Ancient Praeneste built something Italy had never seen: the sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, second century BC, a sacred mountain of Hellenistic terraces on which the entire old town now rests. At the top, the Colonna Barberini palace houses the archaeological museum and the celebrated Nile mosaic, an absolute masterpiece of ancient art.
Around 1525 the town gave birth to Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the reformer of sacred polyphony who carried its name through the centuries. This Lazio centre of 20,498 residents, on the Via Prenestina that descends from Praeneste, binds monumental antiquity and music like few places on earth.
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📅 Every year, from 17 to 19 August, with the Palio di Sant'Agapito; co-patron Saint Rosalia is celebrated on 4 September
Palestrina celebrates Saint Agapitus the martyr from 17 to 19 August, the town's most important feast, enlivened by the Palio di Sant'Agapito, a contest among the four historic districts; the co-patron is Saint Rosalia, celebrated on 4 September.
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The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
