Exploring Lazio’s Hill Towns

We spent the week of November 9 in Italy exploring various hill towns in the Viterbo province of the Lazio region, about an hour and a half north of Rome. This trip came about through the generosity of my brother, who had expiring timeshare points to use up. He kindly let us use some to stay in Soriano nel Cimino, a hill town with a population of less than 8,000. These are the day and nighttime views from the converted palazzo where we stayed to Orsini Castle, the main sight in town.

As you can see, it is picturesque and imposing. The autumn colors were in full view during our visit, and we were super lucky with the crisp fall weather.

After a direct flight from Bilbao to Rome, we rented a car and drove north. Rome is Lazio’s biggest city with 3 million people; Viterbo, the second biggest, only has about 66,000. You quickly get the picture that we would be in a much less visited area of Italy. Still, there was plenty to see within an hour radius from our base in Soriano.

Driving in the region turned out to be one of the biggest parts of the adventure as most of our time was spent on two lane roads that twisted and turned through elevated areas, with the Italian drivers constantly exceeding the speed limit and tailgating. We enjoy living without a car, so driving for about 2 hours a day is not our preferred way to travel, but it is the best way to efficiently see a pastoral area like Lazio. Jeff did an amazing job getting us from place to place.

When we visited Viterbo, we tried something new – a self-guided “quest” tour through the medieval center of the city. It was entertaining and we learned some of the city’s history while wandering through narrow lanes looking for the next spot. Highlights included the town’s many towers, still standing after centuries, and the view from behind the Piazza del Plebiscito:

For an extended period in the 13th century, the popes lived in Viterbo to avoid Rome’s violence. The city hosted the longest conclave in history, which lasted 3 years before Gregory X was elected in 1271. Here is the Palazzo dei Papi and cathedral, where it all happened:

Given Viterbo's history, it was quite appropriate to find ourselves following two priests or monks as we roamed the streets looking for the city’s Fontana Grande.

Part of the quest was finding various symbols on fountains, demonstrating the power of competing families. Our journey took us to several historical towns, each with a long history of who gained and lost power through the years. More on that to come soon.

Ciao,

Shana & Jeff