What is Orvinio known for?

The Malvezzi-Campeggi keep, held by the Orsini and then by the Borghese for two centuries from 1632. The village's medieval name, kept until 1863 when unification politics replaced it with the Roman one. Highest commune inside the regional park, surrounded by oak and beech woods on the karst slopes.

Orvinio is a comune in the province of Rieti, Lazio region of Italy, about 67 kilometers from Roma.

Lazio · Rieti

Orvinio

The highest borgo in the Monti Lucretili park at 840 meters, called Canemorto until 1863 and dominated by the Castello Malvezzi-Campeggi.

840m

Elevation

67 km / 42 mi

Nearest hub (Roma)

396

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Orvinio sits at 840 meters on a saddle in the Monti Lucretili park, the highest of the park's communes and the last village before the slopes drop toward the Turano lake. The ancient settlement called Orvinium was destroyed before the year 1000; the medieval town that grew up afterward took the name Canemorto, said to commemorate a Saracen defeat by Charlemagne's troops in 817. The village kept that name until 1863, when unification politics made the old one untenable and the Roman name was restored. The Orsini built the Granarone palace in the fifteenth century; the Borghese took the fief in 1632 and held it for two hundred years; the Castello Malvezzi-Campeggi at the top of the village still carries their rebuilding. Stone houses run in tight loops below the keep, and the Cammino di San Benedetto passes through on the route between Subiaco and Norcia.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello Malvezzi-Campeggi
Medieval keep rebuilt by the Borghese in the nineteenth century, dominating the village from the upper ridge.
Abbazia di Santa Maria del Piano
Benedictine abbey founded in the early Middle Ages, the original landlords of the territory before the Orsini took it.
Centro storico
Stone houses in tight medieval loops below the castle, with vaulted passages and the original village gates preserved.
Parco Naturale dei Monti Lucretili
Regional park covering oak and beech woods and karst slopes around the village, with marked trails toward Monte Pellecchia.
Cammino di San Benedetto
Long-distance pilgrim route between Norcia and Montecassino passing through the village on its way south to Subiaco.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the working window at 840 meters. The Lucretili woods open, the trails dry out and the village evenings stay cool when Rome forty-five kilometers downhill is hitting thirty-five. October still holds for the woods turning copper and for the Cammino di San Benedetto walkers passing through on the route between Subiaco and Norcia. November through April is hard. Snow falls some winters and the village shrinks to its three hundred residents; many of the second homes that double the population in summer are shuttered. April can be raw at this altitude even when the valleys below are already green.