Ronciglioni Italy, UNESCO Beech Forest and Lake Vico the Highest Volcanic Lake in Europe


Today we had a late start because we chose to get some groceries so that we could cook some dinners in the timeshare. We drove our vehicle to a UNESCO World Heritage site called (Faggeta Betusta del Monte Cimino) which is an ancient Beech Forest and it is the largest Beach Forest in Europe.



These trees are centuries of years old.

The forest is located on the slopes of Mount Cimino.  Our primary reason for going there was to hike. What was not mentioned in any information I saw was that the Beech Forest had extremely large monolithic size boulders in among the Beech forest which really added to the charm of the hike. 
Lisa dwarfed by the boulders.

There were several hikes to choose from and we made about three false starts because the signage was that terrible. We finally did figure it out and we decided to take the red route and cut through the blue route which added up to a time of about a 1 hour and a half hike. 


Darren slipped down the hill right away when he went off the trail and twisted his knee and I was also recovering from a cold. 90 minutes was going to be ample time to hike.  The hike was invigorating and the weather was perfect for a hike. 
The views were nice and you
could see through the trees to the
slopes below of the
small Italian towns.


Lisa volunteered to climb up to the tower to have her picture taken.



Small Impatient like plants were growing wild throughout the Beech Forest.

After the hike we got into our car again and drove towards Lake Vico which is the highest volcanic lake in Europe and we stopped the car and got out at the viewing point to get some pictures of the surrounding caldera which the lake is in. It's considered a caldera Lake which is in this ancient volcano. We could have stopped at the beach and spent some time there but it wasn't even a shorts day.
Lake Vico, the highest Volcanic Lake in Europe

 We got back in our car and continued on our car ride towards Ronciglione.
The main gate to Ronciglioni is behind Lisa.

It truly resembles an ancient medieval village.

 Ronciglione is a medieval walled town and it is quite spectacular if you're into medieval villages, which I am. It's not even a UNESCO World Heritage site so I guess they have not applied for status or there's something missing in their proposal because it is very old. It dates back to the 1100s and it has everything that you would expect a medieval town to have. 
Charming old painted door.

The Outer wall that is also living space for the people who live in Ronciglioni.



Every medieval European village has a fountain or three and a water source for drinking.

Ronciglioni is built on a high rock cliff.

Oozzing charm.

Original cobble stoned streets.

Each home has their own plants to water.











Lisa and I walked around the village for an hour and a half and just discovered and explored the quaint little medieval town. We had left Darren at the coffee shop when we stopped for a cappuccino which was a decent price at €1.70 and he had his Coke and he sat there and painted on his iPad. His knee was sore so he didn't come with us to explore the medieval town.  Apparently Ronciglione is actually well known for one of the most famous Italian festivals.  It's unfortunate it does not have UNESCO status yet, which can help with the protection and restoration of the site. 
Gorgeous vine which was changing color with the Fall.

Every medieval village has a few arches which adds to the character.

Every medieval town has a church or three.

Part of the outer wall has been retained and preserved.


Clock and Bell tower beside the church.





We drove back to Soriano nel Cimino where we were based and we made some traditional pasta and a form of a Caprese Italian salad with freshly made Mozzarella Cheese. 
It was a good day. We saw a lot and we did a lot.

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