I absolutely love our little town of Itri, it only boasts 10,000 inhabitants, but has its Italian soul completely intact. This is no city overrun with tourists, rather it’s Italian heart beats with real life. The beautiful Medieval Castle is nestled against the mountain and provides the backdrop for everyday life in this little town.
The name of our town sounds a little strange but comes from the Latin word “Iter” meaning “Route” or “way” because it sits directly on the Appia Way. The Appian way was built in 312 BC to cross the Aurunci Mountains. This pass was important throughout the ages as first the Romans traveled these roads, then the people of medieval times, the artists and thinkers of the Renaissance and later the British aristocrats. All travelers coming from Naples to Rome would have traveled this pass and ultimately crossed through Itri.
Olive groves surround the little town and provide the olives that have been the main export of Itri since Medieval Times. We have little cafes and restaurants, shops and squares ready to meander or just sit and enjoy a cappuccino.
For a little bit of local history you can climb up to the old city toward the looming Castle of Itri. You may have to start your tour from Bix Cafe because otherwise it may be difficult to find parking. Behind Bix there is a large parking lot that always seems to have free parking available. Besides, you can enjoy a great cappuccino and cornetto (breakfast pastry) for just €1 each. It’s our favorite coffee shop in a Itri. Everything we do starts with a cappuccino here.
It’s a long walk to the castle from here, but that’s what we do in Italy…walk. You can also try for some parking behind Padre Pio Bus Stop, there is sometimes parking on the upper level. Cross the street from Padre Pio and start walking toward the castle. You should be on the same side of the street as La Miserabili, this is a good lunch spot in Itri, they also serve the wine from our local winery, Monti Cecubi. Keep walking toward yellow signs that say “Osteria Murat”, these are advertising the restaurant across the street, it means “restaurant on the wall” because it’s on the wall of the Medieval City.
When you see the tattoo shop and the Bar named Contraband Urbana, start climbing the stone steps that carry you toward the castle. The views are beautiful of the surrounding countryside and every step up seems to open up a new breathtaking scene cut straight out of a travel magazine of Medieval Europe.
First you will see the archway that is the entrance into the old city. Continue walking up and up and you can peak into the lives and homes of those who still live in this Medieval City. Notice that the city is built on a rock mass that has become part of the castle and old city.
As you walk up the steps you may notice rustic looking wooden doors. These look like they haven’t been used for decades but actually these were the “barns” or storage rooms for the inhabitants for centuries. Usually they would keep a donkey or goats in these rustic little rooms on the ground floor of the ancient cities.
It helps to remember that these people are farmers, and even though they lived within the walled city for protection, they still needed to farm their land in the countryside, so each day they would leave their safe “city dwelling”, get their donkey or goats and walk to their farms, often miles away, after a day of farming the land they would walk back with their produce, unload the donkey and place him back in his “barn”. It was not a long ago that they lived this way, even toward the 1960’s there were still farmers parking their donkeys in the “garage”.. Today they still use these tiny rooms, usually as a storage place or a garage or even to store the food, wine and oil they have processed.
When you get to the top of the town you will find a parking lot. What!?! I could have driven up here!?! Is what you might be thinking, but it’s not easy to get a car up those narrow streets without taking out a side mirror or scratching up the car! From here you can see the four towers that have stood watch over Itri for 500 years and more. These are out in the countryside and are not tall by today’s standards but they could watch the Tyrrhenian Sea for Murauders arriving by Sea and watch the Appian way for intruders by land.
Yes, that’s where the Appia crossed Itri on its way to Rome. This was their network that would alert the surrounding towns of attack. From here you can also see the old clock tower and church. Anytime you see this stripe pattern in an ancient building it means it was Byzantine and a holy building.
From this lookout point, you must walk down to get to the castle, you will cross the town square with the large church known as the Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo (Itri) , this church dates from the 11th Century, over 1000 years old. It was built on the ancient pagan temple dedicated to Asclepius. You can see Byzantine striped stone work in the bell tower at the top. Also in this square is a water fountain that dates back to antiquity that has always delivered fresh water to the inhabitants for years. Stop and refresh yourself with a drink of the cold water supplied by Roman age aqueducts.
Standing in the square facing the church, you can look to your right at a little restaurant called Fra Diavola. This struck me as a strange name at first, “hmmm, why would someone be called ‘Brother Devil’”? I thought. I was told that Fra Diavolo was a local hero here in Itri and I learned the name “Devil Monk” was given to the local Itri man named Michele Pezza. He became a local hero during the Neapolitan wars to push back the French army. To read the fascinating history of this local hero click here, you will learn how he is connected to Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, the Royal Palace in Caserta, the Unification of Italy and the Rosetta Stone!
Now, after this little bit of local history, we will continue to the Castle. The castle was actually built in sections, starting with the first tower that was built in 882 AD by the duke of Gaeta. The actual living quarters of the castle were completed in 1250 AD. If the Castle is open you can pay a small fee of €3 to go inside. There isn’t any furnishings but the enterior will have you dreaming of what life would have been like living in Medieval Castle.
