Capranica Prenestina On the trail

The cliff sanctuary of the Mentorella on the Prenestini ridge

Capranica Prenestina

The road up ends at a ledge on the rock face and the church is built onto it, with the Giovenzano valley dropping away below. Behind the altar is the cave where Benedict is said to have lived before Subiaco.

How the day goes

  1. Park where the road stops and walk the last stretch in under the cliff.
  2. The church, the cave, and the balcony over the valley — the drop does most of the talking.
  3. Up the ridge to Guadagnolo, the highest inhabited village in Lazio, and the Redeemer monument.
  4. Clear weather puts the whole Apennine line in front of you from up there.

A working sanctuary kept by monks rather than a monument with a ticket desk: come for the silence and the cliff, not for a programme of visits.

Where it is

Capranica Prenestina at its real position from Rome, with everywhere else we list behind it — so you can see how far out this one is.

Capranica Prenestina, and where it is from Rome Capranica Prenestina drawn at its real position relative to Rome, about 62 minutes by car. The faint dots are the other places we list, so you can see how far out this one is. 62 min Rome Capranica Prenestina

Open it where the roads are

Takes you to Capranica Prenestina — the town, not the meeting point. Check with the operator where exactly to turn up: their own page is linked further up.

Getting there

Getting there, the comfortable way

  • 1 h 02drive from the middle of Rome
  • 60 kmeach way

  • Rent a car for the day

    The day stays yours: you leave when you want, stop where you want, and come back when the light goes.

    • You pick it up in Rome and drop it back in Rome
    • No timetable to build the day around
    • The stops on the way are the good part, and they need a car

    Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Localrent, and anything about that booking goes through them.

    See prices on Localrent

  • Have a driver take you, door to door

    No parking to find, no wrong turns, and you leave when the day is done.

    • Picked up where you are staying, dropped back there
    • No parking to find and no ZTL to worry about
    • Nobody spends the day driving

    Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Welcome Pickups, and anything about that booking goes through them.

    See prices on Welcome Pickups

Also around Capranica Prenestina

Capranica Prenestina In the old stones

The sanctuary of Mentorella

A sanctuary at Capranica Prenestina.

Free — nothing to pay

Just turn up

See the day

More on the trail

A stony ridge path across open highland On the trail

Monte Soratte from Sant'Oreste

6.8 km and 691 metres of climbing, with a guide and never more than ten of you.

€49 per person

Books on Nature of Sal — Salvatore Benintende

See the day
A child in a harness crossing a rope bridge between trees On the trail

A morning in the trees

Clip into a harness and cross the trees: from age four there is a course to do.

€5 per person

Books on ViviAvventura

See the day

We have not verified this one yet. Everything below comes from the operator and we have not checked it — treat it as a lead, not as a listing.

Photograph by Umbowiki, Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0. Not this place: it shows what the day looks like, and will be replaced with the operator's own photograph or ours from the field.

Links marked affiliate pay us a commission — you pay the operator's own price and we never take your money. How we rank