Along the cloud-crested ridges of the Sabine Hills, surrounded by lush gardens and thick, wild forest, rests the quaint comune of San Gregorio da Sassola. It’s centerpiece, a baronial castle dating to the 10th century, was built on the ruins of a still-older, ancient castle, the tufaceous spur beneath providing a natural defense wall in the rock.
Known today as Castello Brancaccio, after the family that renovated it through the latter part of the 19th century, the impressive medieval building provides a glimpse back in time, to when kings and dukes held sway over the land and its humble townspeople.
Side Note: Federico Zuccari was a busy man, even for a 16th century artist. Not only did his master brush adorn the walls and ceiling of the grand banquet hall in the Castello Brancaccio (then under different, private ownership), he also provided the frescos for the magnificent Villa d’Este in nearby Tivoli.
Read more about the Villa, in which Franz Liszt once resided, here…
A Moder Flâneur in... Castello Brancaccio