Tag Archives: Tourism

Intermission II – Montefiascone

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Wednesday 28 May 2025 – Having expended over 3,000 calories and tramped over 30,000 steps a day for the last eight days, we were due a rest today; and anyway a suitcase full of sweaty hiking clothes was making a siren call. So the main task for the day was the laundry (these things are important, you know), but we also wanted to follow up on a couple of things we saw yesterday and wanted to look at again. Delightfully, as we were about to go for our breakfast, we bumped into Jane and Yvette on their way to resume the Via and so were able to bid them a fond farewell and Buon Camino.

For the first of our targets, timing was important, as we knew that it would be seen to its best advantage in the morning light. That meant going back up above the old town, to the castle where various popes have taken residence over the centuries; hence it’s called the Rocca dei Papi – I shared a photo yesterday. Part of the castle is the Torre del Pellegrino, the Pilgrim’s Tower,

which has a commanding view over the surrounding countryside.

I was already kackered from having to walk up to the Rocca, so wouldn’t countenance actually climbing the thing. Anyway, I knew a place where the view would be just as good – the Belvedere next to the tower. When you first see it, the view is breathtaking,

and, if you look carefully, it’s possible to see that Lazio is making some strides in sustainable energy production – the first wind farm we’d seen in our time in Italy.

One wonders if Tuscany is being sniffy about having windmills spoil its iconic countryside.

At the Belvedere is a monument to the pilgrim,

and one is quite close to the cathedral, which has a crypt that the nice lady in the tourist office was keen to make sure we knew about. I’m not normally one for visiting crypts because I associate them with dark and dead bodies, but Jane was interested, so I tagged along; and I’m glad I did. It’s difficult to do it justice photographically, but here’s my attempt.

It’s vast and circular.  Around the walls are terracotta statues of the Stations of the Cross

and, in a side chamber are (we assume) relics of Santa Lucia dei Filippini, to whom the crypt is dedicated.

Here’s another attempt to convey the interior.

We put a Euro in the slot to turn the lights on. It made photographs a little clearer

but it was more atmospheric without the lights.

The huge size of the crypt is made clear by an infographic on a board outside.

The church is the top half, and the crypt the bottom half. Since you’ll have seen the astonishing interior in yesterday’s post (you did, didn’t you? Promise?) you can understand the overall structure a bit better.

Walking back to the hotel, the square just up from the hotel looked a lot more cheerful in the morning sunshine

and, under the arch to the right above, there’s further evidence of the push to establish the city as the 100km point on the Via Francigena.

They have a bit of a way to go, though.  The lady in the tourist office was proud to tell us that no fewer than 500 pilgrims had been through in the last year. So we nodded and put on our impressed faces; but compared with the tens of thousands who go through Sarría every year on the Camino de Santiago, it’s small beer. I wish them well; the Camino is very crowded these days, and perhaps people looking for equally (or even more) challenging walks will come to the Via Francigena – perhaps even to the point of increasing traffic to provide economic justification for entrepreneurial spirits to open more coffee and rest stops?

To get to the laundry, we had to go down and outside the walls. While I went to start the washing, Jane went to explore the other major lump of religious masonry that we’d passed on our way into town the day before;

the Basilica di San Flaviano. I was in two minds as to whether to visit, as it meant slogging back up into town afterwards; but Jane told me it was worth a look and so I staggered down the hill. And…

my goodness me!  It was a delight.  The crypt in Siena had turned me on to frescoes, and there was some lovely work to be seen here.

It was possible to spend a Euro to turn the lights on here, as well, and

it rather spoiled the effect, I think; perhaps the yellow light preserves frescoes better, but it’s at its best without the artificial aid.

By this stage it was lunch time, and so we went to a place recommended by the lass on the desk in the hotel; Miralago da Paolo. They don’t have gin there, which is a shame, but we had beer to accompany an excellent meal of Herculean proportions; enough pasta to load me up for tomorrow’s walking, I hope.  It has a great setting.

And so to tomorrow, when we will be Back On It.  We have to get to Viterbo, which is only 17km and largely downhill, so, despite the forecast for 25°C and unbroken sunshine, I’m hoping for a pleasant walk. I will report back.

