Mount Cacume belongs to the group of Lepine Mountains and has the characteristic cone shape.
It ends with a cross placed in 1903 and visible from a great distance.
The mountain has a remarkable variety of vegetation due to the particular microclimate influenced by the sea and the Apennines hinterland.
It is one of the few mountains in the area to have rich water resources since the cone is actually a large natural reservoir thanks to the geology of the karst ground.
In the Middle Ages there was a strategic settlement of the Counts de Ceccano here, of which today remain portions of towers and walls. This "Castrum" was mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatory verses 25-27): "Vassi in Sanleo e discendesi in Nolli; montasi su in Bismantova e in Cacume con esso i piè; ma qui convien che omo voli".
Dante wants readers to understand the difficulties of the steep uphill path of the Mount of Purgatory that is being travelled with Virgil and he draws up a list of places with difficult access.
The mountain can be seen well from the Via Latina that the poet travelled to Naples.
On the summit of the mountain is a cross 14 meters high, weighing 40 tons. It was brought in single piece up to the top in 1903 by the inhabitants of Patrica.
Here is also a small church of Immacolata that was consecrated in 1906, then damaged by war and bad weather and finally recently rebuilt.
Every year during the feature "Feast of the Cross" in July and in September, people come to Mount after about 100 minute walk for an original tasting of typical dishes.
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