Inside the Borghi Ernici, Italy’s cultural capital finalists

 ANAGNI, Lazio – A short hour’s drive outside of Rome, in the heart of Lazio, lie four ancient and medieval towns, which were amongst the finalists for the joint and prestigious title of Italy’s next cultural capital. Anagni, Alatri, Veroli and Ferentino form the tetrad of the Borghi Ernici, which have both welcomed and seen-off long lists of invaders, housed infamous popes (along with the angry hordes of Frenchmen chasing after them!) and have histories that pre-date even that of the Eternal City itself. 

Anagni

While the principal and largest town in the district first had signs of human life around 700,000 years ago, it reached its peak historical importance in the late medieval period, becoming the summer seat of the popes of the 12^th and 13^th century, earning it the title of Città dei Papi (Town of Popes). Most famously it was the home of the notorious Pope Boniface VIII, who was condemned for all eternity to the eighth circle of hell in Dante’s Inferno, forever immortalised as a simoniac, one who was personally responsible for the moral degradation of the church through the buying and selling of ecclesial positions. For Dante enthusiasts, the opportunity to stand in the very spot where Pope Boniface VIII allegedly got backhanded by a delegation of men sent by Philip the Handsome of France, is not to be missed and the town offers one the opportunity to step back into the heart of medieval Europe. 

 The town is home to a number of ancient and medieval churches but by far the most impressive is the Gothic Cathedral of Saint Mary Annunciate, which was first constructed in the 11^th century. It is home to the Crypt of Saint Magnus, known as the ‘medieval Sistine Chapel’ and contains the most marvellous display of recently restored byzantine period vivid and cornflour-blue frescos lining every wall of the crypt. The intricate mosaic floors have been worked on tirelessly by local artisan, Simona Morelli, who can be seen in her working away in her studio on via Vittorio Emanuele II and who sells jewellery pieces inspired by the mosaics in the church. The Cathedral, along with other churches in Alatri and Veroli, also shares a link to Canterbury, as next to the Crypt of Saint Magnus, lies another dedicated to the troublesome priest, Saint Thomas Becket, who was martyred on the steps of Canterbury Cathedral and the museum above the church contains some of his few remaining relics and personal items, the handful that were not destroyed in the Reformation. 

 While the town is currently better accessed by car, after receiving a large injection of cash for historical refurbishment projects and the candidacy for Italy’s City of Culture, Mayor Daniele Natalia, told the Italian Insider that it was his hope for the town to be better connected with the other Hernican towns and Rome in the coming years. 

Alatri

Seated amongst the mountains, Alatri is home to the largest and best-preserved acropolis in Lazio, which is famed for its megalithic stonework and thought to have been established by the Hernicans and restructured under Roman rule. The acropolis is 502 metres above sea-level and has views of the entire region, blue skies and mountains alike, standing above the historic centre in quiet solitude. In place of the lost Hernican and Etruscan style temples, sits Saint Paul’s Cathedral, which is home to the one of the world’s Eucharistic miracles, which as legend would have it was discovered when a young girl in the 13^th century love-sick for her fiancé who had left her snuck her communion bread out of the church in the hopes of taking it to a sorceress to transform it into a love potion. Upon the return home, three days later, the girl discovered that it had transformed into a piece of living flesh and the miracle was consecrated by Pope Gregory IX and is still on display in the cathedral to this day.

 Amongst the other unusual religious relics of the town is the body of the beatified Sister Maria Rafaella Cimatti, who convinced the Germans not to blow up the Alatri hospital at the end of WWII and Cloisters of Saint Frances, which was hiding for many years the strange image of Jesus in the labyrinth in an undiscovered room. 

 Ristorante Brio is a fantastic stop, after taking a leisurely stroll through the town, offering a taste of local delicacies including the region’s Fini Fini alla Ciociara, which is a very thin and delicate pasta served in tomato sauce. As with most Italian dishes, simplicity is key but the art lies within doing it very well. Many places near Frosinone serve local food but here it was done particularly well and to a very high standard. 

Veroli

 The picturesque medieval town of Veroli has a soft air of spirituality and a history that owes a great debt to its women. While walking round the town one can find small tributes to Gracilia Verulana, the tacitan heroine and historical figure, who, donning the skin of a wolf bravely fought off the army of Vitellius during the year of the four emperors. The town is also the final resting place of Saint Mary Salome, who was one of the four women sat at the foot of the crucifix and made her way across the Mediterranean to countryside of Veroli, where she remained until death. The town’s cathedral is also home to one of three sacred steps in the world, with the others being in Rome and Jerusalem. 

 In the countryside itself, just outside the city walls, lies a small chapel, which was the original resting place of Mary Salome, which contains a depiction of the Madonna of Milk.  This particular depiction, which is far from the usual Madonna of catholic iconography, where she is shown to be breastfeeding the infant Jesus can be seen in multiple churches in the area, which is linked to the area’s history as a large exporter of wet-nurses in the medieval period and home to Mary Salome, a mother. 

The surrounding area is also full of some truly fantastic areas of natural beauty from the mountains down to the river Amaseno. The brooks and the trees and local wildlife amongst backdrop of the ancient mountains come together to create a scene that can only be described as straight out of Arcadia and the feeling that the dryads and minor gods of the forest rest just around the corner. 

 Just outside of the town itself there is also the 13^th century Abbey of Casamari built on the ruins of the temple of the goddess of harvest Ceres, which is still in use today and in the Forno Mulino Baldassare, one can still find local breads and pastries made with the original historic stone mill, such as the traditional ciociaric bread with walnuts and ciambellette al vino, amongst other treats. 

Ferentino

Perhaps the most different of all the cities, Ferentino is largely cut from the dark limestone local to the area and has a somewhat heavier atmosphere than the other medieval cities. The Roman fort-town, Ferentinum, a name which was linked to the fertility of the region and mentioned by both the Roman poet Horace and historian Livy, suffered heavily in World War II due to its location on the via Casilinaout of Rome. Mayor Piergianni Fiorletta, while strolling through the town, talked us through its the history and the destruction faced during the Second World War. The quiet stillness of the location, along with its ancient churches and Roman foundations, is contrasted heavily with the visible reminders of the horrors of the war left across the town. The Roman Necropolis, which sat tucked away in the historic centre, unused for hundreds of years, now bares the names of all those 400 lives lost during the 1944 bombardment of Ferentino. Dr Pietro Scerrato, a Ferentino native, explained how whole families were lost in a single day, how 60 percent of the town was reduced to rubble and all at the hands of the Allied forces, who at the time were believed to be bringing aid and liberating the south of Italy from the fascists. 

 Ferentino is also proudly the home town of Don Giuseppe Morosini, a patriot, priest and partisan, who worked to undermine the Nazis in Italy and was executed by firing squad after a period of imprisonment in Via Tasso, the site of what is now the Museum of Liberation in Rome. 

 The heavy bombing of the town did, however, uncover a good deal of Roman ruins, including the Roman amphitheatre, which was refurbished in the middle of lock-down and is now used for open air plays in the summer. All sites in Ferentino are currently free for the public as most are outside and the town is set to open a newly built museum for some of the roman artifacts found in the area in the coming months. 

 One thing that is absolutely not to be missed in Ferentino is Trattoria Consolare, a restaurant serving local food that is absolutely not to be missed. The quality and attention to detail in every dish is worth a trip to Ferentino in and of itself. A stand out dish had to be the Parmigiana di Melanzane, which was cooked with such delicacy that it simply melted in the mouth and in general, the trattoria offers local dishes cooked to absolute perfection accompanied by wines produced in the area.

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