Agricultural settlements of theCapenati andFalisci in the area are attested from the 5th or 4th centuries BC. In the 6th century AD a popular pilgrimage church, entitled to St. Abondius and Abondantius, was created here; the saints' relics were moved to Rome, on theTiber Island, in 999. In 1159Pope Adrian IV died at Rignano.
Rignano was first a possession ofSanta Maria in Trastevere and then of theSavelli family, who were shortly ousted byPope Alexander VI. After the fall of theBorgia, the Savelli regained it and held the fief until 1607, when they sold it to theBorghese. It later passed to the Muti, theCesi and the Massimo families.
