The Conference aims to investigate the landscapes of the sacred in a well-defined geographical context, that of the Valley of the Aniene, along the historical route of the Via Tiburtina Valeria which connects the upper Sabina to the Apennines. The diachronic perspective adopted - from protohistory to the modern age - allows us to explore transformations and continuity of phenomena related to the sacred through archaeological evidence, literary sources and cultural landscapes. This methodological approach brings the past closer to the present, offering new keys of interpretation not only for specialists but also for local communities and a wider public.
The initiative is the conclusion of a journey begun in 2022 within a project on PNRR funds of the CHANGES foundation (Spoke 1, WP5) that saw participation, Among others, members of the Department of Sciences of Antiquity and the Department of History Anthropology Religions Performing Arts (SARAS) of the Sapienza University of Rome. Entitled "The sacred landscape along the Aniene and the Via Tiburtina Valeria: archaeological contexts and ancient texts", the project has integrated distinct approaches: archaeological-topographical, philological and historical, This has made it possible to reconstruct the various cultural and religious stratifications of the territory studied.
The reports, distributed in two days (the first at the Shrine of Hercules Victor in Tivoli - MiC, the second in Sapienza), are aimed to outline a detailed and interdisciplinary picture of the relationship between sacred and territory in the Valley of Aniene, exploring transversal themes such as the shrines of summits, the sacred waters, the cult of divinities like Hercules and the impact of Christianization on the landscape, also through the analysis of historical and literary sources.