Italy · Lazio · Historic villages
the westernmost comune in Lazio, with an Etruscan city inside it and a power station on the sea that was never switched on
Montalto di Castro is the westernmost comune in Lazio, and it stands on a rise of the Maremma seven kilometres from the sea: a medieval village of small squares and alleys under archways, with the Guglielmi castle dominating it and the four-square tower the Orsini raised in the fifteenth century. The "di Castro" in its name recalls the Farnese duchy the town belonged to, and the town hall, in piazza Matteotti, was first a Franciscan friary and then a Farnese fortress. But the reason you stop is outside the village: inside this comune, nine kilometres to the north, is Vulci, one of the great Etruscan cities, today open country with a decumanus you walk along. And a little to the north west, between the town and the coast, is the thing no guidebook tells you about: the concrete of the nuclear power station that was never switched on.
Sleeping
Four possibilities and none of them seen by us: two campsites towards the Marina, an area on the sea and the car park of the Vulci park. What follows comes from the sources, and the notes get filled in on the way back.
Via Vulsinia 2, 01014 Montalto di Castro (VT)
it is the one written into the route, towards the Marina. It has a motorhome service point of its own, and the declared season runs from April to September: 11 September is in the tail of the season, so it is better to telephone than to turn up.
the other campsite, further south along the coast and further from the village. It is a holiday village, so out of season the same phone call applies as for the other one.
Strada del Tirreno, 01014 Montalto di Castro (VT)
it is the only proper motorhome area of the four, on the sea and on grass, but it is also the furthest from the town: nine kilometres, that is to say on the opposite side from Vulci.
it is the park's car park, free, and it is handy for getting in at opening time without moving. We saw no signs forbidding overnight parking, but we did not stop there ourselves: that is why overnight remains unknown, and anyone who wants certainty asks at the ticket office, which is the only one that knows
Getting around
Seeing
The historic centre is walked in half an hour, and it is the short part of the day. What you come for is outside: the Vulci park to the north and the beach to the south west. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
Castle · 42.35479, 11.60423
Circonvallazione Vulci 23, 01014 Montalto di Castro
it dominates the town, and the oldest part is the great four-square tower that an inscription attributes to the Orsini, probably of the fifteenth century. It has been altered more than once: raised by a storey in the late eighteenth century, and later still a loggia and the battlements were added. You do not go inside: it is a private residence, and it is looked at from outside. The local sources say so, and it is worth knowing before climbing to the top of the town to find it shut. Legend has it that underneath is the castle the Lombard king Desiderius had built in the eighth century, destroyed in 1109 by the troops of Pope Paschal II: of that one no trace remains. The coordinate above is that of the street, not of the door: the castle is not on OpenStreetMap and the address is the only thing the sources give.
Church · free entry · 42.35426, 11.60457
the parish church, with an eighteenth-century front. Above the doorway is the coat of arms of Pius VI Braschi, who paid for its complete rebuilding in 1783.
Church · free entry · 42.35366, 11.60565
a neoclassical front, on piazza Felice Guglielmi. Above the altar is a Madonna of Victory that the local sources give as the church's prize piece.
Monument · 42.35338, 11.60389
it stands on piazza Matteotti and was born a Franciscan friary, then turned into a fortress by the Farnese and finally became the town hall. Three lives in the same building, and it is the shortest way of telling the town's history.
Viewpoint · free entry · 42.35319, 11.60405
the war memorial and the lookout, on the side of the town that faces the plain and the sea.
Square · free entry · 42.35341, 11.60412
the town hall square, and the point from which you enter the historic centre. From here on it is alleys, archways and little squares: Pian di Rocca, la Porticina, the old bakehouse.
Beach · free entry · 42.32652, 11.58643
the part of the comune on the sea, seven kilometres from the village, with the two campsites around it.
When
You see the town for what it is in the middle of January, when the horses come into the centre.
the feast of the saint who protects animals, and at Montalto it is not a blessing and off you go: the butteri, the mounted herdsmen of the Maremma, gather and parade through the streets of the centre, and there is the colazione del buttero, the herdsman's breakfast. Saint Anthony falls on the 17th, but the feast is held on the nearest Sunday, so the date is worth checking each year
the feast of the town's patron saints
Remember
Montalto di Castro · part two
and then?
What to do, what to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
What we did starting from here, ordered by driving time.
The most typical dish, to cook again at home.
Looking
3 shots from our visit. Tap one to see it large.
