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Liminal Lab Monti Prenestini emerged as a collaboration between three rural municipalities and Liminal, a network of young talent that works with communities and governments to shape the future of rural areas. Approximately 70% of Italy’s territory consists of municipalities with fewer than 6,000 inhabitants which have been grappling with depopulation, disinvestment, degrading infrastructure, and mounting environmental stress. As a result, their rich cultural, historical, and natural heritage has remained on the margins. Liminal Lab is tackling this condition beginning with a six-week field visit to the municipalities of Castel San Pietro Romano, Capranica Prenestina, and Rocca di Cave. Ten students from MIT, Harvard, and Cornell universities met with local residents and cataloged each town in order to speculate on a target visitor persona and to create a website designed to share the emerging story of this place. This project was made possible through the generous support of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) of the NextGenerationEU program, the MIT Italy Program, national and international professionals, and local organizations.
One of Italy’s Borghi più belli and the gateway to the Monti Prenestini. Visit pre-roman polygonal walls or tour the filming locations for classic Italian film Pane, amore e fantasia.
Home to one of the largest astronomical observatories and site of the first sauropod discovery in Italy. Walk through what was once an ancient, fossil-filled lagoon that used to cover this area.
Two communities in one municipality nestled into the mountains. Hike one of CAI’s trails to nearby towns or learn how to take mosciarella in the Castagneto Prenestino Natural Monument.
We spent six weeks in the summer of 2023 living in Castel San Pietro Romano while learning about the Monti Prenestini and imagining a renewed future for the region. Each community included in the project grant, Castel San Pietro Romano, Capranica Prenestina, and Rocca di Cave, has unique features we believe people searching for slow travel want to experience, which we are highlighting on the Discover Monti Prenestini website.
Liminal was born out of the desire to promote a prosperous, equitable and environmentally responsible future for the Italian territory. We live in an age that requires us to reassess every assumption. How we work is changing. The ways we build community are changing. The behavior of our environment itself is changing, radically. Liminal was founded with a drive to reimagine the relevance of small cities and towns, and help transition them into the exciting, complicated future that lies ahead.
