The oasis of artists 45 minutes from Rome
Small village of Tuscia, in the province of Viterbo but only forty kilometers from Rome, here is Calcata (which means probably the road, run, calcate, precisely). The municipal territory is “divided” into two Calcata. New Calcata was built after the disastrous earthquake of 1908 in Messina and Reggio Calabria, when throughout Italy it decided to evacuate many places with a high degree of insecurity. Old Calcata, the medieval village, which, however, does not die completely and since the 1960s attracted so many “foreigners” in its magical territory. They are mostly creative artists who decide to open labs and bourgeoisie right here. One of the first discoverers of the village is the architect Paolo Portoghesi, who, like the others, is approaching Calcata, far from the city chaos, because it is a place that can blend around different groups of people looking for a lifestyle ‘man. Way out of the crazy crowd, in short.
The village of Calcata is perched on a tuff terrace, the one created by the ancient activity of the Sabatino Volcano, and dominates the valley of the Treja river, within the park of the same name, in a typical mixed deciduous forest. Its climate is warm-temperate, not particularly cold in winter (when snowfall is also possible) or hot in summer. Then, free to visit Calcata every season.
Calcata has already been reported in the 13th century BC, as a settlement of the people of the Falisci, ancient inhabitants of these lands and who left their presence in the nearby Narce Archaeological Complex, between Pizzo Piede and Monti Li Santi, extending From here to the current Faleria and Civita Castellana and towards southern Etruria, an area called by the Romans Agro Falisco. Given by the Etruscans and then by the Romans themselves, the Falisci, of whom little is known, are included in the great Rome. Certainly safer news about the existence of Calcata appear in official papers from 700 BC, when it is considered a genuine food gathering center for refueling Rome.
The village as it is now (more or less) now is the result of interventions in the long centuries of the Middle Ages and still retains its features, narrow narrow streets that cross between them and tufacee houses that still show traces of portals and windows original, good looking. The place was owned by various families, common to many localities in the area, passing by the Anguillara, the Sinibaldi, the Massimo. Many houses date back to the 13th century, while some roads have been paved by river cobblings since 1700; The small Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus is Renaissance, the Baronale Palace, which was repeatedly restored, was built between the 17th and 19th centuries and is now the property of Treja Park. The rural landscape of this part of the Tuscia is largely an agricultural and pastoral vocation. There are numerous livestock, vineyards, olive groves, apisters. Surely, however, tourism is becoming increasingly popular, both natural and gastronomic, in search of the flavors typical of these places. Also to consider a certain tourism related to the pilgrimage.
In fact, Calcata is quite close to the places of the Via Francigena and other localities located along it. Certainly, Calcata’s so particular aspect, especially at night, is the ideal setting for the Night of the Witches, which takes place there on October 31. Sunny and full of light, on the other hand, is the Summer Solstice celebration in June. And on September 16, all set to celebrate the patron saints, St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian both, it seems, from the Carthage area. Other more ‘contemporary’ events include art exhibitions, concerts, thanks in part to the many artists who have settled here or who come here at certain times of the year. Many initiatives, for example, at the cultural association ‘Il Granarone’ (one of the many that enrich the village), including classical, ancient, jazz, opera and popular music concerts, even drawing classes. It was conceived by Marijcke Van Der Maden, an artist of figure and puppet creations, and Domenico Malarbì aka Mimmo, who used to be in charge of marketing and now of creativity in Calcata. The Granarone is inside an old barn from the 1600s on Via di Porta Segreta (the name already says it all) and was once the center of the village’s social life. It is those at the Granarone who organize, among other things, the children’s game barter and the nativity scene in traditional dress in December.
Calcata is also famous for its musical band, which is more than 100 years old, made up of about sixty people who go around the town and the province to show what they sound like, the people here. Also, in Calcata, as in the rest of Tuscia, the secret of the many delicious recipes lies in their flavor, intense and fragrant with spices. The proposals are many and all excellent. The protagonist is lamb and wild boar meat, with which, among other things, sauces are prepared for homemade pastas, lombrichelli, pappardelle, fettuccine al bastone. Then there are polenta, potato gnocchi, and legume soups, such as the classic pasta e fagioli, which here has something extra, namely a final sprinkling of pecorino, d that produced from the milk of local sheep. Green light also to abbacchio, such as ‘scottadito’ alla romana, porchettine, tripe, chicken, rabbit. Also, cured meats such as susianella, shaped like a horseshoe, inside are heart, liver, pancreas, cheek and other pork trimmings, all mixed with salt, pepper, wild fennel.
Goat cheeses should also be tried, perhaps those with a flowered rind, that is, covered with a thin veil of mold that gives a special flavor. For desserts, there is no match: tozzetti brutti ma buoni with the exquisite hazelnuts produced in the Cimini Mountains. But also, a sweet bread in the shape of a braid, which is called St. Anthony’s cookie. And to drink? Well, a good glass of the white Est! Est!!! Est!!!, Montefiascone (very) doc.
Calcata is witness to the presence of a curious relic: in the parish church it would be preserved, among the ointments in a gold ampule, the foreskin of Jesus. How did he come here? He would bring it to Pope Leo III, found in Jerusalem, even Charlemagne. During the plundering of 1517, a soldier’s soldier would have stolen it and hid in a cave near Calcata. Before dying, confesses the theft, the relic is recovered and donated to Flaminio Anguillara’s wife. It seems that his presence was mentioned in the travel diaries of a French Friar but now … he has disappeared! Luigi Vittorio Bertarelli, geographer and explorer of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century, described this area very briefly in a very detailed travel journal, in the itineraries he visited in 1908 on a bicycle, among archaeological remains and the tormented hilly morphology engraved by forests steep; A reportage that is published in the magazine of the Touring Club d’Italia, of which he was founder and first president.