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.  

Lunch at Ruspoli Castle

Ruspoli Castle seen from the gardens

still life  at the castle kitchen 

corridor to the castle chapel 

   

The town of Vignanello  was in full festival mode  this week for the beginning of  Carnival coincided  with  the feast days of two local saints, Santa Giacinta Marescotti and San Biagio.

the Duomo of Vignanello faces the Castello 

Giada holds her copy of my
latest book  

plan of the castle's  Renaissance gardens 

warming up by the fireplace

Family coat of arms and portraits  in main salone

Ruspoli ancestors tower over Fulvio 

 We were guests of Donna Giada Ruspoli for lunch at her family  Castello, which dominates the town of Vignanello, sharing the main piazza  with the Duomo.

with Donna Giada Ruspoli 

 Arriving to the piazza the noise level increased as we struggled against  the icy winds that channeled down the narrow main street: besides the celebratory fireworks that reverberated off the  Duomo and castle walls the  town  band was  playing and the traffic  in the tiny piazza worked itself into gridlock.

family portraits  and candles 

crossing the moat 

One must cross the moat to enter the castle’s  massive entrance  doors and once inside  the  guests  enjoyed bruschette and aperitivi in the warm glow of portable heaters. 

Elisa and Claudio Fochetti, Fulvio and Elizabeth 

Elizabeth  with Santino, the castle's gardener extrordinaire 

Some hardy guests   braved the cold to cross a further  moat  which connects the castle with its famous  Renaissance gardens.  

the Renaissance gardens 

three young guests in the castle 's main salone 

Many of those invited  were specialists in antique music  who had come  up from Rome for the day. Others hailed from places further away: Portugal, Oxford and  Brazil.

guests enjoyed lunch and desserts...

...around the tables and  the fireplace

Lunch was served in two living rooms on the piano nobile  and guests served themselves at a buffet table  in the main  room decorated with  family portraits and with the best views over the garden.   

Donna Giada and Signor Fochetti

Chiara Pelliccia,  Giorgio Monari, Francesco Maria Ruspoli and Donna Giada Ruspoli 

Following lunch  Dr. Chiara Pelliccia winner of  the Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli international prize for music studies   spoke about  her research on  the cantata da camera of 17^th century musician, Giovanni Lorenzo Lutier  and  Dr.Giorgio Monari presented the “Miscellanea Ruspoli” studies in Baroque music .
Your comments (commenti anche in italiano o portoghese sono benvenuti )  are welcome.  

Garden of Bitter Oranges

We all know the citrus fruits oranges, lemons, clementine and  mandarini.    
But how many of us have  ever heard of  Portogalli? 

This is just one of the names for bitter oranges (arance amare) which some call melangoli or merangoli.

Italy has been   home to special citrus fruits since the 12^th century when bitter oranges  were  planted  in gardens of monasteries  such as Rome’s  Santa Sabina  and San Filippo Neri.

   These centuries-old trees are still giving fruit while newer trees  are flourishing  in  the Villa Borghese and Villa Doria Pamphili gardens.

gardens of Palazzo Pieri Piatti, Vetralla

Bitter oranges, arance amare, are also known as  melangoli or Portogalli, since it was the Portuguese sailors  who introduced them to Italy from the Orient.

Highly prized  for  their medicinal qualities,  portogalli  or arance amare  were  a permanent feature of monastery and convent gardens where they were employed  for their curative  powers. 

arance amare in the garden below my terrace 

The  bitter tasting Portogalli on this tree beneath my terrace  will be turned into  marmalade or, for a vitamin packed winter dish,  roasted before  the fire, then spooned out on to bruschetta and  doused  with extra virgin olive oil.

In Vetralla  this recipe is known as arance al cappone and is featured in Fulvio Ferri's  book of local recipes "Olio e Ricordi in Cucina". Order now for Christmas. 

Fulvio's grandmother, Agnesina, used the arance amare from the south facing gardens of Palazzo Pieri Piatti  for an inexpensive and healthy winter  food for her brood of grandchildren. 

If you missed  the TV interview with Fulvio describing his grandmother Agnesina's  recipes, check it out here.

both bitter or sweet oranges  can be roasted

then  scooped  on to bruschetta doused with extra virgin olive oil

a page from  Fulvio's recipe book....English translation at the end of the book
The "E" means  "economical" 

Another  writer  who recalls with affection  the harvesting of bitter oranges  and subsequent  marmelade making  is Patrizia Chen, originally from Livorno and now based in New York. 

Here is the cover  of her  autobiographical "Rosemary and Bitter Oranges" 

  

 Patrizia's recipe for  bitter orange marmelade calls for  2 lbs. of thoroughly scrubbed bitter oranges -called  Seville oranges in Livorno- and 4 cups of sugar. 
The process involves  several days of soaking and preparation. 

This exotic fruit was a well known feature in Renaissance gardens and depicted in several famous paintings including Botticelli's  Primavera  which is set  in a garden  of bitter orange trees.  

The mysterious  Double Portrait  by Giorgione  also features  an arancia amara  to symbolize  the  sweet and bitter  sides of love.

Giorgione's Double Portrait with bitter orange

Happy Holidays  to all our readers. Sign up (its simple, just leave your email here below), so you dont miss the next  stories from 50yearsinItaly!