Introduction: Travelling through Italy offers an incredible array of historical and cultural treasures to explore. As we bid farewell to Rome, we headed to the captivating Villa Adriana (on the recommendation of a friend), the surprise that was Anagni, the beautiful Montecassino Abbey arriving eventually in Pompeii to visit the ruins. This was to be my main stop of the trip (i.e. the one that if I could only go to 1 place then this was it) being a long held dream of mine to visit. Find out in my next post if it lived up to expectations!
Villa Adriana: offered a small glimpse into Ancient Roman Luxury. Leaving Rome, we headed towards the Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s, rather lavish, present to himself), located just outside Tivoli. The drive was interesting at the end, as the main road in (itself narrow and through a residential area) was closed so we had to negotiate the very narrow streets and the school run!!
This is a UNESCO World Heritage site which was once the opulent retreat of Emperor Hadrian. As we strolled through the sprawling complex, we were stunned by the sheer size and grandeur of the imperial palace, stunning gardens and intricate architecture. My favourite bit was the island inside a moat inside a theatre where, apparently, Hadrian really did retreat. From the villa. That he built for himself….
Anagni: Moving on, we found a stopover up in the hills next to a town called Anagni (Citta dei Papi) Quite a drive up and around the bottom of the old town to find our spot, but what a view we had!
In the morning we decided to go for an early walk around the town to see what it was like. Well it was a real surprise! Narrow streets led straight to a cathedral and bell tower (closed at this time on a Saturday morning, although the bells still rang!) Beautiful narrow, quaint streets leading to equally charming houses brimming with flowers and shutters, we were capitvated by the charming atmosphere. Even the usual Italian traffic racing through the (supposedly pedestrian) streets couldn’t spoil our initial impressions.
Anagni turned out to be much larger than we had anticipated, revealing hidden gems, tight links to a number of Popes (hence Citta dei Papi) and wonderful views at every turn. It was a most pleasant and unexpected detour that we were really pleased to have discovered.
Montecassino Abbey: Our next destination for an overnight stop was the historic Montecassino Abbey, known as the birthplace of the Benedictine Order.
I’d spotted this as I’d been plotting out possible routes to Pompeii from Rome. The only thing putting me off was the clear switchbacks on the map, but Calv gave me one of his looks when I mentioned this, so up we went!!
Perched atop a hill, the abbey offers breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. However, reaching it proved to be quite an adventure. The narrow road leading up to the abbey featured six treacherous switchbacks, and our encounter with a coach made for an exhilarating and nerve-wracking ascent. (There’s a video of this event on my Instagram feed if you’re interested 😊-https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtT6GqtIKxd/) Nevertheless, the stunning beauty of the abbey and its rich historical significance made it all worthwhile.
I didn’t realise that this was actually the site of a huge WWII battle, and it made sense that the abbey looked so ‘new’ when I discovered that it has been rebuilt twice, the last time being after the war. The abbey is well worth a visit, particularly the crypt of the cathedral – I’ve never seen anything like it before!
Pompeii: I assumed that it was best to follow the SatNav on arriving in Pompeii and heading for our stopover – when will I learn?!. Instead she (yes, it’s definitely a she I’m afraid) lead us through the congested centre of town before I managed to takeover and direct us in a more sensible manner. At least we now knew exactly how to get back to the ruins on foot when we were ready to visit the following day! We also had wonderful views of Vesuvius (an ever changing view as the clouds scudded across the sky and the thunder storms came and went).
I will deal with our visits to the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum and our jaunt up Vesuvius on the local bus in a separate post 😊
Conclusion: All of the sites mentioned here are definitely worth visiting. If you only have time for 1? Not counting Pompeii (not dealt with that yet) it would be MonteCassino 😊
Where we stopped:-
Anagni –
turnrightoutofportsmouth 