4. Palestrina – Guadagnolo

From here we start
From the historical center of the city of Palestrina we reach Castel San Pietro Romano, perched on the extreme outcrops of the Monti Prenestini, which welcomes the visitor with the remains of the ancient Cyclopean walls of pre-Roman origin. Castel San Pietro has been the scene of numerous cinematic environments and still preserves the original structure intact, almost as if suspended in time, surrounded by breathtaking views overlooking Rome, the Valle del Sacco and the volcanic Colli Albani. From here the Way passes into the heart of the Prenestini Mountains, sedimentary formations of marine origin of the Mesozoic age, which make up the Latium pre-Apennines.

Nature and culture
The route crosses the Natural Monument of the Valle delle Cannucceta, a protected natural area of Lazio since 1995. Rich in springs, part channeled into an underground aqueduct dating back to Roman times, the area has a marked biodiversity both from a faunistic and vegetational
point of view. Then you reach the village of Capranica Prenestina, a small town located on the ridge of the Prenestini Mountains that reach and exceed 1,200 m with Mount Guadagnolo east of Rome, where is the homonymous village of Guadagnolo that represents the non-municipal
town highest in Lazio. Worthy of note is the Museo Civico Naturalistico of the Monti Prenestini, which illustrates to the visitor all the vegetational, faunistic and geological aspects of the area through exhibition systems that follow stimulating and interactive modalities and devices, able to
actively involve the visitor. The Museum is housed inside the Palazzo Barberini, which stands out for its grandeur on the compact building structure of the village. The Palace stands on ancient medieval pre-existences of which there are still testimonies in the internal structure,
while on the outside still preserves intact its noble sixteenth-century structure elegantly articulated between thick weaving in white limestone. Leaving the village of Capranica Prenestina, we find ourselves treading the old roads of transhumance, where environments of bare rock alternate, pastures and dense oak woods. The path that leads up to Guadagnolo develops along the ridges that unite the two countries, offering even in this case unique views,
ranging from the sea to the central Apennine chains.

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