page_title: Rieti Valley
section_title: Origin
hierarchical_section_title: Rieti Valley / Origin
caption_attribution_description: English: Plastic model showing the extension of the ancient Velino lake. Archaeologic museum of Rieti, Italy. Italiano: Plastico che mostra l'estensione dell'antico lago Velino. Museo archeologico di Rieti.
context_page_description: The Rieti Valley or Rieti Plain is a small plain in central Italy, where lies the city of Rieti, Lazio. It is also known as Sacred Valley and Holy Valley since saint Francis of Assisi lived here for many years and erected four shrines, which have become the destination of pilgrims.
  It is the center of the Sabine region and an important part of the province of Rieti. Originated from the draining of the ancient Lake Velino, it is crossed by the Velino river and bordered by Monti Reatini and Sabine Mountains.
context_section_description: In prehistory the Rieti Valley was entirely occupied by a large lake which ancient Romans called Lake Velinus, since its tributary was the Velino river. The lake was formed during the quaternary, when limestone carried by water in the river deposited in the tight canyon where it flowed, shortly before joining the Nera river, near the present-day village of Marmore. As a result, the riverbed was occluded and the Rieti Plain was flooded becoming a lake. The water level in the lake rose and lowered several times during the centuries, favouring the formation of wide marshy zones around the lake where it was insalubrious to live because of malaria.
  For this reason in 271 BC (after the ancient Romans having defeated the Sabines and acquired control of the area), consul Manius Curius Dentatus decided to drain the lake by digging an artificial canal in the limestone rock at Marmore. This imposing engineering achievement created Cascata delle Marmore, a 165 m (541 feet) tall waterfall by means of which the Velino river could flow again into the Nera river, and allow the large and fertile valley to be farmed. Of the original great lake only some minor lakes remain, the largest being Lago di Piediluco.
  After the fall of the Roman Empire, lack of maintenance caused the canal to become obstructed again and in the Middle Ages the lake partially reformed.
  New draining interventions were ordered in 1545 by Pope Paul III; Antonio da Sangallo the Younger was charged to dig a new canal, but died of malaria in 1546 before the works were completed. Only in 1596 pope Clement VIII ordered new interventions, and Giovanni Fontana completed the new canal, ultimately draining the valley.
  Even if the lake disappeared, the recurring floods of the Velino river still caused trouble to farmers, disrupting their cultivations. This problem was solved in the Fascist era, when two large dams were built along the course of the two main tributaries of Velino (rivers Salto and Turano) to control their flow. As a result, the large artificial lakes Salto and Turano were formed (around 20 km SE from the Rieti plain).
caption: Plastic model on display at the Civic Museum of Rieti, showing the extent of ancient Velino Lake
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