Fiuggi: If its waters were good enough for popes and Michelangelo …
For 700 years, people have been coming to a small town 50 miles (90 kilometers) east of Rome for its healing, therapeutic waters. Pope Boniface VIII swore they cured his kidney stones in the 14th century. Michelangelo did the same two centuries later.
The town of Fiuggi has two terrific thermal bath centers framing maybe the most artistic historical center in Lazio. Murals grace the walls spliced by narrow, curving alleys.
Its main Piazza Trento e Trieste is anchored by the beautiful historic Grand Hotel although now closed. Before going to the theater inside, have a cocktail across the piazza at Caffe del Teatro, open since 1860.
Things to do
1 • L’Acqua di Bonifacio VIII. You can’t miss it. It’s a giant yellow gate held up by four solid columns. It was built in the 1990s but Fiuggi’s healing waters go back centuries. Underneath Fiuggi are two springs called Fonte Bonifacio VIII and Fonte Anticolana. In the 14th century, Pope Boniface VIII claimed those waters healed his aching kidney stones.
The Vatican has records showing it took 187 barrels from Fiuggi between 1299-1302 during the pope’s reign. Around 1548, Michelangelo suffered from the same malady and was cured after a month’s treatment from the waters. He later wrote his nephew, “My illness is now much better. I drank, for about two months, night and morning, the water coming from a fountain forty miles from Rome.
It breaks stones and thus broke also mine.” Today people still come for the spa’s healing powers. The grounds have meandering paths under towering trees and past gardens. Another spa, Terme Ponte Anacolana, is closed for reconstruction.
Info: Viale G. Lucarelli di Articoli 1, 39-07-75-7831, info@acquafiuggi.eu, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., €7.
2 • Centro Storico. Fiuggi consists of two parts: The modern lower part and ancient upper part, known as Fiuggi Citta.
Spread out over a steep hill, Fiuggi Citta is a spiderweb of narrow, windy, stone alleys lined with potted plants and 19th century lanterns. What’s different in Fiuggi, however, is numerous walls are covered in beautiful murals.
One shows Pope Boniface VIII with an ice pack on his cheek after someone inexplicably smacked him. Another, painted by an artist known as “The Caravaggio of Street Art,” is a beautiful, detailed painting of one of the Colonna family who were the lords of Anticoli, the original name of Fiuggi, in the Middle Ages.
There’s also a depiction of women cooking bread on a building that was once a communal bakery where townspeople came to bake bread for their families. Also in Centro Storico, don’t miss Palazzo Falconi, a three-story square palace where Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly stayed during his period in Italy in the early 19th century.
3 • Teatro Comunale di Fiuggi. It was inaugurated in 1910 along with the Grand Hotel which stood behind the theater. The theater is built in Roman-Baroque style and noted for its elegant cast-iron railings. The hotel was abandoned after World War II and in 1964 the city turned it into a school for hotel management. The theater has a full schedule. Its next performance is Saturday at 9 p.m. with “Molto Piacere.”
Info: Piazza Trento e Trieste 1, 39-07-75-5461, TDO Compagnia Teatrale,
9 a.m.-1 p.m., 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, €7-€15.
The Legend of the Stuzze
On Feb. 2, 1298, troops from the rival Caetani family, an aristocratic dynasty during the Italian Renaissance, came to invade Anticoli. Saint Biagio put fake flames on the walls of the city. The troops feared another tribe had already sacked the city and retreated, saving the local population and solidifying forevermore the Caetanis’ reputation as total morons. To this day, every Feb. 2, the city constructs a pyramid of flames in Piazza Trento e Trieste and has a procession to honor Saint Biagio.
Where is it:
50 miles (90 kilometers) east of Rome.
How to get there: Trains leave Rome’s Termini station every two hours direct to Fiuggi.
The 1-hour, 15-minute journey is € 4-€ 6.
For more information:
Sito web: Fiuggi turismo.
Where to eat:
Trattoria da Gino, Via Molella 5, 39-07-75-515-203, Trattoria da Gino,
info@trattoriadagino.it, 12:30-3:30 p.m., 7:30-11:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
Open since 1966, this sprawling restaurant with an expansive covered dining terrace, specializes in local dishes. Its pastas start at €13 and meat dishes at €9.
Try the Agnello alla Scottadito, big chunks of lamb in white wine and rosemary. Lunch for three, with wine, was €92.
