Casa Galilei
General Description
The accommodation
The fully restored 16th-century apartment offers 2 large twin-bedded rooms and bathroom on the ground floor (equivalent to the 1st floor level of the monastery) and a master bedroom with ensuite bathroom on the second floor. The second of two large lounges doubles as bedroom number 4 and is equipped with a double sofabed. The apartment kitchen is modern.
Equipment
Free, unlimited, wireless internet connection, central heating, cooker, hob, fridge freezer, dishwasher, microwave, washing machine, tumble drier, satellite TV (freeview), DVD players, cot, high chair, iron, ironing board.
Sleeps 6-8 in 4 bedrooms
Changeover day Saturday
Features
Most people cannot believe their eyes when they enter Casa Galilei for the first time. No photo can really do it justice - do you know of any other house with its own real caves dating back to Etruscan times? The apartment (formerly the monastery's guest quarters) was fully restored 2 years ago using the hand-fired terracotta tiles and beech beams that would have been familiar to its original residents. Despite its antiquity, the apartment is comfortably equipped with everything the present-day traveller could desire.
Specification
The surroundings and Capena
The apartment is located in the town's ancient Rocca, a rocky outcrop that initially housed a medieval fortress and settlement, later superseded by a Renaissance monastery. The monastery was gradually sold off to private individuals - many of them artists - in the 1970s. One of the best-known artists living and working in Capena today is Rosina Wachtmeister. The sixteenth-century building then became the heart of a small separate community made up of a picturesque jumble of houses, stairways and cobbled streets with a relaxed bohemian feel.
Capena's chief attractions are the warmth and friendliness of the residents, its wonderful cuisine, the local colour and history, proximity to Rome and good road connections.
Attractions
During the summer, you can swim and laze in one of three well-equipped local pools or choose to drive to one of the nearby lakes (boasting many amenities): Lake Bracciano, Lake Martignano or Lake Vigo in the crater of a volcano. The coast is 45 minutes' drive away. During winter, the ski resort of Terminillo is less than an hour's drive away - or you could soak away the chill in one of the hot springs that abound in the area.
Romans drive out to Capena in the summer to eat at its excellent, reasonably priced restaurants, but few foreign tourists can be seen. The village has several good food shops. Two shopping malls containing large supermarkets can be found slightly further afield (about 5-10 minutes' drive away).
Residential week-long cookery courses are available for as little as EUR 475 per person. Visit www.corsicapena.com for details.
