Tuscia

Tuscia, the inside tip
Come and discover with us the truly mysterious land of the Etruscans Tuscia and this part of Italy, so rich in culture, not yet “extradited and handed over” to the streams of tourists, this more than promising area spreading over Southern Tuscany, Northern Lazio and the Western part of Umbria.

Just a few suggestions:
1st Tour: Lime stone towns in Southern Tuscany in the hilly lands of the Maremma, Etruscan origin
Sorano, Sovana, Pitigliano, Saturnia
2nd Tour: Towns on the banks of lake Bolsena, the largest volcanic lake in Italy
Bolsena, Montefiascone
3rd Tour: Remarkable Gardens in Tuscia north of Lazio
Villa Lante, Park of Monsters


I would like to tell you about Tuscia, a region of Italy that over the centuries went trough several territorial changes, until the present setting which includes southern Tuscany, once called regal or Longobard Tuscia, part of Umbria, once called ducal Tuscia, and northern Latium, once belonging to Roman Tuscia. It’s a land that, due to various historic and cultural events, has produced certain peculiarities that might sometimes make its inhabitants appear quite different from other Italians. We, the people of Tuscia, have a free spirit. The individuals have always been capable of anything, on their own. Everyone believes in themselves, living and fighting to carry on their thought and their work. Individualism is our worst defect and our best virtue. An image, an impression, an idea, a dream, a myth, a memory. As faint and fragmentary as it can be, each one of us has got a tiny piece of this land inside themselves. You don’t know how, but Tuscia is always there, photographed by our imagination but never the same. Threads long or short, colourful or monochromatic, of one huge tapestry that nobody has ever finished weaving. An ancient, bitter country and an enchanted world of castles and abbeys, Etruscan tombs and Romanesque churches. We will now begin with you a journey through this magic territory, starting from one of the smallest spots on the map, a village where Popes, emperors and scholars have stayed, a village that saw some of the great men in history:

Proceno
Proceno owes its origins to the Etruscan people, whose life was dominated by the sacred. At the basis of Etruscan religiosity was the belief that any natural phenomenon was the expression of divine will. Even the place of the foundation of cities was decided upon on the basis of the interpretation that augur and haruspex, that is the priests, gave of the birds’ flight and of the entrails of slaughtered animals.
According to an ancient legend, Lucumone Porsenna, a VI century b.C. Etruscan king, went once boar hunting in the woods where Proceno stands today. There, he was assaulted by an enormous and very fierce boar. The king was neither surprised nor frightened and killed the boar. By observing the liver of the beast, the haruspexes, who knew the art of interpretation, suggested that Porsenna found a town to celebrate his lucky escape. From this event comes one of the elements in the coat of arms of Proceno, that is the head of the boar.
The second element, the crescent, recalls the participation of the inhabitants of Proceno in the naval battle of Lepanto, in 1571, in which the Holy League, led by Don Giovanni of Austria and Andrea Doria,defeated the Turks during the crusades period. The third element, the keys of St.Peter’s, recall that Proceno, strengthened and enlarged in 1157 by will of Matilde of Canossa, from this date joined its fate with the fate of the Popes’ state, although sometimes the community took attitudes of independence or even hostility towards the Holy See. In the years ’40 of the XIII century Proceno, besieged by the armies of Frederic II of Svevia, managed to show its loyalty to the Pope and was thus granted permission to add the keys of St.Peter’s to its coat of arms.

