CASTRO DEI VOLSCI is a town in the heart of the Ciociaria, 100 kilometers from Rome, on the Rome-Cassino-Naples railway line. In 1964, the Ministry of education proclaimed it an area of particular interest to the public for its panoramas of extraordinary beauty and for the considerable significance, both aesthetic and traditionai, of the heights of the town. In fact, from the slopes of the ancient tower, where, according to popular tradition, the legendary queen Camilla and her father Metabus took refuge in a cave, it is still possible to admire a varied and evocative spectacle. On foggy days, one might be on the deck of a ship setting sail on a gray and stormy sea; what seem to be sunny islets are the peaks ofnearby hills. When the sky is clear, one stands upon the stage of a gigantic theater: from Palestrina to Cassino,the towns and villages of the valley sit atop the distant mountains as on steps built by the Cyclopes. On summer nights, the landscape becomes enchanting and one has the impression that the broad starry sky seems to spread itself at one's feet like a carpet. The inhabited area, on the southern slope of the hill, still maintains intact, with arches, towers and bare stone walls, the appearance of a medieval hamlet, built dose around the fortress. The countryside, which extends to the right bank of the river Sacco, is densely populated and studded with charming houses.

Castro dei Volsci

(Via Civita)

Mamma Ciociara

The curious visitor, on entering the village, has the impression that here time stands stili; he sees littie bouses of gray stone, dose together to lend support to and take warmth from one another, narrow, winding streets with tiled pavements and a piazza so small as to seem a living room and most of all, a silence and calm that nothing to disturb.