Lazio

Everyone visits Lazio in order to visit Rome, and they must. The Eternal City boasts riches that have attracted crowds for centuries with gladiatorial combat within the Colosseum, art within the Vatican, and roads that resound with empire. What many forget is that magic is just beginning once you move beyond that capital city and out into rural countryside that Romans have loved across centuries.

A stone’s throw from Rome’s bustling city centre, you’re in an utterly different world. Hilltop medieval towns clamber to volcanic outcrops, family vineyards have yielded wine that’s sat on Roman tables for centuries, and thermal springs erupt from beneath the earth just as they used to when emperors would ride out to soak in their curative waters. The contrast is extreme – you’re one day walking in the Forum walked upon by Caesar, and looking forward to tomorrow’s homemade pasta with a family whose recipe hasn’t altered in 300 years.

This isn’t tourist Italy. This is Italy that is lived, loved, and defended by Italians.

Roman cooking is not only found in restaurants in Rome, it began in Lazio’s kitchens, perfected over centuries by families who know that great food requires only the best ingredients. Go through any village market and you’ll understand why Roman cuisine took over the world: flawless artichokes that are turned into “Carciofi alla Romana,” guanciale so rich it turns simple pasta into carbonara magic, and cave-aged Pecorino Romano cheese that imparts that characteristic pungent bite Romans want.

Each plate is a testament to this territory’s history. The Pane casereccio di Genzano, the oldest Italian bread to be granted a special status of protection, still comes out of wood-baked ovens with the same sour starters that have been kept by some families for decades. See bakers at work and you realize why that bread lasts for days but never loses its vibrancy.

That real epiphany, however, is when you eat where locals eat. In remote hill-town trattorias, you’ll be treated to cacio e pepe cooked by someone who was taught by his great-grandmother. You’ll learn why amatriciana can’t be bettered. These are not relics, they’re essential, breathing traditions that nourish body and soul.

he Romans were drinking wines from hills about them for over 2,000 years, and once you’ve tasted them, you’ll understand why they never bothered to search anywhere else. The volcanic earth that shaped those rolling hills produces wines that possess a personality you wouldn’t find anywhere else.

Frascati remains the region’s flagship, a dry white wine that complements Rome’s cuisine and conjures up lazy summertime afternoons lolling around in countryside trattorias. Made from grapes that thrive on volcanic soils that are high in minerals, it’s a wine that is a bit like a sip of sunshine and history in a glass. You’ll find you can very easily reach the Frascati hills from Rome by train and thus it’s ideal when you crave a day of tasting at vineyards that are proditvely run.

And then there’s Cesanese, Lazio’s best-kept secret. This red grape is grown scarcely anywhere else in Italy, producing wines rich in cherry taste and spice that local residents have admired over generations. When Cesanese del Piglio received Italy’s highest wine classification in 2008, it simply validated what everyone around these parts already understood, volcanic terroir around these parts generates a very special product.

These are no wines to impress foreign critics. These are wines made for locals, who live, who drink, and who party there. This kind of honesty is irresistible.

Rome must and does dominate any Lazio cultural discussion. A stroll through the Forum, a stop in the Pantheon, or a glance over the Sistine Chapel ceiling connects you with mankind’s greatest achievements. The city boasts centuries of history that would span lifetimes to be seen.

But move out of the capital and you find that Roman civilization didn’t end when it reached city limits, it expanded throughout this area and still exists today. Viterbo is one of Italy’s best-kept medieval towns, and it boasts 11th-century city walls and authentic architecture that made it the papal throne for 24 years in the 13th century. Nowadays, it’s known for its volcanic thermal springs and a place where anyone can enjoy the same thermal civilization that Romans perfected centuries later.

Genzano’s face changes each June and transforms its city streets with intricate carpets of hundreds of thousands of petal flowers, a tradition now protected on UNESCO’s list. Possibly even more surprising, in tiny Cervara di Roma, a mountain city with just over 500 citizens decided to reinvent itself as an outdoor painting and invited artists around the world to create murals and sculptures down their ancient roads.

Regardless of whether you are strolling through Rome’s lively neighborhoods or finding thermal springs secreted in the countryside, you’re a part of a culture that has been unchanged over centuries. Here, people still congregate every night for aperitivo, still linger over long lunches and dinners, and still know that life’s richest moments occur when you slow down enough to actually taste them.