Each month we highlight a place of interest around the globe that we consider as unique as Borgo di Vagli. The tips are selected as they either show respect for the environment, nature, and architectural beauty or are deeply indigenous to their individual origin and this month we encapsulate all of these components. In his own words newsletter Fulvio highlights his trip to Civita di Bagnoregio and Bolsena.
“…you might have spotted it in an old Italian movie or in some recent TV commercial, but, quite likely, when you are there you’ll find out that that surreal image in front of you was hidden somewhere in the back of your memory…it is so distinctive and unique that you will never forget it.
Personally, I wished to visit it forever but, as always happens, you end up visiting the most distant destinations around the globe and you leave behind what you have on your doorstep.
Civita di Bagnoregio, only 90 mins drive from Borgo di Vagli, will surprise you like something that you couldn’t imagine, with all the thrill of the unknown and impossible…. Civita di Bagnoregio is in fact a miracle of nature and the skills of man.
… some 2500 years ago, the Etruscans lived there, taking advantage of its striking position on the top of a volcanic tuff plateau, overlooking the surrounding fields of the Tiber valley.
But the friability and weakness of the soil slowly, though, inexorably, determined along the centuries its slow decadence, because of the continuous earth erosions, accelerated in the 17th century, by a major earthquake. Since then, Civita di Bagnoregio is known as the “dying town”.
Its weakness, though, made it unique, …the sign of a miracle..: while all the surrounding fields were gradually turning into cliffs (calanchi), the little village was still standing and offering shelters to its people…till now (only seven people permanently live there now!).
The city is also much admired for its architecture spanning several hundred years.
Civita di Bagnoregio
owes much of its unaltered condition to its relative isolation; for this, the town was able to withstand most intrusions of modernity.”
“I very much enjoyed reading the lines of an American travel writer, Rick Steves, who candidly shares his feelings and experience, zig-zagging through the few narrow alleys of Civita…, with the most incredible views around. Exactly the same views the Etruscan experienced 2.500 years ago.
Click here to read the article.
If you visit Civita di Bagnoregio, I highly recommend you make the time and take the opportunity to discover another corner of central Italy, which, otherwise, you may not have considered and visit:
Bolsena,
on the shores of the homonymous lake, founded by the Romans on one of their main roads to the North - Via Cassia.
You shouldn’t miss visiting the castle, with its small museum, and the splendid Romanesque Basilica di Santa Cristina, after or before taking a nice walk along the shores of the lake.
But, probably, the most important reason not to go back home is to take advantage of the rare opportunity to spend the night in an authentic XVth century Palace, personally run by the Count who still lives there; for me, who dedicated half of my life to restore antique architecture, was an incredible experience to actually “live the Renaissance” inside a totally preserved mansion of that time: Palazzo “Il Vesconte” just for your enjoyment, I’m please to share below two short videos of “my suite” with you….
And, of course, last but not least… a couple of good tips for enjoying the great cuisine on the lake; you cannot miss the local fish!!!
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