It was a huge religious site located on the shores of Lake Nemi, within the legendary sacred grove dedicated to Diana Nemorensis (or Aricina), a deity of wilderness, fertility and the moon-as well as protector of the lake. The center of religious and political life in the Latin League, it was ruled by the Rex Nemorensis, a king-priest whose succession was by assassination-as Frazer recounts in The golden branch. The monumental complex featured porticoes, statues, altars, baths and a theater; today only a few ruins remain, but the charm of this place is still alive, and much of the sanctuary has yet to be unearthed. Despoiled with the advent of Christianity, the cult of Diana Nemorense survived for more than a thousand years and, according to some, converged with the Old Religion or witchcraft.