Tuscia and the Etruscans
Over the whole of Tuscia you can feel an almost continuous magic presence, a kind of spell: it’s the presence of the Etruscans, who had in these lands many of their main centres. In the Etruscan period the flourishing of several settlements in our area is certainly to be linked with the role of hinge it played between the territory of Vulci, one of the main Etruscan towns on the coast, and Chiusi, which, together with Orvieto, controlled the trades in the area of the river Tiber. The region, crossed by thoroughfares linking the Tirrenian with the towns of inner northern Etruria, underwent stimulations and cultural influences of different kinds, which make the local witnesses particularly interesting. In Proceno the influence of Chiusi shows in the peculiarities of certain archaeological findings, such as tombs with a partition wall, typical of the Chiusi area, and as far as ellenistic age is concerned, several sarcophagi sculpted with mythological scenes.
The influence of Vulci is also very strong, already in the VII century b.C.; from this important coast town came several kinds of Etruscan pottery, buccheri and vases of impasto (a particular blend). All this certainly due to the mediation of the flourishing centres of the Fiora valley, such as Castro, Poggio Buco, Pitigliano, Sorano and Sovana.
Of this Etruscan presence, usually, only the necropolis remains. Ancient graveyards that, in the silence of their frescoes, tell the story of Etruscan civilization: beliefs, arts, customs.
The rock tombs in Tarquinia, together with those in Tuscania, are the most important witnesses of daily life. But if you want to see what is considered to be the masterpiece of Etruscan tombs, you have to go to Sovana, where the necropolis is dominated by the monumental tomb of Ildebrand, built as a temple, where the pillars have capitals adorned with human heads.
The journey in the Etruscan world of the beyond can go on indefinitely. In one place or another, the mysterious charm is always the same; you discover a world where death is not dark, black, gloomy, but full of life, almost prodigiously bent towards life. "Here laughed the Etruscan, one day, lying down…" It’s the beginning of a poem by the famous poet Vincenzo Cardarelli from Tarquinia. The verse could be the symbol of the Etruscans’ idea of death: that is a passage into an ultra terrenian world where time didn’t ever change.

Now that we have given you an idea of the origins of Proceno, we’d like you to explore the surrounding territory, and with us you will discover what a lot of beautiful things there are to see within 50 km in this part of Italy yet so little known.
We’ll start with the thermal baths, remembering an ancient saying: from water comes health. Already known by the Etruscans, the baths of Tuscia have confirmed during the centuries their regenerating virtues of sulphuric water. There are charming yet disturbing views. It’s maybe that feeling of mystery, of remoteness that you experience when you let yourself be caressed and purified by the water running all over you under the ancient lukewarm waterfalls and you release your mind from the hectic madness of daily life.

According to the legend, Saturnia was the first town ever built in our peninsula. The origin is mysterious, and the legend, in the high middle ages with the incumbent fear of the impending year 1000, became richer and richer. From everywhere magic waters sprang, from smoky and scorching pools, spreading the smell of sulphur which is the smell of the devil.. The time’s chronicles tell about meetings of witches and wizards, charms and sabbatical rites: a scenario nobody could imagine today, visiting this quiet and friendly village.
Bagno Vignoni appears as a medieval village beginning and ending in a square of water; a masterpiece of art, nature and chance; a basin of thermal waters , releasing fog and steam, surrounded by XIV century walls.
Strengthened by the waters, let us take you now to another part of Tuscia, a part where some of the loveliest gardens in Italy are to be found. Among these, Villa Lante in Bagnaia: its park was designed by the most famous architects of the Renaissance, first among them Jacopo Barozzi called Vignola.
Villa Lante The water springs from above, from the mossy Grotto of the Deluge, and runs straight from fountain to fountain to the great basin of the Square, at the foot of the slope. Among waterworks, jets, glitters, many fountains overlook the great table where countless Cardinals used to take their meals. On the wide edges was placed the food, whereas the central basin, full of water, was used as cooler during summer dinner-parties. This is where Louis XIV’s landscape architect André LeNotre, learnt the use of woods as accessories to the gardens. But French gardens are "planted", while Italian architects used the natural relieves as a stage and the streams as a set. Stone, water, evergreens: the garden is a symbol of Eden, the centre of the universe. Eden is the archetype of the landscape that becomes a garden.

