Fara in Sabina (a town of approximately 13,000 inhabitants in the Sabina hills, province of Rieti. 45km north of Rome on Via Salaria) is the gateway to the Sabina olive oil territory and the administrative base for visiting the Abbazia di Farfa (the Benedictine abbey 3km from the town center, one of the most historically important religious institutions in medieval Italy). The Farfa abbey (founded in the 7th century, rebuilt in the 8th century after destruction by the Lombards, and elevated to immediate subjection to the Holy See, the exemption from local episcopal jurisdiction that the Popes granted to the most powerful monasteries, under the Carolingian period) was at its 9th-century peak the wealthiest and most powerful Benedictine house in Italy after Montecassino: its landholdings extended from the Tiber to the Adriatic, it had the right to collect tolls on Via Salaria, and its scriptorium produced the specific Carolingian manuscripts that document the early medieval Sabina culture. The Farfa sacramentary (the liturgical book produced at the Farfa scriptorium in the 10th century, now in the Vatican Library) is among the most important surviving examples of early medieval Italian manuscript illumination.
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Fara in Sabina: Abbey and Olive Oil
The Abbazia di Farfa
The Abbazia di Farfa (Via del Monastero, Fara Sabina, open Monday-Saturday 9:00-12:00 and 15:00-18:00, Sunday 10:00-12:00 and 15:00-18:00. Admission free or minimal donation. The abbey church is accessible. The cloister and scriptorium by guided visit arranged with the monastic community) is still an active Benedictine monastery: approximately 20 monks maintain the monastic life and operate the abbey farm, shop (the Farfa products, honey, liqueurs, herbal preparations, olive oil, sold at the abbey store), and the cultural program (the Farfa cultural association organizes concerts and exhibitions in the abbey spaces). The church (the 11th-century nave, the 15th-century cloister, the 18th-century facade) and the cloister (the Romanesque-Gothic double arcade around the garden) are the primary architectural monuments.
Sabina DOP Olive Oil at Farfa
Fara in Sabina is the commercial center of the Sabina DOP olive oil zone (the oldest Italian olive oil DOP, established 1996, covering the production area from the Tiber north of Rome to the Rieti basin, with the Carboncella, Leccino, Raja, and Frantoio varieties on the limestone-clay Sabina hills). The Fara in Sabina November market (the Sabina olive oil harvest market, held annually in November when the olives are pressed, the largest olive oil direct-sale market in the Sabina zone, with dozens of producers selling the new oil directly) is the most productive single opportunity to buy genuine Sabina DOP oil at producer prices.
Q&A: Fara in Sabina and Farfa Abbey
How do I combine the Farfa abbey with the Sabina olive oil circuit?
The optimal Fara in Sabina day: morning at the Farfa abbey (2 hours, the church, the cloister, the abbey shop for the first oil buy). Late morning at the Fara in Sabina historic center (the medieval borgo (historic village) on the hill above the modern town. 45 minutes). Lunch at one of the Sabina agriturismi (the farms that serve the Sabina lunch of bruschetta with new oil, sheep cheese, and local cured meats). Afternoon olive oil producer visits (the Sabina DOP producers who open their frantoi during the November harvest). From Rome: 45 minutes by regional train (Fiumicino-Orte line, stop Fara Sabina-Montelibretti).
