Surroundings

An Unesco heritage site and one of the most beautiful parks in Europe, according to Briggs & Stratton, the enchanting garden on the outskirts of Tivoli, a few kilometers from Rome, is visited every year by 600,000 people. Its splendid monuments, fountains, and enchanting water works inspired even the music of Franz Liszt, who spent long periods of his life in this villa. The palace of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, son of the infamous Lucrezia Borgia, designed by the renowned architect Pirro Ligorio, will transport the visitor to an atmosphere of another time. The numerous fountains, fed by the channels of the river Aniene and arranged in the style of an Italian garden of unparalleled beauty, alternate between century-old cypress and sequoia trees. The fountain of the hydraulic organ is still working today and never ceases to fascinate the visitors with its prodigious music.

Built in 117 A.D. by the Emperor Hadrian, it is the most important and complex ancient Roman villa remaining, even bigger than Pompeii. A few kilometers from Rome, near Tivoli, in an area already owned by its wife Vibia Sabina, the great sovereign who completed many stupendous buildings in the city (the Pantheon, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Temple of Venus and Rome, etc.) commissioned his ideal mansion, decorating it with copies of the most beautiful classic monuments he saw during his various travels: Liceo, Accademia, Pecile, Canopo, Vale of Tempe. As if this were not enough, temples, baths, theaters, gardens, libraries, lavish triclinium and elegant fountains contribute to the creation of one of the most unique places in the world, among the most evocative classic sites ever known. This ancient-era Versailles, as many love to call it, is the testimony of the extraordinary level achieved by Roman architecture, as well as the highest tier of development of which Hadrian, a progressive emperor, refined poet and audacious architect, is the icon.

At 40 kilometers from Rome emerges the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, a cult site of ancient Praeneste, masterpiece of Roman and Hellenistic art. The cult of Fortuna was linked to fertility but also to prophetic arts, therefore this sanctuary was one of the most venerated in the Roman world. On the remains of this monumental sacred ground, the prestigious families, first Colonna, then Barberini, built their own residential palaces maintaining some evidence of the original structure and creating in this way a unique example of integration between classic and Renaissance art. Today the palace hosts an archeological museum which contains, among the countless wonders, the celebrated mosaic representing the flooding of the Nile, coming from the forum of the ancient city and designed by the Alexandrian artists in the same period in which the sanctuary was built, II Century B.C.; an important testimony, not just of the extraordinary taste of the time but also of the solid connection between the Roman and the Egyptian cultures during the Hellenistic era. The mosaic, for dimensions, artistic value and state of conservation, is unique to Italy. The tour includes the visit to the sanctuary, to the archeological museum and a stroll through the historical center of the city.

An ideal destination to escape the bustle of the city and retreat in a secluded angle hidden between the Simbruini Mountains where St. Benedict and his sister St. Scholastica founded two monasteries. Immersed in the mystery of the Benedictine spirituality, we will visit the Monastery of the Sacro Speco (the holy cave) with an enchanting view on the Valley of the Aniene below. The sacro speco, the cave itself, is open to visitors and is where St. Benedict spent three years in seclusion before founding the monastic order named after him and which spread the monastic practices in the West. The monastery below, St. Scholastica, adds an immeasurable historic value to the spirituality of the site: the splendid decorations and captivating frescoes make the rooms which hosted the oldest Italian printer even more enthralling: here a Latin grammar was printed with movable type for the first time. The visit to these intriguing sites will be topped off with a delicious snack in a typical local restaurant in the area; for example the one on the Rocca di Borgia, where the famous Lucrezia was born.

A favorite holiday destination of Roman nobles since ancient times thanks to the optimal geographical position between the lakes of Albano and Nemi, Ariccia, in the XVII Century, was acquired by the powerful Chigi family and from the same pope who commissioned to Bernini and his school the decorations and colonnade of the Basilica of St. Peter’s, Alessandro VII Chigi. This same pope assigned to the genius Gian Lorenzo Bernini the project for the rearrangement of the urban plan of the village. The walk includes a visit to the Chiesa dell’Assunta – willed by the pope – and Palazzo Ducale – a unique example of a baroque mansion which remained unaltered in its surrounding context and its original furnishings, showing the splendor of one of the greatest Italian papal lineages. Right here the remarkable director Luchino Visconti shot his cinematic masterpiece, Il Gattopardo. A walk through the nearby area and a must-see stop in one of the traditional fraschette for a snack of porchetta and other local products, together with the wine of the castelli, will make an unforgettable experience.

Some Greek monks coming from southern Italy in the Byzantine era and guided by St. Nilo of Rossano decided to establish their own monastery here, the Greek Abbey of Grottaferrata, that is the last of the many Byzantine monasteries prevalent in the Middle Ages. In the hills of the ancient Tusculum, a city even older than Rome, and on the ruins of an immense Roman villa, most likely a property of Cicero, the saints Nilo and Bartholomew had a vision of the Madonna and so, on that same site, built a sanctuary.

The walk includes a visit to the buildings of the ancient Roman villa, the Basilica of St. Mary and the famous Chapel Farnesiana, from the name of the cardinal who, in 1609, commissioned the sublime frescoes to Domenichino and Annibale Carracci. A stroll in the surroundings, in the area of the ancient Tusculum, and a break for lunch in one of the best local osteria around, will make the trip to one of the most elegant and visited residential and holiday spots of the Castelli Romani, one to remember!

The most famous of the castelli Romani, known for the villas of Tusculum which the noble Roman families built in the Alban Hills during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, is also an established “city of wine”. The name Castelli Romani, actually does not refer to real castles but to the lavish mansions that the popes and noble families used as summer homes, set in breath-taking landscapes, between volcanic lakes, stretches of lush greenery and with the benefit of exquisite local dishes and wines. Frascati offers to its visitors a DOP wine (a European designation that certifies local and high-quality products); the Frascati white, most loved by popes, and various DOCG (a higher level designation) to enjoy together with salumi (cold-cut meats) and local typical sweets. Since 1959 Frascati is also known as the city of poetry, with its allurement and captivation inspired eminent Italian poets who decided to meet here on a regular basis. The walk includes a visit to one of the most commemorated villas, to the cathedral of St. Peter and to the bishop’s palace, and, in addition, a notable food and wine experience.

The name Ostia is derived from Ostium (river mouth), and Ostia Tiberina, first name of the city, referred directly to the “door” of the Tiber River from which Romulus and Remus, according to the legend, went up the river in a basket before being found and nursed by the she-wolf. In Ostia, long ago, the Tiber ended its course in correspondence of the remains of the ancient Porto Fluviale. First a Roman colony, founded, following the myth, by the King Ancus Marcius, today it is among the most visited archeological sites in the world, and the third in Italy. A visit to the scavi offers a unique opportunity to re-live the ordinary daily life in Ancient Rome. Inhabited by merchants, soldiers, manual laborers and artisans, Ostia was a warehouse and a sorting center of goods destined for Rome, and, for this reason, it grew in richness, wealth and prestige. Shops and public spaces, including theaters, baths, termopoli (ancient bars) and a Capital Ostiense (Campidoglio Ostiense) in the Forum of the city, substituted during the years the ancient castrum (military camp). A harbor city and a junction between the only means of communication of that time, Ostia, from the beginning had a cosmopolitan soul: here people of different customs and traditions lived together in harmony. In Ostia we can admire the ruins of sites dedicated to various cults, from Mithraism to the cult of Isis; here we find also the oldest synagogue in Europe. Connected to the whole Mediterranean, Ostia recounts the life of the Romans in all of its aspects, above-all in reference to the period following the destruction of Pompeii (79 A.D.).