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This itinerary is about 100 kilometers
(65 miles) and takes about 8 hours. I understand perfectly that,
though the scooters are very comfortable, for someone who's not used
to spending a lot of time on a motorbike this could be too much. Or
simply one could just want to indulge longer in one place and skip
something. If I had to take two places out of this itinerary, I
guess they would be... I'll let you decide, I like them all!
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Tour to San Vito and Anagni |
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Leg |
Distance |
Time |
| Segni - Paliano |
18 km (11 Miles) |
25 min. |
| Paliano - San Vito |
16 km (10 Miles) |
20 min. |
| San Vito - Olevano |
12 km (7.5 Miles) |
20 min. |
| Olevano - Piglio |
13 km (8 Miles) |
25 min. |
| Piglio - Acuto |
10 km (6.5 Miles) |
15 min. |
| Acuto - Fiuggi |
8 km (5 Miles) |
15 min. |
| Fiuggi - Anagni |
14 km (9 Miles) |
25 min. |
| Anagni - Segni |
20 km (12 Miles) |
25 min. |
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Highlights of the day: San Vito and Anagni. |
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Total range: 100 km (65 miles). |
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Total time: 8 hours. |
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We leave
Segni around 9:00 am,
or
earlier, heading for
Paliano. Paliano,
dominated by the fortress and the palace of the
Colonna family, is another nice little town where we can
stop briefly to look around before we proceed to
San Vito Romano. The most important
building in San Vito is the Theodoli Castle, it dominates the town
and the surroundings standing standing against the skyline in an
almost intimidating way. The castle, I far as I know, cannot be
visited at the moment, but what really is incredible in San Vito is
the steps! An unbelievable number of steps! You arrive in town, one
of the most evocative in the area, |
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park the scooter near the castle take
some pictures and then you are attracted by the gate that
introduces into the town proper ...and you see the steps! Just
as you pass the gate you are attracted by this
dark, even when the sun shines bright, arched walkway. You walk to
it, look down from one the arches and you see them: the steps! You
have the impression to have popped into one the
Dutch artist
M.
C. Escher's work: Relativity.
The place is so attractive that you immediately want to start
walking down, but remember, you'll have to climb back up!
After we leave San Vito we head for Olevano and later Piglio. Both
these towns are famous for their production of
Cesanese
wine, besides their good |
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foods, and according to how the
day develops we'll stop at one or the
other for lunch in a local
trattoria for a good, typical lunch. Eventually the visit to a local winery can be planned. From Piglio
we'll head for
Fiuggi. Fiuggi
is a lovely little town famous for its mineral waters since the 14th
century, when they healed
Pope Boniface VIII from his kidney stones. Later, even' Italy's most venerated
artist,
Michelangelo
drank Fiuggi's water to get rid of "the only stone he couldn't
love". Fiuggi today consists of two different towns, the old
medieval town, once called Anticoli Campagna, on the hilltop, and
the |
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modern town in the valley, which developed to offer hospitality
to those who want to benefit from the springs, is called Fiuggi
Fonte. Fiuggi Fonte is a lovely, pleasant modern town which really
stands out amongst all the other places in the area for being
modern (1900's!). No
narrow streets or steps to climb, but rather wide, flat streets
sided by modern hotels, fashionable shops and outdoor cafés. Finally
we'll reach
Anagni, papal seat
before it was moved to
Avignon,
France, where we stop to visit the famous Cathedral dedicated to San
Magno and, willingly, the Papal Palace which is now a museum. We can
also stroll around its narrow streets enjoying the medieval
atmosphere unfortunately contaminated by cars.
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Anagni is in fact one of
the most important cities in the area, counting about 20,000
inhabitants. Besides the church, there's also a little museum one
can visit, it's housed in the building where
Pope Boniface VIII lived and rather interesting. This is
actually the place where
Prince
Sciarra Colonna imprisoned and even slapped the Pope on his
face!
Leaving Anagni, we'll ride on the country roads
that will finally bring us to Segni.
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By the way, just in case there shouldn't
availability for accommodations in
Segni
or if you wanted to stay in a 4 or 5 stars hotel, Fiuggi, 20 minutes
from Segni, offers lots of good hotels. The most famous of these is the
Palazzo
della Fonte, an incredibly luxurious
5-star hotel with all the possible comforts, including a golf
course! |
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