Sapori in cammino - The Oil Trail: A Wellness Journey

A walk that tastes of new oil

Sapori in cammino is the annual event where the Municipality of Montelibretti, in the province of Rome, celebrates its identity every late September: that of a village in the Roman Sabina surrounded by ancient olive groves and crossed by one of the routes of the St. Francis Way. It is neither a traditional food festival nor a simple hike: it is a hybrid format where the walk becomes the thread that ties together spirituality, landscape, and gastronomic culture.

The subtitle chosen for the most recent edition, The Oil Trail: A Wellness Journey, perfectly summarizes the spirit of the event. DOP Sabina extra virgin olive oil is not just a product to be tasted: it is the key to understanding an entire territory, its hills, its slow rhythms, and a Mediterranean diet that is practiced here long before it is talked about.

How the day unfolds

The now-established formula has remained consistent over the years. The morning begins with a mass, which recalls the Franciscan dimension of the event, followed by the gathering of participants along via Roma in the town center. Registration for the walk has always been free and open to everyone, with no membership or sports certification required: it is a non-competitive route of about 5 kilometers, suitable for families, children, and casual walkers.

The track follows the paths that descend from the town toward the countryside, in a landscape dominated by the silvery foliage of olive trees. The arrival point is the Parco della Resistenza, the large municipal green space that transforms into an exhibition village for the entire day.

The taste village at Parco della Resistenza

The gastronomic heart of the event is concentrated here. The stalls remain active for most of the day and offer:

• Guided tastings of DOP Sabina extra virgin olive oil, with tasting counters managed by local producers and protection consortia
• A traditional lunch based on Sabina products, prepared in collaboration with the local Hotel Management School
• Typical products and preserves, from jams to cheeses, along with exhibitors of local crafts — ceramics and textiles
• Demonstrations of handmade pasta, with local women busy preparing fettuccine seasoned according to traditional recipes

Beyond the table: afternoon meetings

One of the elements that distinguishes Sapori in cammino from many similar events is the institutional round table in the afternoon. Around a theme such as Between taste, spirituality, and health, local administrators, representatives of olive oil consortia, nutritionists, and slow tourism experts gather. It is a moment that gives depth to the event and connects it to a broader reflection on the enhancement of the inland areas of Lazio.

Over the years, the event has received the patronage of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry and the contribution of Arsial, the regional agency for agricultural development, as well as the collaboration of Coldiretti Lazio, the Città dell'Olio association, and the Monti Lucretili Regional Natural Park.

Montelibretti and the Roman Sabina

Montelibretti is located just over forty kilometers from Rome, in that strip of the province where the Roman countryside fades into the Sabina. It is a territory that in recent years has chosen to focus on pilgrimage routes — the St. Francis Way and the Lazio Ways — as a lever for a different kind of tourism, made of short stops, widespread hospitality, and zero-kilometer products.

Those who participate in Sapori in cammino have the opportunity to discover, in a single day, an agricultural landscape that is still intact and a community that identifies with its own products. The walk, the mass, the shared lunch at the park: these are the simple gestures of a village festival, read however with a new awareness of the value of the oil and the territory that produces it.

An event not to be confused

It should be noted that there is an identically named event, Sapori in Cammino, which takes place in Cabella Ligure in Val Borbera, Piedmont: this is a completely different event with no connection to the one in Montelibretti.