 

 

 

Day 14 – Bolsena to Montefiascone – dreaded but actually delightful

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Tuesday 27 May 2025 – Having seen the elevation profile of today’s walk, I had been expecting a day of unremitting toil and had prepared myself accordingly, which means starting off with walking sticks in hand, ready to help me up all those hills.  Le Vigne was reasonably well up the first one, and we started off uphill but not too steeply, and bade farewell to Bolsena.

I noticed that there was a ferris wheel by the lakeside – just visible in the upper right of the picture above. Soon, we were on a woodland track

and largely in the shade, which was very pleasant; not that the day was hot per se, but it’s always nicer to be out of direct sunshine. We could look back at Bolsena and see that ferris wheel clearly now,

and the views over the lake in the morning light were lovely.

We passed a variety of different scenes as we went along.

A cluster of beehives

Nearly big enough to be called a ford

A longish section led through woodland on a clearly prepared trail, intended for use by mountain bikes as well as walkers,

until we left the Bolsena commune and entered that of Montefiascone,

which, an info board informed us, was the highest point on the Via Francigena. Despite this stark warning of uphill labour to come, the pleasant woodland trail continued

occasionally giving us lovely views over the surrounding countryside

until we came to a point where we could see the town of Montefiascone itself,

indisputably much higher than we were at the time. The trail turned into a strada bianca, but at least it offered occasional shade

and, somewhat after the halfway point, there being no formal coffee stop on the route, we found an informal shaded resting place to share some fruit.

As we neared the town, we passed several very posh-looking residences

many of which showed no more sign of occupancy than maybe a car being parked outside, and we wondered what the various stories were about these houses. Were they second homes? Farmers’ houses? Holiday lets?

We broke out from the woodland into the open for the final part of the walk, and were rewarded with more views

before the final pull up into the town.  Montefiascone is the Sarría of the Via Francigena – the point that’s 100km from the eventual destination and walking from which will earn you a certificate at the end, in this case in the Vatican at Rome. There’s even a formal mark,

outside a church, the Chiesa del Corpus Domini, which is a very substantial building

with some nice terracotta work on the front

and a lovely calm interior.

A side chapel

Embroidery above the chapel

The only tedious bit of the day came next, a longish pull up some steep streets to reach the town

Montefiascone is apparently world-famous for Est! Est!! Est!!! wine

and further tediously up towards the old city, past a rather unused-looking fairground setup (maybe for future use or from a past feast day?)

and another very chunky piece of religious masonry (more on this tomorrow).

We made it (via a side trip to get milk at a Coop) into the old city,

where the upness continued to sap my sense of humour as we toiled up this street.

Really, this last section was the only tedious and laborious part of what otherwise has probably been the most enjoyable walk of the Via so far.

The 100km USP of the place seems to drive a certain pilgrim-friendliness.

Our hotel was the Urbano V, where we arrived just before 2pm. Our room was available so we were able to take our bags up (in the lift! hurrah!!) before wandering out to find some lunch.  The receptionist thought that perhaps a restaurant called Dante would be open, and so it was. It describes itself as having Cuisina Tipica and we had a decent enough meal. It has a rather informal air about it, and they don’t seem to expect much in the way of passing tourist trade, with little concession made to those who can’t speak Italian; but the service was affable, and the food both good and copious.

After lunch, we needed to go for a walk. Obviously. We headed back to the hotel to make ourselves (relatively) respectable so that we could enter any passing churches, and set out to see the sights.

It’s a funny old place, Montefiascone. It has buckets of historic significance and charm, but it could really do with a good wash and brush up to show itself off well, like Bolsena does.

There are some really scruffy corners, which is sad to see, as it seems to tell of a city that is not inhabited by that many people.

We passed the orthodox parochial church and looked in.

Montefiascone, it is clear, has a great historical significance, having once been a Papal possession in the 12th and 13th centuries. The castle that sits above the town

was often the residence of popes and is named Rocca dei Pappi, and the city was a significant gathering point for pilgrims on the way to Rome. There is a pilgrim’s tower

from which, apparently, you get a 360° view of the surrounding countryside (there is no lift, and I wasn’t in the mood for steps up, which just goes to show what a poor pilgrim I really am). There is an enormous basilica, the cathedral of Santa Margherita, which has one of the largest domes in Europe.