Not far from Bagnaia is Bomarzo where, entering the Park of Monsters, you will enter a fantastic world where luscious, wild flora and man’s imagination met to create something unique in the world. In order to understand Bomarzo, you have to understand the time when it was made: the declining XVI century, fond of giants, monsters, scenic inventions already heralding Baroque. The first thing you see is a colossal head with a globe on its top and a castle on top of the globe. Further on, you can see a giant tearing the limbs of an adversary placed upside down. The effect is dramatic, but the proportions seem to remove the tragedy of the representation, as if it belonged to a world far away from the world of real people. Everything here was made to impress: gigantic animals, huge figures, nimphs and gods are everywhere.
Among the gods Neptune stands out, a bearded old man towering over a great basin. His shoulders are completely covered with moss, like an elegant green cloak. Vegetation has also played with the head of the Ogre: tufts of ferns spring from his cheeks, framing the wide-open mouth.
It’s a park of monsters, but you will be astonished, rather than frightened, because in fact it doesn’t scare anybody, not even children who, on the contrary, enjoy themselves and have fun.
And what to say of Orti Leonini in San Quirico d’Orcia, the most typical Renaissance garden.

Now, just a few words about the via Francigena
probably the most ancient road in Europe in the Middle ages, from the north to the Mediterranean. The ancient consular road Cassia was further to the East and was still under Byzantine rule, whereas via Francigena was more western and was used by the pilgrims who went to Rome from the North, through Tuscia. It might seem unrealistic to follow this itinerary today. In fact, even in totally or partially urbanized areas, the "sign" wins; through churches , isolated abbeys, monasteries, old hospitals and old road pavements, the road of the pilgrims of a thousand years ago comes back from the past, reviving old cultures and traditions. Among the uncountable pilgrims on the via Francigena, some – very few – have left us a journal.
Among these, abbot Sigerico from Canterbury who, in a document dated 990 which is now at the British Library in London, divided the journey from Rome to Canterbury into 79 legs.Along this road people brought cultures and languages belonging to the widest community of the Middle Ages West. Even now you can find fragments and memories of the itineraries which were at the basis of European history. This road has brought with it the spirit of research of the elements of a "unity in diversity" which has contributed so much to the creation of today’s cultural identity.

And now a few notes about towns and villages within one hour’s distance from Proceno.

Pienza: a spot of eternity, the town dreamt and willed by Pious II Piccolomini, meant to be a place of peace, with an inner and not only architectural harmony. A "machine of serenity", a square small but rich in spaces, effects, the heart of the ideal city. Maybe all this is contained in one Latin word, Concinnitas, as Cicero defined a synthesis of elegance, symmetry, consistency of the whole with its parts.
The author of this masterpiece on the edge of the Val d’Orcia was Bernardo Gambarelli, called Rossellino, who had taken part in Rome in that huge campaign of reconstruction imbued with Florentine culture brought by Noccolo’ V with Alberti, Brunelleschi and Donatello. This square in the heart of the perfect city is really a glimpse of paradise, a music, a search for perfection, due to exact proportions, and harmony of lines: philosophy as much as architecture.
Opposite, the Assunta cathedral, on whose sides, through open spaces, you can see as far as the countryside and the valley. On the left, Palazzo Piccolomini, with a courtyard and a perfectly preserved XIV century hanging garden. From the garden you can enjoy the view of the triple lodge of the palace, a good match, in grace and beauty, with the lovely landscape over the Val d’Orcia below. On the left the Bishops’ palace. Opposite the cathedral, the Communal Palace, recalling the pattern of Tuscan public palaces, based on the matching of lodge and crenelated tower. Pienza is a rare example of organic planning, where nothing is left to chance, and is the realization of the "ideal city" cherished by the humanistic culture of the ‘400. Strolling in its streets you will find a peaceful, friendly atmosphere, even in everyday gestures, even in the cheese and wine winking from a thousand windows. Pious II’s "machine" does really still work.

