Michael Janke

We spent an afternoon at the nearby borgo of Capalbio, just north of our agriturismo. A typical hilltop city complete with a XXII century castle, a church with nice frescos, narrow cobblestone streets, and a great view of the countryside – and of course shops, resturants and gelateria. Unfortunately many shops and restaurants were closed, presumably because it’s off season. Or because it was Sunday.

Signage indicates that the borgo was first settled in the iron age, later by Etruscans, Romans, Goths and Lombards. It was a prominent city during the Renaissance era. At one time it was part of the Republic of Siena, then part of Medici’s Duchy of Tuscany, and even a haven for bandits (maybe – the official town web site doesn’t mention bandits).

Capalbio is another example of a site that has a few thousand years of near-continuous occupation by a series of civilizations, each leaving a bit of itself behind.

One of the churches had intact frescos. I didn’t find information on the age or origin of the frescos in the church, but other sources claim they are of 15th-16th century origin.

On our way back to Rome we stopped to visit an Etruscan Necropolis near Cerveteri. It was closed – it’s only open on weekends during off-season – so the finest tombs were not available for viewing. We took a short hike and found about a hundred tombs outside the official archeological site that were accessible.

The tombs were in various states of disrepair. Still interesting though.

After we arrived in Fiumicino, we got a lesson in how to drive like a Roman in Rome. I’ll write about that in another post.