Civita di Bagnoregio is a magical, surreal, fantastic place located on top of a tuff hill that can only be reached by crossing a narrow pedestrian bridge. From there you can enjoy one of the most stunning panoramic views of the whole Lazio region. Nick-named "the town that is dying", due to the constant erosion of the tuff rocks where it is placed, this citadel half-way between Orvieto and Lake Bolsena has Etruscan and Medieval origins. Suspended in time and space, Civita di Bagnoregio is beyond doubt one of the most beautiful and characteristic Italian villages. On foggy days, this wonderful town seems literally suspended in mid-air. #city #cityoverlook #citytopics #cityvacation #cityneversleeps #village #architecture #tripinspired #tripaway #comeandsee #italy #bestislandtraveltowns#culturalattractions#naturalwonders

Capranica lies among the Cimini mountains atop a tuffaceous stronghold over the ancient Via Cassia. It is just 27 kilometers from Viterbo and only 60 kilometers from Rome. The picturesque old town center, rural churches, traditional events and food festivals all invite you to stay and admire all this beauty. Its interesting history can be discovered simply by walking through the narrow streets that hide traces of a glorious past. The town's strategic position above the only crossroad between southern and central Etruria made it an important junction from the Middle Ages. The old abbey's remains, nowadays called Torri di Orlando, are just one of many witnesses of Capranica's ancient splendour. Capranica was residence of the famous poet, Francesco Petrarca, a guest of the noble family of Anguillara, grand art benefactors. The pretty village was founded around the 8thcentury by the citizens of Vicus Matrini, who escaped the destruction of their own hamlet. Among the main monuments, you will want to see the church of Santa Maria, designed in 1886 by Renzo Vespignani. This pretty church preserves the statue of Madonna delle Grazie, made in 1808; a stunning painting dated back to the XII-XIII centuries representing the Benedictory Saviour; a splendid triptych with saints dating back to the XV-XVI century and a XV-century sanctuary. The Romanesque Church of San Francesco retains the marble tomb of the twin brothers, Francesco and Nicola Anguillara, who died between 1406 and 1408. You will love the XVI-century Duomo (cathedral) of San Giovanni with its Romanesque bell tower, as well as the Church of Madonna del Piano, located just 500 metres from the town center along the Via Cassia towards Viterbo, with a splendid façade, attributed to Vignola. #city #cityoverlook #citytopics #cityvacation #cityneversleeps #village #architecture #tripinspired #tripaway #comeandsee #bestislandtraveltowns#naturalwonders

The tiny town of Bomarzo seems other-worldly as its stone center reaches upward on the hilltop. Located near Viterbo, it is one of the few towns in the area that without Roman roots. It is in the center of ancient Etruria, which was a center of Etruscan culture, but Bomarzo was primarily the seat of a branch of the Orsini family. When the powerful Orsini and Farnese families forged a merger by marriage, Vicino Orsini and his bride Giulia Farnese made Bomarzo their residence and built a palace worthy of their wealth and status. The Orsini crest is emblazoned on buildings all over town. They also gave the village's little church a Renaissance facade while keeping the heavy stone bell tower in its orginal medieval state. Bomarzo is sketched with narrow streets and the buildings cuddle up together. It has a pretty town hall with an archway, a clock tower and a terrace with a view. While the town is charming, Bomarzo is best known for the "parco dei mostri" or Monster Park. Commissioned in the 1500s, it was undertaken by Piro Ligorio, who built the Villa d'Este in Tivoli and contains enormous, surreal, and sometimes grotesque larger-than-life sculptures portraying mythology and oddity. #citytopics #city #cityoverlook #cityvacation #tripinspired #bestislandtraveltowns#naturalwonders

#holidayvacation Caprarola, located between the consular roads Cassia and Flaminia, represents one of the most significant urban examples of the 16th century. During the Middle Ages the country was disputed by several feudal families and in the 16th century it reached its maximum splendor, when the Farnese family significantly extended their domain by building sumptuous villas and castles. Among these, the most representative residence was built both in terms of wealth and power, the Palazzo Farnese. Perched on a tufaceous spur Caprarola is placed between the consular roads, now state roads, Cassia and Flaminia. Despite being immersed in the ancient Etruscan territory, Caprarola throws its roots in the epoch of the very latest in particular, we have the first news of the existence of stable settlements around the XI century, this, as happened also for Ronciglione, because of the Cimini Mountains anciently called selva Cimina and considered the territory impervious and impenetrable. During the Middle Ages it was contended by several families feudatarie, in 1275 we have evidence that it was under the Orsini, but for a short time, the power passed in fact in a short time to the Prefects of Vico. From 1370, began a fight for control of these areas between the Prefects of Vico and the Counts of Anguillara. In 1435 fell under the jurisdiction of the Holy See. Five years later, in 1440, the feud was purchased by Count Everso Anguillara and to this family remained until 1465, the year in which the Pope Paul II confiscò all their goods. Toward the end of the XV century, Caprarola was entrusted to the vicariate to Riario-Della Oak, under the government of which the country began to flourish again and to populate. It was then in the sixteenth century who knew the maximum splendour, when the Farnese with the appointment to Pope Paul III of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, and with the constitution of the duchy of Castro, greatly extended. #merryxmas #staycation #holidayvacation#staycation#merryxmas