Montepulciano only 8 km from Pienza. What you see from the tower of the communal palace is an ancient world which seems to have no borders. But too much air is dazzling and the wind confounds you. Everywhere landscapes can be charming and enchanting, but in Tuscia we are used to a smaller, more human size: maybe in order to allow thoughts to leap higher, to imagine the true infinity. So we come down from the tower, we go out on the square and in the streets. The first impression is of the beauty of the full Renaissance, so taken with itself, so sure of its everlastingness. The pillar is in memory of year 1511, when Montepulciano returned under the rule of Florence, after 16 years under Siena, and the citizens began to have their buildings made by the best architects. Thus the works by Vignola, Ammannati, San Gallo. Thus the great San Biagio, overlooking a steep slope. Built between 1518 and 1545, outside the walls, it became the expression of a population still forced to live, for security reasons, within the fortifications, but already capable of dominating the space around it and of living it with a new sense of liberty. A series of Etruscan findings walled on either side of Palazzo Bucelli reminds us of the Etruscan origins of Montepulciano, founded, not by chance, by that same Porsenna who gave birth also to our Proceno.

Orvieto: when you reach the top of the last rise of the road coming from via Cassia, this town appears suddenly, high on its tuff platform immersed in the green.
Only this way you realize immediately its structure, so compact and still so harmonious, the warm and even colour of ancient buildings and roofs, where stone and cotto brick prevail, and the huge cathedral, almost out of proportion and placed by a gigantic hand among the narrow medieval streets and squares as the only true ornament of the city. Only after seeing the whole you will be ready for the emotion of finding yourself, almost of a sudden, in front of the high facade of the church. The cathedral is full of beautiful things: it’s enough to say about Luca Signorelli’ frescoes of the Antichrist and the Last Judgement, in San Brizio chapel, which inspired Michelangelo for the Cappella Sistina, and are so powerful as to leave you stunned.

Viterbo: you walk in the town centre of Viterbo and it’s like going back in time, to the dark times in the Middle Ages, and this because the city took form in that time, when it was fought over by Pope and empire. But the story is much longer; it starts with Etruscans and goes on with Longobards, Franks, Federico Barbarossa.
Among sieges, strives and plots, the city grew to become that jewel of architecture that even now fascinates scholars and travellers from everywhere in the world. It’s enough to stroll in the medieval San Pellegrino area, incredibly unspoilt, with lively streets and lanes, art shops and antiquaries. Towers and profferli are another peculiarity of the old city. Everybody knows what towers are, but profferli are typical of Viterbo architecture. They are outside staircases leading to a balcony on which the main door of the house opens. They are very peculiar and often very elegant. The heart of San Pellegrino is Piazza San Lorenzo, with the Cathedral and the Popes’ palace, in which , in 1271, the cardinals elected pope Gregorio X. It took them 33 months, and the population not only cut off their supplies but unroofed the palace, so that exposure to bad weather made them reach a decision.
An old saying defined Viterbo "a city of beautiful women and beautiful fountains", and that’s why a narrow lane, still existing, is called Vicolo Baciadonne (lane kisswomen): it’s impossible to meet without at least brushing against each other. As for the fountains, there are about 90, in streets, squares, yards, walls and gardens, and all working, as Viterbo is so lucky as to have over 20 springs. They were all built between XII century and the Renaissance. The fountains were tightly linked with the churches they belonged to: there was a very strict law about use and maintenance. Besides the fountains, one can’t forget the washing troughs, often next to fountains. There were over 20 of them; some have been restored and 8 are still working and they are a sort of meeting point for the population.

Bolsena an important Etruscan town on the banks of the largest volcanic lake in Italy, on whose shores were found the remains of a settlement from the beginning of the middle age of bronze (XVI-XV centuries b.C).
Bolsena was, in the centuries Etruscan, roman, longobard, papal, orvietan and then papal again from 1471. Of all this there are uncountable memories, beginning with the many archaeological areas. The Monaldeschi castle dominates the town; it was built between 1200 and 1300 and now hosts the territorial museum of Lake Bolsena. In Bolsena took place one of the most venerated miracles in the Christian world: the miracle of Corpus Domini, later painted by Raffaello.
The miracle took place in Santa Cristina Church, built in 1077 on a network of catacombs, partly still unexplored.

