Dal Borgo alle Cave

A festival that leads the village to the quarries

Dal Borgo alle Cave is the cultural festival that officially kicks off the summer performance season in Riano. Created as a "prequel" to the more famous Teatro nelle Cave, the event brings music, theatre, and literature into the heart of the historic center before audiences move to the spectacular tuff quarries that have made the town famous. It is a simple and beloved formula: a few evenings, all free, in locations that need no set design because the village itself is the stage.

The Castello Baronale and Piazza Piombino

The heart of the festival is the Castello Baronale Boncompagni-Ludovisi, the building that dominates the ancient core of Riano and whose courtyard welcomes the public on summer evenings. Over the years, performances have also been held in Piazza Piombino, the open-air living room of the historic center, reachable on foot after a short climb through alleys and tuff arches. In both cases, the atmosphere is that of a cozy Lazio village: chairs set up outdoors, the audience arriving early, and a show that begins just as the sun sets.

A program of music, comedy, and words

The programming is intentionally diverse and designed for a wide audience. A prominent place is reserved for the Santa Cecilia Conservatory Wind Orchestra of Rome, which is now a regular presence in Riano, featuring young instrumentalists directed by conservatory masters. Alongside the concerts, there is space for comedy theatre and dramatic readings, featuring contemporary texts and educational pieces, as well as costume performances by the local company Carpe Diem Castrum Riani. In some editions, the festival has also hosted evenings of lyric opera, with soloists from the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale performing works by Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, and Leoncavallo.

Riano, between the Veio Park and Rome

Riano is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region, just over twenty kilometers from the capital, in an area of tuff hills included in the Veio Regional Park. The tuff stone itself, extracted for centuries, left behind the quarries that now host the summer theatre festival: an industrial heritage site converted into a cultural space, with illuminated tuff walls and the starry sky instead of a ceiling. Dal Borgo alle Cave tells the first half of this story, the one that still takes place among the village houses.

Organizers

The festival is promoted by the Municipality of Riano with the Associazione Teatro nelle Cave ETS, in collaboration with the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and local associations. Admission to all events is free; for some evenings, reservations are required due to the limited size of the venues.

Why visit

• Free admission to all events.
• An unusual setting: the courtyard of a baronial castle and the village squares.
• Multidisciplinary programming: symphonic wind music, comedy, theatrical readings, and opera.
• An ideal opportunity to discover Riano before Teatro nelle Cave, which continues the season in July.
• Less than an hour from Rome, perfect for an evening out.