Monte Cavo and Rocca di Papa: the Latins' Sacred Way

Monte Cavo was the sacred mountain of the Latins and of Rome. Below the summit stands Rocca di Papa.

The sacred mountain

Monte Cavo, about 950 metres, is a cone of the Alban Hills volcano, extinct for about ten thousand years, and one of the highest peaks of the group; the volcano’s story is in the article on the Alban Hills volcano.

The ancients called it the Mons Albanus. On the summit there was a village of the Bronze and Iron Age, discovered only in 1977, and then the temple of Jupiter Latiaris, the common sanctuary of the Latin League. Here every year, between January and March, the Feriae Latinae were celebrated, the festival of the Latin peoples, and some victorious generals came to hold their triumph on the mountain.

The Sacred Way

You went up to the temple on a road paved in basalt, the Via Sacra, also called the Via Triumphalis, about 6 kilometres long from the foot of the mountain to the summit. A good stretch is still well preserved and can be walked.

From temple to convent to hotel

• In the Middle Ages a hermit built a hermitage dedicated to Saint Peter on the ruins of the temple; Pope Pius II visited in 1463.
• In 1727 the hermitage became a monastery and in 1758 the Passionists arrived. In 1783 the convent was restored with stones from the ancient temple, at the wish of Cardinal Henry Stuart, Duke of York, the same bishop of Frascati we meet in the Frascati curiosities.
• In 1890 the convent became a hotel, where Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson also stayed. Today the building is abandoned.

Today the summit is a major centre of radio and television antennas, contested by people living in the area.

Rocca di Papa

The town stands at about 680 metres, below the summit. The name first appears in 1181, as Roccam de Papa, in the time of Pope Lucius III; there are several theories about its origin. At the top is the papal fortress, where Guglielmo Marconi also carried out experiments, now open to visitors.

• The Bavarian quarter, around the fountain of piazza Vecchia, is the oldest part.
• The Fields of Hannibal, the hollow below Monte Cavo, by tradition hosted Hannibal’s camp; more likely the name comes from the Annibaldi family, lords of the fief.
• On 30 April 1855 the town rose up and proclaimed a brief republic.

The view

From the summit, when the air is clear, you can see Lake Nemi, Lake Albano, Rome and the Tyrrhenian Sea; on exceptional days, the sources say, Monte Soratte and the Pontine islands.

In short

• Where: Monte Cavo, about 950 metres, municipality of Rocca di Papa.
• The ancient world: Mons Albanus, temple of Jupiter Latiaris, Feriae Latinae, triumphs.
• To do: climb on foot on the Sacred Way, about 6 km of Roman paving.
• Rocca di Papa: about 680 metres, the papal fortress, the Bavarian quarter, the Fields of Hannibal.
• Nearby: Nemi, Tusculum, the Castelli Romani in one day.