Montefiascone: once upon a time the whole region was full of volcanoes. The large caldara of a former volcano is lake Bolsena; Montefiascone dominates it, 600 m high. Its inhabitants are generous, creative and a bit mad. Etruscan heritage, perhaps? The fact is that, in its coat of arms you see the victory of the "joie de vivre": two branches, one laurel and one oak, surrounding low hills with a small barrel on top. From its fortress, built and fortified in 1207, the view is breathtaking. It’s as if the lake, the hills with olive trees and vines, the bluish mountains enclosing the plain were the natural frame of an ideal park. In the town you can still see remains of the Renaissance, palaces, squares often with a church in the middle and small, secret gardens. More subdued, in fact removed from the city walls, is San Flaviano, an architectural jewel from the XII century, made of two superimposed churches, with the beautiful fresco of San Flaviano, riding a white horse and holding a flag with the cross. In the third chapel you find the tombstone of the German nobleman Giovanni Fugger who, on the road to Rome in 1110 following emperor Henry V, wanted to go through Tuscia on a private "wine itinerary" of his own. A faithful servant preceded him, in charge of tasting the wine in the inns and giving them marks: "Est", that is "here the wine is good". When he reached Montefiascone, the wine was so good that the servant wrote "est" three times. Hence the name of the most famous wine of the area, the white Est Est Est. Mr. Fugger liked it so much, and drank so much of it that he died, leaving ten thousand gold coins in charity and ordering to remember the anniversary of his death by pouring wine over his tomb. The tassels of the pillow on his tomb are in the form of goblets.

Tuscania: a landscape of incredible beauty. From the road you already see the impressive apse-fortress with its massive walls. The plain on which the church was built, on the remains of an Etruscan temple, at the beginning of the VIII century b.C., was the political and religious centre first of the Etruscan, then of the Roman city. In the I and II centuries b.C., the area fell under Roman rule and became a Roman municipality. It became a Longobard fief in 574 and such remained until 787, when Charles the Great gave the city to Pope Adriano I. In the XII century, San Pietro hill, the most beautiful part of Tuscania, became a fortified stronghold. Around the church and the bishops’ palace, several defensive towers were built, three of which are still standing there, to remind people of the strategic importance of the place.
Going from Tuscania towards Montalcino you will visit Sorano, an Etruscan town full of history, architecture, little shops and Pitigliano the largest of the ancient Etruscan cities of Tufo that make up the hill towns of the Maremma. The town is the most spectacularly situated in the Fiora valley. Enjoy the ambiance, the shops, museums, Duomo and wonder how the buildings don’t fall over the cliff edge.

Montalcino: coming from the via Cassia, is is really impressive. The fortress dominating the town, the hilly woods, the vineyards and olive orchards, all this makes a landscape that reminds you of some pictures from the Renaissance. However, the main praise for Montalcino is to have become a symbol of what agriculture of superior quality can mean in terms of welfare and jobs. Montalcino and Brunello wine seem to melt in one sign, in one formula and, at the same time, they become the symbol of an unusual Italy, where work is silent, not showing off, and follows harmoniously the course of the seasons, step by step, naturally.
If you go to Montalcino, don’t forget to see the Museo Diocesano, a jewel in a small centre that has so far linked its fortunes to Sangiovese and Brunello, which made of it the Italian Bordeaux, but thanks to this collection of wooden masterpieces sculpted in the trees of these woods, wants to requalify itself also on a cultural level. The wine is, in fact, a statement of today, whereas the museum hosts the contents of a city that was the second in the Senese history.

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In this short notes we wanted you to learn at least a little about that Tuscia which surrounds the small village of Proceno. These uncountable centuries of history don’t seem to have changed the character of its inhabitants, always very kind and friendly towards those who decide to visit their village. Tourists from everywhere in the world choose Proceno to enjoy peace and silence, finding accommodation in the several structures available on the territory. Among these, our Proceno Castle, risen around the fortress, an ideal accommodation for those who want to breathe history and culture without renouncing comforts, or Giulione, an ancient hunting lodge in the green of the country, facing the unmistakable shape of Monte Amiata. Together with all this, food and wine of a high level, linked to ancient tradition, proposing delicious dishes with the best wines of central Italy, served in the restaurant next to the swimming pool and in the wine bar in the ancient cellars of the castle.