Yes Hotel Rome Travel Blog: The Rome travel guide

Our Blogger: Arianna

Only 47 Kilometres away from Rome, there is a typical example of medieval architecture, one of the most well conserved fortresses in all of Italy.

Calcata is located on the Treja valley, characterized by volcanic material and red tuff in particular.

In the magic atmosphere that surrounded the suburb, history and mythology come into play together.

The legend says that the area was built by the Falisci people who originated from Haleso, Agamemnon’s son.

But we really don’t know when Calcata was constructed because the first stories about it go back to around 772 – 795, under Adrian’s I papacy.

During the XIII century Calcata became well known because the Anguillara family erected a tower with fortified walls and many doors. What we know for sure is that according to an old legend, a prepuce and an oil bottle used to wash Jesus Christ’s feet was conserved.in Calcata.

During the pillage of Rome in 1527 made by lansquenets, one of them steeled the relic and hid it in a barn. Another story is that someone else hid the relic inside a cavern.

Only after 30 years was the relic found and collocated inside the church of S. Cyprian and Cornelius.

Visiting the entire village doesn’t take a long time but it’s a spectacular walk .It’s like going back 100 years in time. The houses are small and compact, the paths in the streets are extremely straight and are infact built on previously active volcanic land.

Calcata has another strange history. In 1930 the government decided to evacuate the village because it believed the foundations of the buildings’ were fragile and there was a risk of rock fall. A new calcata was also built 2 km away from the old village.

At that time, Calcata, together with another village called Civita di Bagnoregio, became knows as “the dying villages�.

What happened after that?

Well, starting from 1960 approximately, a lot of old hippies, artists and writers, started to rebuild the “dying village�, giving it new life.

In fact, its actually like a status symbol nowadays to be a Calcatan and its even possible to rediscover the simple life there once was, with nature and spiritualism bearing real significance.

For example, in the treja area just below the village there is a temple of spiritualism where you can try a different kind of life – keeping contact only with the land and its animals.

Visitors (no more than six at a time) are asked not to use electrical appliances and for water there is only a barrel.

I hope I made you curious enough to come and visit this beautiful town. And if you are curious enough, why not check out our special prices at Yes Hotel in Rome? Being so centrally located, our hotel is the ideal spot for transport connections to other places in the Lazio region.

Directions by car

From Rome’s “great ring road” (Grande Raccordo Anulare): take the exit 5 – S. S. 2bis Cassia V. (Veientana) -, go past the third exit for Campagnano Romano, after 200 m turn straight into the exit for Mazzano Romano – Trevignano, and then follow the signs for Calcata.
Otherwise, take the Flaminia Road (Via Flaminia) in the direction of Civita Castellana as far as Rignano Flaminio, then follow the signs for Faleria-Calcata.

Directions By bus

Take a bus from Saxa Rubra, Roma.