Italy, Montopoli di Sabina

On the crest of a green and secluded hillside Montopoli enjoys a sweeping view. Montopoli has Roman origins, from the time of Augustus, and here stood the house of the famous literate Roman general Caius Asinius Pollio. The foundation of the village dates from the second half of the eleventh century AD, around a tower and a castrum, controlled from the nearby Abbey of Farfa until the eighteenth century. Since the fifteenth century the abbey had been turned into commendary by Pope Boniface IX, who had entrusted the government to his nephew. Montopoli then passed to the Orsini and the Felici.