Town in the province of Rome, Canale Monterano has a millennial history, dating back to the Bronze Age. An Etruscan center, of which, today, remain some of the tombs scattered along the nearby foothills, that was subsequently conquered by the Romans. The town followed the fate of the Empire and submitted the destructive fury of the Barbarian invasions. The village of Monterano started to flourish only in the early Middle Ages, when it became the Episcopal seat of a large Diocese. During the XVII, the town was ceded in fief to the Altieri family, who commissioned to Gian Lorenzo Bernini to enrich and improve the beauty and the layout of the city. Attributed to this artist is the "capricciosissima" Fountain of the Lion and the Church and the Convent of San Bonaventura.
About a century later, French troops who occupied the Papal put to fire the entire village of Monterano, already partially depopulated due to several plague epidemics. The population, therefore, moved into the district villages of Canale and Montevirginio (originally Mount Sassano and subsequently changed in the current name in honor of Virginio Orsini, founder of the Hermitage).
Sites of Interest:
- the remains of the Etruscan tombs;
- the remains of a Roman aqueduct;
- the evocative remains of the Church of St. Bonaventure, designed by Bernini;
- the famous octagonal shaped "capricciosissima" fountain, designed by Bernini and located in the square in front of the Church of St. Bonaventure;
- the statue of a lion, another artwork of the Bernini, today preserved in the lobby of City Hall;
- the ruins of the Baronial Palazzo Altieri-Orsini;
- the ruins of the Church of San Rocco;
- the Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta, in which is preserved a precious XVII century triptych;
- the XVII century Hermitage of Montevirginio, run by the Carmelites, which was inaugurated in 1668. Its architecture is typical of the Carthusian monasteries, consisting of a single body quadrilateral structure, that surrounds a large courtyard. On the east and west sides, there are a series of apartments, while to the south the Church and to the north the kitchen, the dining hall and the guesthouse;
- Porta Cretella;
- Porta Pradella;
- Porta of St. Bonaventure;
- the Nature Reserve of Monterano.