A Stroll Through Vignanello

Norma Martiri

Vignanello (translates to “in the vineyard”) is a medieval village about an hour’s drive from Rome. Vignanello has been producing wine for centuries and still does today although there has been a major shift towards producing hazelnuts. These hazelnuts supply the major chocolate company Ferrero Rocher amongst others.

Most families in Vignanello owned their own cantinas (wine cellars) which were dug into the mountain/hillside and there they stored their homemade wines. Sadly these are no longer in use and have either been blocked/boarded up or turned into storage spaces. One of the main attractions is the castle, Castello Ruspoli which was unfortunately closed at the time of our visit.

This village is unadorned and untouched by tourism giving it an authentic atmosphere and an interesting experience to say the least.

Castello Ruspoli
Castello Ruspoli
Castello Ruspoli
Castello Ruspoli
An old cantina blocked up
An old cantina probably used for storage.
You can see cantinas in the hillside at the top right of this photo.

Published by Norma Martiri

23 Comments

    1. Thanks Christine. It’s not very well known. It’s my husband’s home town so that’s why we went there. I really loved it. It’s untouched by tourism and the people are lovely 🙂

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  5. Very, very nice photos.

    I was curious about what looks like moss on many surfaces, even on the stairs. I would think that would make the stairs rather treacherous (unless they are not used). By the way, my favorite is the bench photo. The lower portion of the photo, with its green dotted with white specks, gives the impression of an astral photograph superimposed onto the picture . . . or of a space-faring bench.

    Thanks for the visual treat.

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    1. Thank Emilio. I also wondered how the moss would be especially on a rainy day. A health and safety nightmare I would assume. There was a fair bit of moss around the older part of the village (on the castle side) which is where I took these photos and the area is still populated/used. I’m not sure what the white specks in the bench photo are but I would say bird poop. It does give a nice effect now that you mention it. Thank for the visit 🙂

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