LAZIO

In the heart of the Italian Peninsula, where the Tiber carries the waters of the Apennine mountains towards the Tyrrhenian Sea, Lazio is the region that holds Rome, the Eternal City, the capital of Italy and the Western world for over two millennia, at its heart. It is the land where every stone tells centuries of history, where every fountain is a Baroque masterpiece, and every street is an open stone book. The Colosseum and the Imperial Forums, the Pantheon and the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona, the Catacombs and the Appian Way: Rome is a concentration of beauty and history unmatched anywhere else in the world. But Lazio is also much more: a region of volcanic lakes, medieval villages, Tyrrhenian coasts, and ancient agricultural landscapes.

Beaches and lakes

The Lazio coastline extends for approximately 360 kilometers from the Tuscan border to the Campania border, offering beaches of dark volcanic and light-colored sand, promontories, and coves. Mount Circeo, with its limestone promontory overlooking the reclaimed Pontine Marshes and the sea, is the heart of the Circeo National Park: pristine beaches, oak and holm oak forests, Lake Sabaudia, and the Sirens' Cave. Sperlonga, perched on white rock between two beaches, is one of Italy's most beautiful seaside villages. Gaeta, with its cathedral and Mount Orlando, Anzio and Nettuno, with beaches beloved by the ancient Romans and World War II cemeteries, and Sabaudia beach, considered among the most beautiful in Italy. The volcanic lakes of Bracciano, Bolsena—the largest volcanic lake in Europe—Nemi, and Martignano add bodies of water of great beauty to the heart of the region.

Landscapes

The Castelli Romani—Frascati, Castelgandolfo with the papal summer residence, Ariccia, Rocca di Papa—on the volcanic hills of the Alban Hills offer white wines, porchetta, and views of Rome and the sea. Ciociaria, in the Frosinone hinterland, boasts villages like Alatri with its cyclopean walls, Anagni with the papal cathedral, Ferentino, and the Casamari Abbey. Tuscia, near Viterbo, with Civita di Bagnoregio—the dying city, suspended on a tuff pinnacle—the gardens of Bomarzo, Lake Bolsena, and the thermal baths of Viterbo, is one of the most fascinating and little-known regions in Italy. Sabina, with its ancient olive trees, and the Monti Lucretili Nature Reserve in the heart of Lazio, complete a regional mosaic of inexhaustible diversity.