roman road. It is a single carriageway highway for most of ...

connects Antrodoco with

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the province capital

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabin ...

to the west, and with

Amatrice Amatrice (; Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rieti, in northern Lazio (central Italy), and the center of the food-agricultural area of Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. The town was devastated by a powerful eart ...

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city h ...

and the

Adriatic coast The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

to the north (passing through the ''Gole del Velino'' canyon). * Strada statale 17 dell'Appennino Abruzzese branches from the ''Salaria'' in Antrodoco and connects the town with

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

, passing through ''Gole di Antrodoco''. Antrodoco has a station on the

Terni–Sulmona railway The Terni–Sulmona railway is a regional railway line in central Italy, managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. It links three regions, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo, and three Provinces of Italy, provincial capitals: Terni, Rieti and L'Aquila. Togethe ...

, with trains to

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It i ...

and

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Lazio {{Lazio-geo-stub