The emperors’ bolthole Exploring the charming region of Castelli Romani, where Rome’s elite built their weekend villas 2,000 years ago.

castelli·romani

Another reason to visit Nemi is the stunning countryside and the villages of the Castelli Romani region. Named after a 200-year period of rural fortification by noble Romans fleeing the city —while the French crown ‘captured’ the papacy and relocated it to Avignon— fearing further losses as their power waned, this beautiful region has an abundance of woods, meadows, mountains and lakes for outdoors enthusiasts.

The ‘Castelli Romani’ are 17 hilltop towns, surrounded by the fertile valleys of volcanic Lazio, particularly noted for its strawberry production. As Rome reasserted its power and the noblesse returned to the Eternal City, they left behind villas, palaces, parks and gardens, as well as churches and sanctuaries. They also left behind many festivals and rituals still celebrated centuries later.

Among the grand villas and palaces stands the Pontifical Palace of Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the Pope until it was turned into a museum in 2016. It was acquired by the Vatican in 1596 when the owning Savelli family was unable to pay a debt to the Papacy [NB. ’Your home may be at risk if you do not keep up repayments; even to the Pope’].

In June in Genzano di Roma locals spend day and night peeling off flower petals used to decorate the town’s main street, for the colourful Infiorata Festival. Covered in colour, this huge floral canvas takes some 400,000 flowers to create, with patterns chalked on the street on Friday, petals laid meticulously on Saturday ahead of a service in the duomo on Sunday, before children are allowed to run amok on Monday in a riot of colour and fragrance.

As the region is the certified origin of 21 food and 9 wine varietals, there is something festive occurring all year round to celebrate its specialities. Lariano is nicknamed ‘the village of festivals’, famed for its porcini mushrooms, artisan dark flour bread and cellitti, a pasta variety. It also pays homage to bruschetta, pizza, wild

boar and polenta each year, so features large on any regional gastronomic tour.

In the towns of Aricca and Frascati, the must-try is a porchetta sandwich, the locallyreared spiced spit-roasted pork, with a good glass of local wine. For Michelin-starred cuisine in the area, check out the modern Antonello Colonna in Labico or the Aminta Resort farmhouse in Genazzano, which is renowned for a superb wine and Champagne list, as well as its inventive cuisine.

The fortified Abbey of San Nilo, in Grottaferrata, dates back to 1004. The Monastery was built on the remains of a Roman villa whose cryptoporticus remains visible, and its Farnese chapel is richly frescoed by Domenichino. The cloister also houses a library with over 50,000 ancient volumes and the Laboratory of Restoration of Ancient Books, where Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus was restored.

In a ritual of which Caligula would doubtless approve, during the grape festival of Marino, ‘Sagra dell’Uva’, on the first Sunday in October, wine flows from the town’s fountains. How much fun does that sound?