Weekender Discovering Rome, Lazio
By Kim Ji-soo
Staff Reporter
ROME ― One of the joys of traveling is discovery. We travel to find a new place or a new layer to a familiar one. Sometimes, we discover ourselves.
My recent second visit to Rome was about uncovering all of its facets. The first-time rush of seeing the St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican and Vatican Museum, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum gave me a deep appreciation of how such a rich cultural tradition has shaped modern Italian life.
And with hints of "La Dolce Vita" seeping into my heart, I enjoyed listening to church bells pealing at noon, witnessing people basking in the sun on the Spanish steps and catching glimpses of romantic couples locking lips on the observatory of the National Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II or simply known as Vittoriano.
There is so much more to explore in Rome. I desperately wanted to visit Villa Borghese and the newly opened National Museum of the XXI Century Arts, but, instead, my schedule whisked me away to various parts of Lazio.
The region of Lazio, of which Rome is a part, surrounds the Italian capital. It is a region that offers a motley mix of castles, lakes, history and thermal spas.
Castle Odescalchi in Bracciano was a pretty feast for the eye even in the damp wintry weather. The castle built in 1470 became all the more famous when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes wed there in 2006. Aside from the castle, Bracciano, located 40 kilometers northwest of Rome, is a quaint Italian town that makes for a nice getaway.
Not far is Cerveteri, the remaining bastion of the Etruscan culture that predated the Roman Empire and influenced that of the latter. Located about 35 kilometers northwest of Rome, Cerveteri is host to the Etruscan Necropolis, which was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.
Surrounded by lush pine trees, the necropolis features rotund-looking tombs that look like huts in a well-arranged town. Except it's not a town, but various forms of tombs of Etruscan people whose civilization flourished between the 9th and 3rd century B.C. There were tombs where entire families were buried together, an impressive feat even by modern standards. One tomb was refurbished with stone structures to reflect the deceased's living quarters.
Walking through the necropolis, it's hard to shake off the thought that the cycle of human life ― birth, life and death ― remains much the same. The interiors to these tombs, however, are now on display at the Cerveteri Museum and the Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia in Rome.
Ostia Antica, located about 20 kilometers west of Rome, is another trip to the past. Ostia Antica was the first Roman colony located at the mouth of the Tiber River, which runs through Rome flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. Colonized in the 4th century B.C. to enable Rome to secure salt and a port for exchange, the settlement is complete with public baths, apartments, gymnasiums, an amphitheater and pagan temples. It feels like a smaller Pompeii, but unlike the ill-fated town, it wasn't destroyed by a volcanic eruption, but, instead, declined gradually over the years. Walking through the former streets of Ostia Antica, seeing mosaics on the floor where shops used to be, one cannot but respect how advanced commerce and exchange were at that time. It's a lovely site, and its English speaking guide, Paulo Guagliumi, praised its "underrated" value.
As a spa-lover, I was heartened to find out that various thermal spas exist in Lazio. One town we visited was Fiuggi. Located southeast of Rome, it is known for its waters that have medicinal benefits. When I visited in the first week of November, it wasncrowded, as it is most popular from March through October.
This allowed me to take in the beauty of the city center, which at night made me feel as if I had been transported back to medieval times. In the morning, we stopped by Boniface VIII's spring to drink its hydrothermal water. Fiuggi has another, the Anticolan spring, which is called the "new spring" since it was inaugurated recently, in the 1920s.
To get to Fiuggi, take the FS train from Rome to Fiuggi, via Anagni. The trip lasts about 50 minutes. For more information, visit the Web site https://www.trenitalia.it.
For more information about traveling in Rome and Lazio, visit the Web sites of Italian tourism agency at www.enit.or.kr or the regional tourism agency for the Lazio region. www.atlazio.it.