(anc. Reate), a town of the Papal States, capital of a legation of the same name, stands on the slope and at the foot of a hill on the Velino, 42 miles N.N.E. of Rome. It is an ancient place, and contains a Gothic cathedral bearing the date 1456, but since then repeatedly altered. The town-hall (a large edifice in a lofty position), the episcopal palace, churches, convents, and college, are among the public buildings of the town, which is not so much remarkable for any architectural splendour as for the beauty of its situation, and many interesting remains of antiquity in the vicinity. Manufactures of woollen cloth, silk, leather, and glass are carried on here. Pop. 12,600.

The legation of Rieti is bounded on the N. by that of Spoleto, W. by that of Viterbo, S. by the Comarca di Roma, and E. by the Neapolitan province of Abruzzo Ultra; area, 528 square miles. It occupies the western portion of the ancient country of the Sabines, and is traversed by the mountain ridges which separate the valley of the Tiber from that of the Velino, the former of which rivers partly forms its S.W., and the latter its N.E. boundary. The mountain ranges are Monte Gennaro, the ancient Lucretius, in the S.; and Mount Canterius in the N. Besides the Velino, this country is watered by its affluent the Turano, the ancient Telonius, flowing northwards from Naples. The plain of Rieti is exceedingly beautiful and fruitful, covered with woods and vineyards, fields of corn, pulse, hemp, flax, &c., and producing in abundance all kinds of vegetables. Pop. (1853) 73,683.