SARACINESCO

Altitude 908 m (3,000 feet). 172 inhabitants

Placed as a castle above a steep mountaintop

Maybe it was originally populated, in the ninth or tenth century AD, by a handful of Saracens and, curiously, still the facial features of many inhabitants of the town recall the features of people from the Middle East

Monti Ruffi

Ruffi Mountains

Range between the Aniene River (east) and its tributary Torrente Fiumicino (west)

Formed by limestones of the Cretaceous and Miocene eras, with a strongly karstic conformation

Highest peak: MONTE COSTASOLE 1,251 m (4,100 feet)

Other peaks: MONTE CERASOLO 1,194 m (3,900 feet) and MONTE MACCHIA 1,135 m (3,700 feet)