Making Summer Memories at Bracciano

Bracciano castle's  ivy covered  tower  

 Seeing   local  places  through the eyes of foreign visitors   gives us new insight into things  we usually take for granted.

Last week  I wrote about  our visit to Bracciano   with  Sergey and Tanya  from Moscow  and  our  lake side lunch  at  an old fashioned  trattoria .  

castle ramparts 

sail boats  far below  the castle

Sergey’s  eyes and camera lens  captured  scenes that were special and unusual for  him. 

a brilliant  19th century ball gown 

These included the colors of the  lake, the family of swans  and ducks  and the colorful costumes  exhibited  in the huge castle halls.

Duomo  di Bracciano overlooking the lake 

The  memory of  lake fish, local wine, watermelon   and strong caffe will also  keep  our Russian friends company during the dark days of  the  long Russian  winter. 

Having  passed  four winters in Moscow  I can understand their fascination with the  red tiled rooftops and church steeples, so different from the gilded   churches of Russia. 

They were also  fascinated by the  street lights, the flower filled piazzas and landscapes of lake and rolling  hills .

Piazza  near the castle 

 Since  the guide who accompanied us through the castle spoke only in Italian, our Russian friends  concentrated  on the frescoed rooms furnished with period antiques and managed  to get some close ups of the magnificent costumes  which are  on view until November . 

Renaissance  costumes

a dazzling  1920s gold feathered cape 

  The colorful costumes  enrich  the  historic atmosphere of the  castle’s halls and remind us of those who once  made history here .

armored knight and   horse  in the  main hall, Bracciano 

 No wonder  the   privately  owned Odescalchi  castle

 is a steady  favorite for  weddings and film shoots.

All photos by Sergey  Soloviev

Artichoke Festival near Rome

Preparing carciofi alla Vetrallese 

original article  “The armored artichoke honored at Ladispoli “

International Daily News, Rome,  April 28, 1979

The years go by  but thankfully somethings stay the same: 

like the Festa del Carciofo in Ladispoli.

To celebrate this annual Festival dedicated to local artichokes

 I scoured 50yearsinItaly's archives and found this vintage article full of historical carciofi trivia.  

artichoke dishes   at  the Sagra of Ladispoli 

This weekend the annual Artichoke Festival will be held in Ladispoli, 40 kilometres north of Rome along the Via Aurelia.  Why should a common vegetable rate a festival complete with music, marching bands and free cooked carciofi to all-comers?

Castello di Palo Laziale, now La Posta Vecchia hotel

Ladispoli, which is named after Prince Ladislao Odescalchi, owes its existence to the artichoke and the fields you see extending down to the sea are completely cultivated with this vegetable-the green flowers of carciofi.
 The prince’s castle can be seen in the neighboring village of Palo Laziale and it once housed the wealthy Paul Getty who installed a pay  phone to keep his guests long-distance calls to a minimum.

Today (ed. note 1979) millionaires and princes have given way to new residents: a colony of about 3,000 Russian refugees make their temporary homes in Ladispoli while awaiting their visas from the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Throughout history, the delicate artichoke has been connected  with illustrious men and women. Catherine de’Medici brought them from her native Florence when she went to France as queen and at the wedding feast of her friends the Marquis of Loménie and Mlle. De Marigue in 1576 she almost died of an indigestion having gorged herself on her favorite dish-artichoke hearts cooked with roosters’ combs and livers in Marsala wine sauce.

Jefferson's  notes about crop rotation  at Monticello 

Thomas Jefferson discovered this flower-like green during his diplomatic missions to Paris and  had them planted in his gardens at Monticello upon return to the new United States. It was an Italian, Philip Mazzei, his friend, confidant and neighbor  who supplied him with the seeds.

gardens of Monticello 

Menus of banquets and special dinners throughout history mention the artichoke as an important entreé. At a luncheon honoring the Czar Nicholas II of Russia at the Eliseo Palace in 1896 the French offered, “artichoke hearts creole style”  along with venison and pine nuts, chicken supreme with truffles, lobster, pheasant, foie-gras,  truffles in champagne, the lot washed down with six different wines.

The artichoke has had many admirers among the popes of past years. Monsignor Mastai Ferretti, the future Pope Pius IX, enjoyed many lunches at Piperno’s in the Ghetto in the 1830s. 

a young  Pius IX

So much did he like the carciofi alla giudia (Jewish style artichokes) that he nicknamed Piperno  “Michelangelo of the Artichoke”.    While a guest at the Franciscan monastery in Jerusalem in 1964 Pope Paul VI was served "artichoke hearts Venetian style". 

                 Fulvio's book is available with paypal directly from  my website 

terracotta  is used for some  carciofi dishes
according to Fulvio's recipe book


Copies of the book are also available at the Anglo American bookshop in Rome, Via della Vite, near the Spanish Steps.