#mynovgetaway Vitorchiano is a small town about 45 miles north of Rome, near the local provincial capital of Viterbo. It is built above an Etruscan settlement and like other such sites in the region, it clings to a peperino rock bluff perched above two deep gorges, an impregnable position. The town is surrounded by 13th-century walls and the beautifully preserved historical center can be accessed from the main gate, Porta Romana. Several panoramic viewpoints look over the gorges below. One such viewpoint across the gorge, facing the historical town, is adorned by an exotic and unexpected monument. The lone Moai statue was carved by hand with axes and stones by 11 members of the Atan family (Juan Atan Paoa being a descendant of Ororoina, the only survivor of a civil war between the Long Ears and Short Ears clans on Rapa Nui). The Easter Islanders had traveled to Vitorchiano to visit the Anselmi family, owners of a large peperino quarry in the nearby Cimini mountain range (symbolically connecting the Monti Cimini, an extinct volcanic complex, to the volcano of Rano-Raraku on Easter Island). Their intention had been to carve a Moai statue in local stone (peperino being a volcanic stone that is high in demand around the world) to raise awareness about the poor state of conservation of the Moai statues on Easter Island. Upon completing and raising the statue, the Easter Islanders performed a sacred ceremony called “Kuranto,” which was broadcast on Italian public television. The statue had initially been placed in the center of Vitorchiano, where it was replaced by a fountain from the 1700s and moved to its present location. Like all others, the Vitorchiano Moai is crowned by a Pukao in pink peperino and its hands are wrapped around its navel. Today it stands out as one of the most unique and unusual monuments in Lazio, a powerful connection between two ancient civilizations: Rapa Nui and the Etruscans.

#mynovgetaway Bomarzo is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo (Lazio, Central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber. It is located 14.5 kilometres (9.0 mi) east-northeast of Viterbo and 68 kilometres (42 mi) north-northwest of Rome. The city's current name is a derivation of Polymartium, first mentioned in the Historia Langobardorum by Paulus Diaconus. The etymology "polis martium", city of Mars, suggests a Roman origin. However, archeological evidence for a Roman city has not been found so far. It was a historical fiefdom of the Orsini family, whose castle is at the edge of the densely built town, until it was sold to Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rovere in 1645. Lante was elevated to the title of Duke of Bomarzo.

The spectacular mediaeval hilltop town of Civita di Bagnoregio, known as the "castle in the sky", is located in the province of Viterbo, 110km north of Rome. Perched on exceptionally unsound foundations, the hamlet has gradually been reduced in size due to centuries of earthquakes and landslides which have chipped away at its soft volcanic base. The original town centre remains intact, however, surging out of the desolate Calanchi valley whose chasms and chalky cliffs resemble a mini-Grand Canyon. Christened La città che muore by the Civita-born writer Bonaventura Tecchi, this “dying town” has long been condemned by authorities over fears that its collapse into the valley is not only probable but inevitable. Today the town's community has dwindled to just 12 permanent residents, although that number increases to around 100 during the summer months. In 2015 the Lazio region's governor Nicola Zingaretti launched an appeal, calling on UNESCO to recognise Civita as a World Heritage Site. Zingaretti stated that Civita is “now in extreme and urgent need of maintenance unless we wish to deprive ourselves forever of a sentinel of our cultural history, a piece of our heritage.” The Lazio Region also injected €1.2 million in shoring up the town’s shaky foundations to protect it from the erosion that “threatens its very survival.” In September 2019 the region's campaign resulted in Civita becoming an official candidate in the prestigious UNESCO listing. If successful, its world heritage classification would ensure a steady flow of conservation funding for Civita. The concept of saving Civita, however, predates Zingaretti’s appeal by several centuries. Records show that the townspeople were taking precautions as far back as 1373 when the digging of caves was banned, along with grazing beneath the town’s cliffs, whose bedrock comprises a 60-m thick layer of tufa over an unstable base of clay and sand. #mynovgetaway #thanksgiving #mynovgetaway#thanksgiving

Even if at the moment we do not have complex trips and excursions planned, our search for interesting Italian villages to visit and introduce you to does not stop and, indeed, play to find the little-known village, the castle perched on the hill or the panoramic point more beautiful has become one of our favorite pastimes. This time the research led us to visit the ghost village of Celleno, a small town in the province of Viterbo located on a tufaceous spur which - just like the more famous Civita di Bagnoregio, not far away - is subject to erosion and landslides. . Celleno (pronounced with the accent on the second vowel) is divided into two nuclei: the millennial historic village with the castle (the one identified as the ghost village of Celleno) and a more modern town. Celleno Nuovo was born in the thirties of the twentieth century when, due to the succession of landslides, the historic village became unsafe, so much so that its inhabitants moved en masse towards a more level and safer site about a kilometer and a half away. New houses, schools and the church were built and on March 18, 1951 the City Council decided to completely clear out the old town, which thus remained abandoned. #mynovgetaway #thanksgiving #mynovgetaway#thanksgiving

Heart of the Agro Falisco, the scenery offered by the Treja Valley, in particular at the point where the village of Calcata stands, is considered one of the most enchanting landscapes of Lazio: the thick and impenetrable vegetation, with its ever-changing colors as the weather changes. seasons, cloaks the warm red and brown tones of the tuffaceous rocks, which form high walls, pinnacles, gorges and cuts.Here, on a spur jutting out into the void, stands the small medieval village which, like a peninsula in an emerald sea, captivates the viewer and projects him into an indefinite era, where the suggestions inspired by nature are joined by those of a magical and arcane Middle Ages. #mynovgetaway #thanksgiving #mynovgetaway#thanksgiving