The cathedral was built substantially in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1670 it suffered a serious fire, with repairs taking a further decade. The interior was elaborately restored in 1893, and is

jaw-dropping.

On the way back from this wandering, we had a delightful Camino-style occasion. Outside the Caffè Centrale, on the piazza near our hotel, was sitting one of the two ladies we’d been able to help on the road to Acquapendente. We got into conversation, which led inevitably to gin and tonic. She is another Jane, who is also walking to Rome with her friend Yvette. Yvette was sadly absent, recovering from a bout of something dreadful, but it was really pleasant to talk to Jane. The occasion developed even further when another couple we’d been talking to at intervals over our journey, Susan and Andy, happened by, which led, equally inevitably, to more gin and tonics. This sort of encounter is relatively commonplace on the Camino de Santiago, when pilgrims in their thousands throng the route; we were delighted that we had encountered similar serendipity on this much less-travelled route.  It won’t happen again, as the others all depart tomorrow whilst we have a rest day; but it’s a pleasing memory to take away with us.

During the preceding wanderings around the city, we saw a few more things to explore further; we have a full day tomorrow to do so, and I will regale you with them in tomorrow’s post. Check in later and see what else the town has to offer, why don’t you?

 

 

 

Day 13 – Acquapendente to Bolsena – long walk, varied conditions

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Monday 26 May 2025 – Well-organised as our B&B was, the breakfast fare that had been left in the kitchen area was not the sort of thing that we thought we could make into a decent breakfast – I mean, cornflakes? So we hatched a plan to get going early and have breakfast at a local bar. So we were out of the B&B before 0730 without even having had tea and on our way to Bolsena, today’s destination, with just a croissant and a cappuccino by way of fuel, by 0750. We were confident that there would be sustenance at a coffee stop half way along our 24km walk; we hoped that confidence would sustain us that far.

Passing one more piece of street art,

we bade farewell to Acquapendente

and set out in cool, sunny conditions. On the road, we passed a cereal factory

with, just behind it, episode two of the same cereal.

We then headed off the road on the dreaded strada biancha

but at least there were some shady patches along it. Looking back, we could still make out the tower that sits above Radicofani.

The landscape was markedly different from what we’d seen in Tuscany – entirely arable farming with some woodland, and none of the hilliness that we’d seen north of the border with Lazio.

As well as the various cereal and vegetable crops we noted as we walked along, it was clear that in Lazio they were also farming sunlight,

and hazel nuts.

Well, that Nutella doesn’t make itself, you know. Other crops included potatoes, which at one point stretched as far as the eye could see.

We were walking in the “Altopiano Vulsini”, a geologically and historically significant volcanic plateau in northern Lazio. This encompasses several volcanic complexes, including calderas at Montefiascone (which we visit tomorrow) and Bolsena (today), and is clearly a very good basis for arable farming.

We did see a single cypress which had somehow snuck over the border from Tuscany, though.

Where fields and meadows were not actively being farmed, there were lots of wild flowers

with poppies being delightfully ubiquitous.

The landscape was also sprinkled with artworks by Lorenzo Gallo, a Rome-born sculptor (who goes by the moniker Renzogallo),

“The Departure”
“The Meeting”
“The Direction”
“The Testimony”

accompanied by info boards with descriptions of unbearable pretentiousness. The first of these was on the ourtskirts of San Lorenzo Nuovo (I wonder about the synchrony between the names of the artist and the town). The town, though, was important, as it was the one and only place we would find somewhere to stop and have coffee. We stopped at the first available bar, apart from anything else because it said it offered a Timbro stamp for our credenziali. Inside the bar were a couple with three really cute long-haired chihuahuas, of which I totally failed to get a photo; but obligingly they came outside and actually encouraged a photo by handing Jane a couple of them.

Having consumed the coffee, we came across the town square shortly afterwards

with several bars around it, all offering timbri, so clearly the pilgrim market is something the town recognises. So we stopped for a second coffee and a sandwich

and then popped into the church on the town square.

