Rocca Canterano, for many but not for all

Do you know those games where you measure friction by tilting a plane and seeing at which angle the pieces fall? This is the image I've always had of Rocca Canterano, a town suspended in the sky with an inclined wall on one side and a sheer drop over the Aniene valley on the other.

The ancient village occupies the entire ridge of the Costasole mountain and stretches out in the sun between the ancient village and its equally ancient fraction of Rocca di Mezzo.

And in this long line there is everything: the town, the churches, the castle, the restaurant, the soccer field, the future swimming pool, the area for campers, the picnic area and the space for festivals.

If you continue, you enter the magic of nature and arrive at one of the rock faces preferred by the Alpine troops, so much so that the mountain rescue group comes here to train. And I recognize the hand of the designer, one of my most brilliant engineering students: Gianluca Giovannetti.

And nothing ... the engineers have something extra ... even the mayor is an engineer.

I came on a perfect sunny day because Mayor Fulvio Proietti immediately joined the Town Ambassador project that we are implementing together with councilor Alessia Pieretti of the Metropolitan Area of Rome Capital.

He comes to welcome me together with the two young councilors Diego Fioravanti and Ferdinando Cimaglia to show me around the whole village. The clear area shows me the whole Aniene Valley up to Abruzzo region and with surprise everything seems very small, even Subiaco with its imposing monasteries are just dots.

The town is very tidy and once again I find that the businesses are run mainly by women, such as Simona from the grocery store and a very lively Teresa from the kiosk bar between the two towns of Rocca Canterano and Rocca di Mezzo.

And while we take a 'panoramic' coffee (very good) Teresa entertains us with her good humor and gives an unforgettable welcome.

But the women of Rocca Canterano never cease to amaze me because perhaps the most striking example of the spirit of life and joy is that of Leonetta Marcotulli, also known as the Marchesa Della Penne who raced in rallies in Venezuela and Cuba in the 1960s and who once retired she became a refined sculptor.

Leonetta can't see us today and gave her beautiful villa on loan to her municipality so that it could use it for events. Her beautiful sculptures are also scattered throughout the village and make the discovery of the village even more pleasant. Alove that deserves to be remembered and revived.

“We have a couple of people in mind for the Town Ambassador award, think that when there was the last earthquake and the town had problems with the access road, a fellow citizen of ours who lives in Florida paid us for the paving”, the mayor tells me.

We too climb through the town - beyond the road that crosses it and which can be traveled by car - the rest of the town resembles the island of Santorini with its streets of stairways and small hairpin bends. But it's worth it.

We arrive at the courtyard of Palazzo Moretti and then even higher up at the belvedere where we all dream of a cable that connects this point to the Agosta sports field for one of the most exciting 'flights of the angel'. But it's a dream and none of us have tried to jump.

Maybe if we all think about it together it will come true.

But certainly, this viewpoint is not suitable for those who suffer from vertigo. We are exactly above the vertical wall of the Costasole and, if you look down, the view is lost in a vortex of images.

And as we go back down, I see the beautiful little square of the oven with a building with two renovated arches and another house next to it that seems to be between an ancient fortress and a crib house.

“That house is municipal property and is on sale for 1 euro. We recovered it from 100 heirs and put it up for sale. But the houses in Sicily make a lot more noise and we haven't assigned it yet."

If someone likes to go out of time, or if someone is passionate about the mountains and wants to have a foothold two meters from the sky, then you can contact the mayor who will be happy to show you the building.

But even if you are a 'cuckold', in fact San Martino is celebrated in Rocca Canterano on 11 November with the festival dedicated to all cuckolds in which the 'cuckold of the year' is elected.

We say goodbye with two books that talk about Rocca Canterano and which are a real joy for my small library in Lazio.