The Via Clodia from Rome to Tuscany
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008This Rome information blog is written for the guests of the Chaplin Hostel Rome and the Bed and Breakfast Little Italy.
Via Clodia - history
The Via Clodia was probably built by the Romans on top of an earlier, Etruscan road. Unlike most other roads it was built for commercial rather than military goals.
The Via Clodia starts just north of Rome as a side street of the Via Cassia (near La Storta) and meanders through the northern part of the province of Lazio to end in Tuscany, not far from the town of Grosseto. The Via Clodia was seen as the main connection between the Via Cassia and the Via Aurelia.
The Via Clodia is named after a Roman magistrate during the republican era.
Another name for the Via Clodia was the Via delle Terme, because of the abundance of wells that could be found along it.
During the Middle Ages the Via Clodia, which was already paved 225 b.C., was a main road for the pilgrims coming to Rome. The road runs along the lakes of Bracciano and Bolsena (Europe’s largest lake of volcanic origin).
As soon as one leaves Rome one can already spot the Castello Orsini in the distance, nowadays as well as in the past a place where the rich and famous go to enjoy themselves.
Marta, on the banks of Lake Bolsena, is a picturesque fishing village. Another beautiful village is Castro, though it cannot be found on the map of the province of Lazio anymore, since it was systematically destroyed, stone by stone, by pope Innocenzo X Pamphili. At the moment they are trying to restore the little bit that is left of Castro
Other splendid villages one drives through are Anguillara Sabazia, Santa Maria di Galeria and Blera.
The forest of Lamone near Rome
The Via Clodia runs through the nature reserve of Lamone, the oldest wild forest of central Italy. On foot or by bicycle, one can follow several paths through the forest, the most famous of which is the Sentiero dei Briganti (the Robber’s Path). At the edge of the Lamone reserve lies the medieval borough of Farnese, in Italy known especially because in the early seventies the movie Pinocchio was filmed here.
Also Tuscania, which owes its importance mainly to the construction of the Via Clodia is worth a visit, for the Etruscan remains and the church of San Pietro towering above the village.
At Norchia, along the old pilgrim’s road, the Via Francigena, the tufo stone, much used in Rome, was won. From the city itself one has a splendid view over one of the largest Etruscan burial places.
From Roccarespampani, called thus after the Rocca Medievale (medieval rock), which one can only visit accompanied by a guide, one reaches the Ponte di Fra’ Cirillo (over the river Traponzo). The bridge, which has an altar built in it, was built by Cirillo, according to legend in one night only. Cirillo’s spirit is also said to still hover around the bridge. Experience in Italy learns that the second is a more credible legend than the first.