Sunday drive

This Sunday morning, we drove out of Rome going south east, towards the village of Ariccia which is on the other side of the volcanic lake, opposite Castel Gandolfo, the summer Palace of the Pope. Ariccia is not really that far from Rome nowadays, it is considered the far suburbs and is reached by following the Via Appia Nova . Ariccia is built up on the crest of what is left of an ancient volcano. The Chigi Family, wealthy bankers from Siena, built their summer Palace in Ariccia. This was at the time of Pope Alexander VII Chigi (1655-1667), the same pope who built up Rome, one of his most famous project being the Piazza del Popolo in Rome and of course the Bernini colonnade of St-Peter's Basilica and also his mausoleum inside St-Peter's also by Bernini.


The Chigi family is well known in Siena, Rome and in Italy for numerous works of art they commissioned from artists like Rafael, Bernini and others to enhance their name and standing in society. In Rome the Chigi also had several palaces all more magnificent than the other, one is the Palazzo Chigi on the Piazza della Colona, used today as the Office of the Italian Prime Minister. The Chigi Palace in Ariccia was also the setting for the movie The Leopard by Luchino Visconti, which starred Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. The movie was made from the famous novel Il Gattopardo by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa which chronicles life in Sicily between 1860 and 1910.



The Chigi Family lives on today in Ostia, they have a palace by the sea where Prince Mario Chigi his wife and son Duke Flavio live. The summer Palace in Ariccia was in the family until 1988 when they gave it to the City of Ariccia with specific conditions for its use and including the enormous forested park attached to it. The first born son of the Chigi family has held the important role of Custodian of the Conclave and Marshal of the Holy Roman Church, with the delicate duty of watching over the college of cardinals during the conclave meetings.

Across the Piazza from the Palace, another Cardinal Chigi, the family counts 4 famous Cardinals, built the Church of Santa Maria Assunta al Cielo, as a smaller version of the Pantheon of Rome. The Palace is beautiful to visit, the Chigi family left many artifacts behind and it has a feeling of being lived in. As you move from one room to another, you notice the family paintings and photos, you notice that they are related to other Princely and Royal Families, like that of Bavaria and Russia and in Italy to the Families Della Rovere (see Canadian Embassy), Borghese and Farnese.


Ariccia itself is delighful, the food specialty of the town is roast pork, many restaurants offer it on their menu, wines are the Castelli Romani label, and locally produced honey and cheeses. We went to a very nice Enogastronomia called Spazio Art'e on Piazza Repubblica which is located in front of the Palace of Lucien Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon who lived in Ariccia for a time.

Being on my detox weekend I watched Monsieur have a plate of wonderful roast pork with a balsamic vinegar dressing decorated with a few sliced prunes. I had a nice salad. The view from the restaurant was the valley below. It was very quiet and it does not appear that Ariccia is on the tourist map, a shame really, because it is so nice and peaceful with many beautiful things to see and taste. Most of the traffic turns off to go to Castel Gandolfo to see the Pope who spends his summer away from Rome, taking with him the entire Vatican court.

Do have a look at the site of Ariccia it is well worth it; www.palazzochigiariccia.it