Pizzuti

Took some time off for lunch at one of the first Roman centres in the territory of the Sabina.
Forum Novum was a small Roman town in the Sabine Hills, 50 km north of Rome. In the middle ages it became a village called Vescovio, which was tiny but had a very important church. The British School at Rome has researched the area around the Tiber between 1000 BC and AD 1300, investigating how human settlement of the area changed over time.
There are only low walls left and many assumptions so I didn't photograph it!
The church of Santa Maria, was a cathedral until 1495, when the diocesan headquarters was moved to Magliano Sabina. The church was destroyed in the ninth century by the Saracens, then rebuilt and restored several times. A dig found the remains of a building that may have been the original church, dating back to the fifth century AD. Most of the remains are 12C, including the bell tower.
Its main claim to fame now is that it was a favourite retreat for Pope John XXIII who came many times both privately and officially.
The grubs not bad either.Read more