Fiuggi's treasures

 Inside the town walls – which have now almost disappeared – there is a succession of alleys, little squares, steep flights of steps and houses built one on top of the other.

The fact that, over the countries, the most important Roman families had homes here can be seen from the interesting buildings, such as the old Case Grandi, Martini and Alessandri manor houses. In the De Medici mansion; which used to house the old Anticoli barracks, there is the famous “well of the virgin” into which, according to legend, girl whorefused to submit to the “just primae noctis” were thrown. The Falconi mansion also has a strange story. While vainly waiting for the arrival of Napoleon, who was expected to make a short stop here, a painter spent a whole night decorating a room with the picture of the leader. Napoleon never arrived Fiuggi but, as the artist said, he left his shadow in the room now Known as “the Napoleon room”.

As you walk around the town you can still admire two-light mullioned windows in via Vetere and stone doorways with coats of arms over them in Via Maggiore.

Each of Fiuggi's many churches is worth a visit. The Collegiata di San Pietro in Via Maggiore houses works of the 17° century Roman school. In the heart of the old town, Santo Stefano and Santa Maria del Colle, two pagan temples converted into churches around the 15° century, are also well worth seeing.

In via Vecchia Fiuggi there is the Chiesa della Madonna della Vittoria (church of Our Lady of Victory), built by the feudal lord, Marcantonio Colonna, in memory of the victory of the Christian army at Lepanto.

Lastly, there is the Church of San Biagio (Saint Blaise) patron saint of Fiuggi. Built around the year 1100 and subsequently rebuilt in baroque style, it still has a thirteenth century fresco and a holy water font carved out of a Roman capital.

In addition to the works of art of the past it is also interesting to visit the parts of the town that date back to the turn of the century, a period of great cultural activity in Fiuggi too. The Villino Breda, in the old town and, at the bottom of the town, the Albergo Igea and all the socalled Zona Villini (town-house district), are in Art Nouveau style. The Fonte Bonifacio VIII (of which only the great period doorway remains), the Grande Albergo Palazzo della Fonte and the Regina Pacis Church

were also designed by the same architect, Garibaldi Burba. The magnificent Grand Hotel Città di Fiuggi, built in 1910 as already mentioned, has undergone many changes. The centre of unforgettable cultural-fashionable life during the twenty years of fascism, it now houses one of the best hotel schools in Italy and its theatre has become the Municipal Theatre.

The Town Hall was built in renaissance style in 1925 in honour of the short period – from 1421 to 1478 – when Anticoli di Campagna was a free town.

Texts and photos courtesy of A.P.T. Frosinone