Our trip begins in Narni, which contends with Rieti for the title of the “center of Italy.” The area is rich with aqueducts and springs (the area boasts 7) one of which is dedicated to the Goddess Feronia, one of the most ancient deities in the Umbro-Sabine tradition. The goddess represented spring and, in Narni, had developed a cult of worshippers, The city itself is an important crossroad: the Via Flaminia splits here to become the Flaminia Nova & the Flaminia Vetus which then rejoins itself in the northeast at the city of Foligno. Perhaps the road’s most famous monument is the Bridge of Augustus, which was built by the emperor on the Nera River in 21 BC on the occasion of the road’s split. Of the bridge’s original 160 meters, only the first arch still stands. The bridge isn’t the only monument near the Via Flaminia, and if the topic of water is being addressed, then one must mention the Formina aqueduct. This ancient Roman aqueduct supplied the city until the early 1900s and it is still possible to visit the passageways of Saint Blaise and of Monte Ippolito by walking across the Cardona Bridge, which is the continuation of the Formina aqueduct and actually the geographic center of the Peninsula.

Our last stop before leaving Narni is the “Grotta di Orlando” (Cave of Orlando), which is filled with mysterious symbols from the pre-Roman era belonging to the cult of water and fertility. Among the most interesting things to see sculpted in the rock are a double phallus, intended as a good luck charm, a half-moon shape, and an oddly shaped sculpture which is believed to be a symbol representing the female sex organ. Legend has it that they could possibly be the footprints of Orlando’s horse. Among the other sculptural reliefs are a seabird, a ship, a dolphin and a star, which is also considered a fertility symbol.