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Lake Turano certainly has more articles illustrating its beauty than its resident population. In the province of Rieti, at 607 meters above sea level, the basin is of artificial origin and was created in 1939 with the construction of the Turano dam. Castel di Tora is on the northeastern shore of Lake Turano.
Visiting the village means entering an atmosphere of medieval flavor, a past lived until 1864 under the name of Castelvecchio. A historical affair shared for centuries with the nearby community of Colle di Tora also named Collepiccolo until that year.
The references to Tora are meant to recall, in addition to the river of the same name, an ancient town in Sabina well known but still of uncertain geographical location. A historical path of domains of noble families (Brancaleoni, Orsini, Barberini) and the birth of the artificial lake deliver us today a valuable unspoiled crib.
We are in the Monte Navegna and Monte Cervia Nature Reserve characterized by a dense forest of Mediterranean scrub. Where every slow walk, admiring nature, is what is called a real “health walk.” Also overlooking the lake are the towns of Ascrea and Paganico Sabino.
The whole environment concurs to consider this area as extremely interesting especially for slow type of tourism. The one that appreciates the places visited after experiencing them unhurriedly, meditating, savoring local flavors and admiring every environmental, architectural and artistic aspect.
In the old town, the Church of St. John the Evangelist and the scenic Triton Fountain in the main square are worth seeing.
Small alleys, arches, houses leaning on each other, with stairways and narrow passages that also open to panoramic views of the lake. or to the narrow entrances of natural caves and cellars carved into the rock. An ancient air that is preserved despite the modern era’s attempts to appropriate such peace.
A motorcycle that rumbles through the village, but soon disappears in the knowledge that it is foreign to it. The voice of a television set coming out of a window, but it is turned off shortly after because it is Sunday and it is lunchtime.
As is easy to imagine, on peasant tables it is the farinaceous-based dishes that take center stage (but appreciable is also the cooking of lake fish). Here they take the form of distinctive recipes that feature authoritatively in the two most important local festivals.
The first is polentone, at the top on the first Sunday of Lent, almost as a consolation for the narrowness of the period. Slow-cooked in a cauldron, it is served with a lean sauce of cod, herring, tuna, and anchovies.
The second is strigliozzi,, on the last Sunday in September, consisting of a long handmade pasta (and who knows if the name somehow evokes Umbrian strangozzi).
To complete the picture of the most important festivals, we mention Sant’Anatolia on the second Sunday in July. A three-day festival-with the statue of the saint carried from the monastery of the same name to the aforementioned church of St. John the Evangelist-that ends with the “Pantasima”dance and fireworks over the lake.
