The Natural monument Valle delle Cannuccete in the municipality of Castel San Pietro Romano (RM), several km from Palestrina, was established as a protected nature reserve in 1995. The protected area covers a surface area of 20 hectares and includes the Cannuccete wood which features acers, turkey oaks and hornbeams that are centuries old and have never been pruned in order to protect springs for the Roman aqueduct that fed Praenestre. The aqueduct and the polygonal walls were built in the 6th century BCE.
The park houses a wide range of fauna and flora, featuring species typically found in the hilly and sub mountainous areas of Lazio. This area is home, in particular, to the green woodpecker and the great spotted woodpecker. The “Palestrina” oak, a giant 22 m high with a trunk circumference of 6.23 m stands out in the Cannuccete wood. Legend holds that the tree influenced the great Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina who apparently went into the forest in search of inspiration for his compositions. This would make the oak more than 500 years old.
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