Rieti Underground

Rieti’s intricate underground labyrinth originated with the intention of facilitating the passage of the Via Salaria, the ancient salt road, across the Velino River, protecting the city from the floods and marshy areas that formed along the ancient streets during river floods.

These tunnels weave between the depths of some of Rieti’s noble residences, with walls built with massive blocks of cavernous travertine, supporting the street level above.

The travertine promontory on which the city developed, from prehistoric times to the early Middle Ages after the 3rd century B.C., was surrounded by a sturdy network of opus quadratum walls, interspersed with the gates that demarcated the urban layout of the Salaria. This paved road, which ran through central Italy, provided a link between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic, defining the cardo and decumanus in the city center.

From the southern side, the Salaria crossed the Porta Romana, positioned at the apex of the cardo, as evidenced by the epigraph by C. Carantio still embedded on the facade of the church of St. Peter the Apostle. Continuing eastward, it passed through the Porta Herculana. Westward, the decumanus continued through the Quintia or Cynthia gate, via a secondary passageway that headed toward Umbria.