I Love Touring Italy - Latium East Of Rome

If you are looking for a European tourist destination,
consider the Latium region of central western Italy on the
Tyrrhenian Sea. Latium, also known as Laszio, is the region
that includes Italy’s capital Rome, the Eternal City.
Because it is so easy to find articles describing the
multiple pleasures of Rome, we are going to write about the
lesser-known attractions of Latium. This article focuses on
Latium east of Rome. A companion article describes Latium
west of Rome.

We’ll start our tour Tivoli about 22 miles (35
kilometers) northeast of Rome. We’ll head northeast
to Subiaco. We’ll double back to Palestrina, which is
south and a bit east of Tivoli. Then it is south to Ninfa
and Sermoneta before heading southeast to Sperlonga on the
coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. We’ll head back
northwest along the coast to finish our tour at Anzio. You
may choose to continue northwest along the coast to Ostia
Antica, Ancient Rome’s port city, which is not
described in the present article.

Tivoli is famous as the site of Hadrian’s Villa, a
not so little getaway retreat for one of Rome’s most
famous emperors, built in the early Second Century. He
actually ran the empire from this villa during the latter
years of his rule. The site exceeds a square kilometer
(over 250 acres) and contains more than thirty buildings,
some of which are yet to be excavated. A large part of this
villa’s decorations and statues can be found in the
Vatican Museums. Hadrian liked the dome on an Egyptian
temple called Serapeum and transplanted the design to his
villa. A prominent architect of the day begged to differ,
comparing Hadrian’s design to a pumpkin. Can you
guess how this story ends? Hadrian’s Villa is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Unfortunately part of the site
is on the World Monuments Watch 100 Most Endangered Sites
list. You may recognize this villa from the HBO film
series, Angels in America.

Villa d’Este is another UNESCO World Heritage Site in
Tivoli. It is a beautiful water garden, reminiscent of the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world. This villa was founded in the mid-Sixteenth
Century by Cardinal Ippolito of d’Este, son of
Lucrezia Borgia, after not being chosen as Pope during a
lengthy conclave. His loss was the world’s gain. Just
to give you an idea of its scope; one of the
‘pathways’ is called the Avenue of One Hundred
Fountains. Be sure to see the Fontana di Rome, a scale
model of Ancient Roman, demolished but partially rebuilt.

The city of Subiaco, population about ten thousand, is the
site of the Roman Emperor Nero’s villa, said to
compete with Hadrian’s villa, constructed decades
later. However, Nero’s villa is in ruins. You can see
these ruins on your way to the cave in which St. Benedict
lived for several years and founded his Sixth Century
Monastery, which is still standing today. The Monastery
contains numerous frescoes, some over one thousand years
old. The nearby abbey was the site of Italy’s first
print shop, founded in 1464. You can well imagine the
contents of its library.

Palestrina, population about 18 thousand, was settled in
the Seventh or Eighth Century B. C. under the name
Praeneste. Like many cities near Rome, its graves often
contain Etruscan artifacts. About two thousand years ago
this area was a favorite summer resort for wealthy Romans
who mocked the uncultured local inhabitants. The ancient
city of Praeneste contained the Temple of Fortuna
Primigenia, one of the largest temple complexes in the
ancient world. Fortuna was the goddess of fertility,
abundance, and success. People came from afar to pray for
her good graces.

You’ll also want to see the Seventeenth Century
Palazzo Barberini (Barberini Palace) that houses the Museo
Nazionale Archeologico di Palestrina (Palestrina Nation
Archeology Museum) with its collection of Roman and
Etruscan pieces and a two-thousand year mosaic depicting
the flooding of the Nile River. And there’s a model
of the temple in its full glory.

The town of Ninfa was Papal property in times past. Pope
Clement VII destroyed the town in an internal war during
the Fourteenth Century. For six hundred years it lay in
ruins, in part because of the malarial mosquitoes in the
nearby marshes. And then in 1920 an aristocratic English
artist, Ada Wilbraham, married a member of the Caetani
family that had been given the city way back in 1297 by
Pope Boniface II, another Caetani. Wilbraham started the
restoration that has continued to this day. The site
includes a bridge and seven churches from Roman times, a
castle, and the city wall, all in a state of arrested
decay. The restored medieval town hall has hosted famous
writers including Ezra Pound, Henry James, and T.S.
Elliott. Visiting times are quite restricted.

The little town of Sermoneta also belonged to the Caetani
family who built a castle to defend it in the Thirteenth
Century. Pope Alexander VI, the father of Lucrezia Borgia,
was the guy who drew the line dividing Portuguese South
America (Brazil) and Spanish South America (everywhere
else). He got control of the castle in the Fifteenth
Century and transformed it into a fortress before giving it
to his son Cesare. Later it returned to the Caetani family.
In addition to the castle you should see the Cathedrale and
the wall paintings in the ruined San Giuseppe (St.
Joseph’s) Church.

Sperlonga was a resort in the days of the Romans. The Roman
Emperor Tiberius built a villa called Grotta di Tiberio,
but it was more of a palace than a grotto. The dining room
was situated on an island in the villa’s pool. As
luck would have it, the grotto collapsed during an imperial
party, but a government official saved Tiberius’s
life. The site now is home to a museum, Museo Nazionale,
which displays statues and artifacts from the villa. Make
sure to see the giant statue of Odysseus blinding a
Cyclops. The beach south of town is great for strolling and
for swimming.

We head northwest along the Tyrrhenian Sea to finish our
tour at Anzio. This city of about 45,000 people was the
birthplace of Roman Emperors Caligula and Nero, who built a
magnificent villa long since destroyed. Anzio is a resort
area with high-quality beaches. From January 22 to May 24,
1944 Anzio and neighboring Nettuno were the site of a major
World War II battle, Operation Shingle. The Allied invasion
was said to be one of the most complete surprises in
military history. However, the battle itself was quite
deadly and proved to be controversial. The city contains
the Anzio Beachhead British Military Cemetery and a
Beachhead Museum. The American Military Cemetery is in
Nettuno.

What about food? Latium cuisine is one of abundance. The
best cuts of meat were reserved for the rich and the poor
had to make do with the rest, including feet, heart,
kidneys, tongue, and tripe. Let’s not forget the
pasta, said to be among the best in Italy. Fettuccine
Alfredo comes from this region.

Let’s suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with
Provatura alla Salsa di Acciughe (Provatura Cheese with
Anchovy Sauce). Then try Saltimbocca alla Romana (Veal and
Ham Rolls). For dessert indulge yourself with Crostata di
Ricotta (Ricotta Tart with Candied Fruit). Be sure to
increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with
your meal.

We’ll conclude this article with a quick look at
Latium wine. More than four out of five bottles produced
here are white. There are twenty five DOC wines. DOC stands
for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be
translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably
a high-quality wine, twenty of them white. However, only
about 6% of Latium wine is so classified. Frankly, the
region is not known for its wine. It once was; in the
distant past Falernum, a Latium red was the hit of Ancient
Rome. Who knows, perhaps one day the region will regain its
former glory when it comes to wine. In the meantime,
there’s lots to see and to eat. And plenty of fine
Italian wines are available. North of Latium is Umbria, and
north of Umbria is Tuscany. Boncompagni Ludovisi’s
Fiorano Rosso is a Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend from
Latium that comes highly recommended but I have yet to
taste it.

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on
computers and the Internet, but he prefers drinking fine
Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and
people. He knows about dieting but now eats and drinks what
he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at
an Ontario French-language community college. His new wine,
diet, health, and nutrition website
http://www.wineinyourdiet.com links to his other sites.

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