OMNES VIAE ROMAM DUCUNT
Central Italy on the road
July 2020
On July the 1st I should have left for a trip across Andalusia, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, I decided to cancel and “reconvert” it into a coast-to-coast ride in Central Italy.
The itinerary I developed was a classical, but not so mainstream one: I went down the Tyrrhenian coastline until the Argentario promontory. Then I crossed four regions – Tuscany, Latium, Umbria and Marche – to reach the Adriatic coast at the height of the border between Marche and Abruzzo. Finally, I came home following the Adriatic coastline. I tried to avoid highways and to take the old Roman “viae” – via Aurelia, via Cassia, via Salaria, via Flaminia – driving through never-ending corn fields and breathtaking sea views.
During this trip I had the opportunity to visit famous and unknown stunning villages belonging to the so called “Borghi più belli d’Italia”, like Porto Ercole and Offida, to dive in the crystal clear waters of Conero and Argentario shores, as well as to see the ruins of the towns hit by the terrible earthquake of 2016 in the Tronto valley area.
Here I try to talk about this journey through the photographs I took.
CHAPTER 1: TUSCANY
Porto Santo Stefano (Argentario)
Porto Ercole (Argentario)
The famous painter Caravaggio is supposed to have died here.
Isola Rossa (Argentario)
View from the panoramic route that crosses Argentario
Twilight on Tyrrhenian sea (Argentario)
Cascate del Mulino (Saturnia Thermal Springs)
The cats of Pitigliano
The Jewish Ghetto (Pitigliano)
Pitigliano is also know as the little Jerusalem for the historic presence of a Jewish Community
Pitigliano
The old centre of Pitigliano is built into the tufa rock
CHAPTER 2: LATIUM
Civita di Bagnoregio, the dying city
The city, built on an hill characterized by erosion and landslides, is in danger of disappearing. It is inhabited by only 16 people.
The Park of Monsters, Bomarzo
The Sacred Grove of Bomarzo is a garden populated by grotesque sculptures commissioned by the local patron Pier Francesco Orsini in 1547.
Salvador Dalì visited the park in 1938. He shot a short film inside the Mannerist monumental complex and later the statues were to inspire his 1946 painting “The Temptation of Saint Anthony”.
The Palace of Popes in Viterbo
CHAPTER 3: UMBRIA
San Vito di Narni
This village was a former castle, the main part of which was converted into a small B&B. The view from the panoramic point is unique: The Tiber valley with mount Soratte in the distance, and behind it Rome.
San Vito is part of the municipality of Narni and it is believed to be the the geographic center of Italy.
The name of the imaginary land of Narnia in the works of C.S. Lewis derives from this town, as explained by Roger Lancelyn Green:
“When Walter Hooper asked C.S. Lewis where he found the word 'Narnia', Lewis showed him Murray's Small Classical Atlas, which he acquired when he was reading the classics with Mr Kirkpatrick at Great Bookham. On plate 8 of the Atlas is a map of ancient Italy. Lewis had underscored the name of a little town called Narnia, simply because he liked the sound of it. Narnia — or 'Narni' in Italian — is in Umbria, halfway between Rome and Assisi.”
Marmore Waterfalls
Lord Byron described these artificial waterfalls as “an eternal April to the ground”.
Spoleto
CHAPTER 4: MARCHE
Offida
Offida is a hidden pearl just a 30-minutes drive from the Adriatic sea. This village, belonging to the “Borghi più belli d’Italia”, has a superb view on Sibillini mountains and the hills where the local red wine Rosso Piceno is produced.
View on Loreto and the Adriatic sea from Recanati
Conero Riviera
Shades of Adriatic Sea from Belvedere del Passo Lupo, a panoramic point on mount Conero
Colle dell'Infinito, Recanati
Shades of Sunset from the hills surrounding Recanati, which inspired the poet Leopardi in writing his most famous lyric “L’infinito”. Leopardi, which is considered one of the greatest Italian poets of the romantic period, was born and raised in this village.
"Così tra questa
infinità s'annega il pensier mio:
e il naufragar m'è dolce in questo mare."
G.Leopardi