You can see where a fireplace once burned brightly to warm the inhabitants of this cold castle. There is a tall window seat that overlooks the countryside and I could just picture the ladies in velvet and taffeta sitting in the light of the window sewing their embroidered fabrics with needlepoint waiting for their prince to come.
The views over the city are beautiful as you scamper along the walkway from the Castle to the “Crocodile” Tower. The “Crocodile” tower got its name from the crocodile that lived at the bottom of the tower who received as its dinner any prisoner who had the misfortune of being thrown to the bottom. The views of Itri are beautiful from this vantage point, you can see all of the houses clinging to the base of the castle wall for protection and spilling down into the valley below.
I personally like the stories of the pricess Giulia Gonzaga, born in 1513, who married the Duke of Sabbioneta when she was only 13 years of age and was widowed when she was 15. She continued to live as “Lady” in Fondi until the Pirate Barbarossa tried to kidnap her for the Sultan Suleiman I! This is the stuff fairy tails are made of! It happened when the Turks sacked her Kingdom of Fondi but she fled the castle in Fondi with a knight, down a secret passageway and escaped.
The escape was good for her but bad for the cities of Itri, Fondi and Sperlonga, because they paid the price for her freedom. Barbossa the Pirate had entered land from Sperlonga so when he failed to capture the young beautiful princess he took it out on the inhabitants of the cities. The suffering that ensued is depicted in the tragic drawings on the white washed walls in the courtyard in Sperlonga.
Later Giulia Gonzaga lived in a convent where she learned the writings of Luther and Calvin and became a believer. For this she was later considered a heretic against the Catholic Church. Pope Pius V said he would have “burned the Lady alive” if he would have known about her “extremist” views. Giulia was known far and wide as a beautiful and exceptional woman of the arts, but her real love was for religious reform.
She was friends with such religious reformers of as Juan de Valdez and Piettro Carnesecchi who was killed as a heretic. I enjoy walking these castle passageways and wonder what else these castle walls have seen. So far it’s the stuff of Cinderella stories with crocodiles in the tower, Pirates and revolutionary princesses.
If you want to take yourself on a “Medieval Treasure Hunt” of Giulia Gonzaga, these towns that are part of her story. You could start here in Itri at the Castle (only open Saturday and Sunday 9-12 and 3:30-6 pm) then carry on the “hunt” in the whitewashed streets of Sperlonga, searching for the drawings on the wall. Don’t worry, the town of Sperlonga is not that big!
Try not to image the enraged Pirate Barbossa as he pillaged Sperlonga for revenge in losing the princess. If it becomes too tragic, just sit yourself down at a little table and enjoy a Spritz in the shade, comforting yourself that the days of pirates and pillaging are long gone. Remembered only on the walls of Sperlonga and pages of history.
You can also visit the city of Fondi and tour the castle and royal palace to complete your story of Giulia Gonzaga and find the hidden passage way that she escaped from. You will also see the clothes worn during this period, the castle in which she lived when she was not in Itri, and artwork depicting scenes from the period.
Don’t forget that the Castle and Palace observe strict operating hours, I recommend going in the morning as it closes at 12:30 and is only open for a few hours in the evening from 5-9. Be sure to check online as operating hours can be very frustrating in Italy!
There are so many more stories to tell of this cute but tough little town of Itri. But these we will have to wait to tell over a glass of local wine and cheese while sitting in the shade of the castle.
Join the localS at their Friday Outdoor Market where you can buy local produce, seafood, meat, cheese and of course olives. There are also tables piled high with antique hand embroidered table clothes and other treasured items that had been tucked away for decades in someone’s hope chest, but now are available for €3!
If you want to read more about our Villa in Italy try:
If you would like to read more about my adventures in Italy, try one of these:
A Californian Surfing in Italy (Published May 1, 2019)
Our New Town in Italy (Published June 17, 2019)
Life Lessons from the Secret Garden (Published June 21, 2019)
Homemade Pizza in a “Wood-fired” Pizza Oven (Published July 5, 2019)
A Morning Run in Nettuno (Published September 10, 2017)
A Visit to Castelli Romani (Published September 13, 2017)
Dinner for Six (Published October 1, 2017)
Italian Cooking School (Published October 8, 2017)
Culinary Tour of Napoli (Published November 17, 2017)
Changing Seasons in Italy (Published November 25, 2017)
Cooking with Pasquale (Published January 28, 2018)
A Tour of the Garden of Ninfa (Published May 7, 2018)
A Trip to Montefiascone (Published May 17, 2018)
San Gimignano, a visit to a Tuscan Hill Town (Published June 9, 2018)
Tuscan Hot Springs of San Filippo & Saturnia (Published June 13, 2018)
Florence in Fall (Published Nov 6, 2018)
Villas, Palaces and Fortresses (published November 25, 2018)
Hill Towns of Central Italy (published January 14, 2019)
The Italian Alps in February (Published February 13, 2019)
