Destination: Lazio

Lazio has since Roman times been an extension of Italy's modern capital, Rome. The region is endowed with a profusion of heritage from every period: picturesque ruins, charming gardens and palaces, inspirational church buildings and fine works of art. Its forceful landscape and the rich colour of its culture have been idealised by famous artists and writers for millennia. Its people are renowned for great hospitality and a fine cuisine.

Abandoned town of Civita di Bagnoregio	Centro Storico (historical center) - Viterbo	Villa d' Este water garden - Tivoli

See the full Lazio photo gallery here

The majority of visitors here jostle with other tourist sightseers in the centre of the city, perhaps not knowing what other treasures and experiences await both within and beyond the walls. For those that do, Lazio is an ideal destination.

Lazio Itinerar	Lazio Region & Map
See example days from the Authentic Italy	Click here for map of Lazio region

 

The allure of mythical landscape and gardens

Part of the Russell Page garden in Landriana

Surprisingly rural, Lazio comprises numerous contrasting landscapes of intense beauty: lanes lined with umbrella pines, stretches of the nicest Tyrrhenian coastline, the stunning Pontine Islands, beautiful lakes, rivers, oak and beech forests. Our path follows stretches of such ancient Roman roads as the Via Appia, Via Tiburtina, and Via Aurelia. Castles and perfectly preserved hilltop towns and villages punctuate a succession of bucolic landscapes. These scenes are further embellished by the abundance of water, put to use in gardens, fountains, canals and aqueducts. Ancient, historical landscapes such as the Alban hills, poetically rendered by painters Claude and Poussin, the Riviera of Ulysses, and the Sabine mountains are as beautiful and fascinating as their names and reputations suggest.

 

Our itinerary incorporates over a dozen inspired and charming gardens, historical and modern. Some can be visited by prior arrangement or are only open occasionally. In stark opposition to the surrounding landscape, the formal structure, planting and water features of such gardens bestow an added visual potency and remind us of the true meaning of genius loci.

 

Culinary Indulgence with Lazian food and wine

Bruschetta Festival, Monti Sabini

The regional cuisine of Lazio is considered by many to be the best in Italy. Numerous delicious local dishes await, such as spaghetti cacio e pepe, baccala alla trasteverina, fritto misto alla romana, carciofi alla giudia, maritozzi, fragole in aceto, to name a few. Eateries are chosen for their high level of authentic local specialities and pleasing surroundings, ranging from restaurants of the alta cucina, traditional trattorie and occasionally the humble osteria, to food markets and roadside stalls.

 

On other occasions our food enthusiast Stefano will arrive to serve one of his celebrated picnic lunches in splendidly scenic surroundings. We try delicious dishes and foods not found in restaurants.

 

Wine, oil and cheese tastings are interspersed through the trip. Among the excellent DOP cheeses (denominazione di origine protetta) are Pecorino Romano, Ricotta Romana, Caprone and Mozzarella di Bufala. Taste the renowned crisp, dry white wines from the Castelli Romani hill towns south of Rome. Encounter the northern vineyards in the Viterbo and Bosena area producing great wines including Grechetto, Falesea, Montiano and the Est! Est!! Est!!! of Montefiascone.

 

 

Fascinating buildings - great architecture to the humble vernacular

1960's architecture in central Rome

Monumental roman ruins, great abbeys and magnificent palazzos typify the architectural masterpieces in Lazio. Representing some of the highest endeavours of artistic expressions anywhere, they are linked with the names of famous architects and patrons. Other important churches, and numerous less illustrious but very interesting examples, abound from roman, medieval, romanesque, renaissance and baroque eras, not forgetting many excellent modernist and contemporary buildings. In contrast, the fabric of small towns and the unaffected vernacular architecture change subtly across the region as local materials influence building form and appearance. Many charming small towns are built from brown and gold tufo, the grey peperino stone both found in buildings of all eras, and the white travertino a material made famous by renaissance and baroque artistry. With evocative names like Subiaco, Frascati, Tarquinia, and Viterbo rolling beautifully off the tongue, they are as attractive as their names suggest.

 

 

The enormous archaeological site that is Lazio

Etruscan necropoli, Cerveteri

Lazio is steeped in archaeological heritage. Bronze Age cultures are represented in Lazio by the Etruscans north of the Tiber River and by the Sabines, Latin, Volscan and other tribes south of the Tiber, all eventually absorbed by the expansion of Rome. Northern Lazio boasts numerous Etruscan 'necropoli' and painted tombs. Found in evocative settings, they have yielded an invaluable wealth of artefacts. One can spend a memorable afternoon exploring the tomb chambers, which appear as though they were freshly cut out of the soft 'tufo'. Fragments of original Etruscan town walls and gates remain visible in some present-day towns. Also dating from the late Bronze Age are the giant Cyclopian stone walls encircling some southern Lazian hill towns.

 

A profusion of Roman sites still communicate a sense of the splendour that has captivated artists, architects and scholars for centuries. Early Christian sites were often incorporated into churches, and the catacombs are truly evocative places. Medieval town centres such as Viterbo have been skilfully conserved, and such abandoned towns such as Ninfa and Civita di Bagnoregio Regio have that melancholy but magical dimension of the forsaken place.

 

 

The artistic legacy of Lazio

ELoggia - Palazzina Gambara - Villa Lantet

Galleries, museums and libraries containing commissioned masterpieces are to be found in church buildings and in palaces built by noble dynasties, prelates and bishops. The Palazzo Farnese at Capraola is decorated by frescoes of the Zucari family and superb Renaissance garden statuary. The 'cosmato' marble floor of the Romanesque cathedral at Anangi is an other typical example. Artworks from the Roman, Renaissance and Baroque periods are especially well represented in the Lazio region. At least as beautiful are the endless combinations of frescoes, mosaics, statuary, inlaid marble, furniture, archaeological fragments and other decorative arts integrated into buildings from every era, great and humble alike. The ubiquitous fountains of Lazio and Rome are emblematic of the region, their wide range of styles reflecting the tastes of successive generations.

 

 

Rome Caput Mundi - the famed capital of the world

Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II and Castel S. Angelo

We visit the other Rome, the one that 'Romani' themselves inhabit and enjoy. Absorb the ambience of some of our favourite city quarters variously tranquil or frenetic, refined or popular, in and just outside the historical centre. Sense the characteristic patterns of Rome that strongly colour the city landscape: the monumental alongside the everyday, the ever-present layering of historical periods, and the exuberant, open Roman people themselves, at work and play. Here also, is the opportunity to enjoy exhibitions, contemporary art, and selected museums.

 

 

 

  

" The tour you took us on made us feel we could dip into Italian life both past and present in a way which had not been possible on our previous trips to Italy. In fact, the trip was up there with the best experiences of our lives."
Ian and Margaret - Wellington - New Zealand - participants
Lazio tour September 2003

 

Download and print the Lazio full colour brochure (1134kb)