Saint Michael's Cave
Guests staying at the Casale Tancia may want to enjoy a very particular walk through typical hillside scenery that follows in the footsteps of countless pilgrims who have been making their way to St. Michael's Cave, situated some 100 meters up a limestone wall on the western slopes of Mount Tancia, for centuries.
It was there that a seated female figure, roughly carved in a stalactite was found many years ago which in time was acknowledged as the goddess Vacuna, worshipped by the Sabines and the veneration of woods and waters to whom farmers made sacrifices at the close of harvest.
According to legend, at the beginning of the fourth century a huge snake (sometimes described as a dragon) took possession of the cave and from there proceeded to terrify local inhabitants, who naturally enough, began to pray to God to rid them of this living nightmare and he sent two of his angels to do just that.
By a strange coincidence, Pope Sylvester was there to witness the scene and he decided to dedicate the cave to Saint Michael. Inside the cave, on the walls to the right, there are two paintings of the Virgin Mary with her child and Saint Michael himself, who seems to be guarding the cavern, whilst just beyond that, down two rough marble steps, there is an ossuary placed in a large stone wall that reaches up to half the height of the cave.

Tancia Castle
Guests with a little more vim and vigour can also follow the trail which leads through a ridge in the mountain situated directly in front of the farmhouse to the ruins of Tancia Castle.
Originally a fortified settlement founded in the 10th century AD, half way between the Tiber Valley and Rieti, following the fall of the Carolingian Empire, (the dynasty that founded France and Germany) this is all that has survived.
The ruins are overlooked by a dilapidated tower, that bears a strong resemblance to a minaret, which is typical of Sabine fortifications.
It was obviously used as a look-out tower and during "the war of the three abbots" it provided the perfect hiding place for Abbot Adingolfo.