There was some lovely artwork to be seen,

and we lit a candle for our recently-departed friend Martin, the late and sadly-missed husband of Caroline, who had been with us until Siena.

The most prominent feature of the Vulsini Volcanic District is the Bolsena Caldera, a 16-kilometer-wide depression formed approximately 300,000 years ago. This caldera is now occupied by Lake Bolsena, the largest volcanic lake in Europe. It is vast;

the eruption that caused that crater must have been a helluva bang!

I had fondly imagined that we would stroll along beside the lake to get to the town of Bolsena, but, as is so often the case, I was wrong; we headed off into woodland, on what looked like a nice shady path,

and, it has to be said, much of it was. There were occasional rocky bits

and some steep bits

but by and large it was a pleasant stroll which led downwards, overall and in tortuous manner.

On one of the Renzogallo “artworks” – a lump of basalt, actually – there was a lizard basking in the sunshine, so I did a bit of a photographic wossname, and took a photo first with my Sony and then using the portrait mode on my phone. Here are the two results.

Phone, background blur courtesy of software manipulation

Sony RX100-VII, background blur courtesy of the laws of physics

We passed an oak tree

planted in 2006 to mark 500 years since Pope Julius II. The info board was in Italian but this is no match for Google.  Here’s the story behind the tree. The Papal Bull stated

“…that he had given Canon Peter von Sertenstein the task of leading 200 Swiss soldiers to Rome with their captain Kaspar von Silenen “pro custodia palatii nostri”. After crossing the Alps, through Lombardy and Tuscany, von Silenen and the 150 recruits entered Rome from Porta del Popolo Blessed by the Pope in St. Peter’s Square, the guards began their service in the Apostolic Palace that same day. Thus was born the Pontifical Swiss Guard.”

We actually saw a few more cypresses which were clearly huddled together for security in this foreign environment,

and a single, lonely, wind turbine, making a defiant statement about sustainable energy production, which The Powers That Be are clearly ignoring.

I was amused by the crest of a hill in the distance.

We passed a quarry, though we know not what was being quarried.

and the road turned back into a dreaded strada biancha.

I don’t know which I dislike more – the white ones, which reflect the heat, or the dark ones, which radiate it back to you. Today wasn’t too bad, as there were some shady patches; I’m dreading tomorrow (see later).

We caught our first sight of the town of Bolsena through the trees,

and were soon into the old town, which has a castle

the church of San Salvatore (not open, unfortunately)

and several attractive corners around the streets.

There were signs to lots of appealing-looking eateries.

What was less appealing was that, having arrived at 3pm, we’d missed the lunchtime window. The nice, attractive bars along the main street in the old town were no longer serving, but Google came to our rescue and identified one which was still open, called Romeros.

It describes itself as a “Ristopub Birreria” and has pictures of food outside it – normally red flags – but its USP for us was that it was open and would serve us lunch.  We actually had a decent meal there, including lots of pasta (against the morrow, see later) so my sniffiness is entirely unjustified. In this case, anyway.

Walking off lunch en route to our accommodation, an Agriturismo establishment called “Le Vigne“, we took the opportunity to look a little around the town. There are some nice viewpoints, over the castle area,

the town’s rooftops, old and new,

and the city gate.

There is a Basilica

with some ceramic work (by Della Robbia?) over the door,

and a lovely calm interior,

but we didn’t go in to explore, since we were still in our hiking gear, and shorts are considered disrespectful. So we carried on to our accommodation, which was not far away but still managed to be considerably uphill.  It’s a handsome place

which offers a nice viewpoint over the town

and had a good large room for us to settle into so we could finally make ourselves a Nice Cup Of Tea.

I’ve made several references to tomorrow; our destination will be Montefiascone, where we will enjoy a rest day; but we have to get there first. Doing this involves getting out of the caldera; and since our journey today was basically downhill, tomorrow’s will be fundamentally uphill.

We’re not quite sure what the weather will be, but we’re hoping it will not be too hot and sunny, as 16 uphill kilometres without the benefit of a coffee stop is somewhat daunting. We will, of course, survive, but to find out in what condition, you’ll have to return to these pages to find out.