Archangel or goddess?- Lake Nemi

Archangel or goddess? A new trail raises questions about the pagan past at Lake Nemi
By Manny Tejeda-Moreno | July 17, 2021

NEMI, Italy – Earlier this month, the hilltop town of Nemi, Italy, opened a nature trail to small cave that served as a hermitage site for local monks. But the trail bears the name of Saint Michael the Archangel, raising questions about the name and its relation to the famous Temple of Diana on the shores of the eponymous lake.

The town of Nemi is famous for being the site of the Temple of Diana Nemorensis, whose cult was immortalized by James George Frazer in The Golden Bough and attested in Roman antiquity by the Roman poet and historian Livy.

The Temple of Diana was constructed when the Roman king Servius Tullius, after learning of Diana’s celebrated temple at Ephesus, convinced the Latin people that a temple of similar grandeur should be built and dedicated to the goddess. The Temple of Diana was built and remained in use as late as the 4th Century C. E.

The Sanctuary of Diana at Nemi pre-dates the temple in Rome where the worship of Diana was, according to foundation stories, instigated by Orestes, son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. The temple site in the Sanctuary was built around 300 B. C. E. Indeed, celebrations may have begun six centuries before the common era, with suggestions that worship of some sort took place in the are some 10,000 years B. C. E.

Lake Nemi: The Mirror of Diana [Photo Credit: Manny Tejeda-Moreno]

The veneration of Diana continued into the 4th century and formally ended as an overt practice with the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire.

Nemi lies within the Regional Park of Castelli Romani in the Alban Hills, and both the park service and the township have been eager to invigorate travel to the area.

The town has avidly embraced its relationship with Diana. Last year, even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, they began celebrating the Ides of Diana to “promote the history and culture of Nemi” through “the re-enactment of the festival in honor of the goddess Diana, which took place every 13th of August and called together women from all over the Peninsula. ”

The current trail restoration is part of their economic reinvigoration. Mayor Alberto Bertucci described the project as a joint activity between the park service, the town, and the local Catholic parish.

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