Day Trips from Viterbo

Genius Loci of Villa Lante, Bagnaia

Living in the layer cake of history  that is  Italy, it is easy to visit  Roman, medieval  and  Renaissance sites  all in the same day.

a corner of  Bagnaia "di dentro" 

With the first real spring weather that is just

 what we did this weekend.  

ticket collector and cats 

While others biked or jogged in the  parks and  roads around  Viterbo, we took  half day trips to some of the area’s special  historical sites.

Chain fountain, Villa Lante

Marco  Zanardi at entrance to Villa Lante 

Saturday afternoon  was dedicated to Villa Lante in Bagnaia where guide Marco Zanardo  explained the Renaissance garden’s history and the philosophy of the cardinals Gambara and Montalto Peretti who created it in the 1500s.

medieval piazza, Bagnaia 

Sunday morning  was dedicated to  Ferento, the Roman city destroyed by the Viterbese  in the 11^th century and now  a pastoral  area studded with remnants of  centuries of habitation.

horses graze at entrance to Ferento  

  

Vincenzo, our archeologist-guide 

 Ferento theatre's  black cat 

Roman building blocks 

mosaics, arches,  brick and mortar 

   I was happy to see that the SYA (School Year Abroad) students  are participating in  a study project at Ferento  along with archeologists of the Università della Tuscia.

Roman road brought back to light by SYA students

  Both these outings were marked by  sunny weather, interesting encounters, well versed guides   and a series of beautiful  cats who  accompanied the humans  who came to visit  their  territory.

Siamese of Bagnaia 

We were happy to meet professional photographer  Maurizio  Di Giovancarlo whose work  will entice you to visit the area.

  Your comments are welcome as well as suggestions for other special places to visit  near Rome, Civitavecchia  and  Viterbo.

For those  in Rome  on Tuesday March  25th, I hope to see  you at  the  presentation  of my latest book
ETRURIA STORIE E SEGRETI 
 to be held  at the prestigious library of 

Fondazione Besso, Largo di Torre Argentina,11
 on the first floor.

Time  5 p.m.  

Speakers :  Francesca Ceci, Cristina Carosi, Luca Pesante

Copies of the book are available in Rome at Libreria dei Viaggiatori, Via dei Pellegrino,78 near Campo dei Fiori  and at Anglo American Bookshop, Via della Vite near the Spanish Steps.