Sabina has a thousand-year history. Since ancient times it has been a crossroads of cultures and trade along the ancient Salt Road. The name of this land in the province of Rieti derives from the historical episode of the “Rape of the Sabine Women” by the Romans. Its historical and landscape heritage extends from the hills to the Tiber Valley of Lower Sabina, on the border with Umbria, to go up the sub-Apennine mountain range (Lucretili Mountains and Carseolani Mountains) on the border with Abruzzo. Protected natural areas and unaltered ecosystems preserve an invaluable heritage of biodiversity, such as some unique floral species, among mountains, rivers, streams, and lakes (Lago del Salto and Lago del Turano), natural reserves (Tevere-Farfa and Monte Navegna and Monte Cervia) and paths such as the Natural Parks Path. A land permeated with sacredness: even today we can feel the soul of the ancient cult of the Goddess Vacuna, the mother goddess of fertility and nature, known as “la Tacita”, as the historian Pliny defined her “silent, incorruptible and alone intelligible”, but also the spiritual essence of Christianity. Precisely in these places Saint Francis created the first living nativity scene of Christianity in 1223, the same year in which he wrote the definitive Rule of the Order and, probably, the Canticle of the Creatures. In the province there is the Sacred Valley where the Way of St. Francis and the Way of St. Benedict intersect: the sense of the sacred intimately and intrinsically pervades nature, accompanying man’s strenuous work over the centuries in working the land, day after day, season after season. It was the favorite land of the Roman patricians, who built their villas where they retreated to dedicate themselves to idleness and cultivation. The poet Horace found inspiration in these campaigns. The villa in the archaeological area of the small center of Vacone has been attributed to him. Grain, oil and wine were ferried along the Tiber River, loaded onto boats bound for Rome. Between settlements of ancient Roman villas and castras, the history of Sabina was renewed in the Middle Ages, under the aegis of the Church and feudal nobles, with thirteenth century and Renaissance fortresses, from which the ancient villages that characterize these places were born, the scene of sieges and bitter battles between nobles, ecclesiastical troops and Saracen attacks. In this land there are the Benedictine Abbey of Farfa, where Charlemagne stopped in the 19th century during his journey to Rome, the ancient Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Vescovio, the Sanctuary of San Francesco, monasteries, churches, and hermitages (Eremo di San Michele or San Cataldo). The province of Rieti has preserved its agricultural vocation with organic farms and local products. Pastures and crops, DOP oil, the green gold of Sabina, DOC and IGT white and red wines. Culinary traditions and typical recipes linked to seasonal productions, the grape harvest, the harvesting of olives, chestnuts, and truffles. Pasta still made by hand such as stringozzi and strozzapreti: one of the most famous typical Italian dishes in the world, namely “Pasta all’Amatriciana”. From the point of view of outdoor and sporting activities, Sabina offers a variety of hiking routes along nature reserves, where you can practice birdwatching and observe wildlife with expert guides; offers bridle paths for horseback riding, motocross, or mountain bike trails; rivers, streams and lakes for sport fishing and activities such as canoeing, sailing, rafting, climbing cliffs and caves for speleology. There are also spas with bicarbonate-sulfur waters. Finally, among the curiosities, Piazza San Rufo or San Ruffo in Rieti is the center of Italy according to an ancient Renaissance tradition dating back to Latin literature, which placed the Umbilicus Italiae in the Rieti area.