Ronciglione is a perfect place, environmentally speaking. It is located at the feet of the Cimini Mountains, in the countryside near the crater where today is Vico Lake. The surrounding area is full of hot springs and thermal baths, beautiful woods to take long walks and look for the season’s goods, from wild mushrooms, to berries, from chestnuts, to nuts and vegetables.

Ronciglione, as well as being a delightful town is also famous for its Carnival. All the surrounding towns celebrate Carnival with floats but Ronciglione’s young people spend all year to deciding what to wear during the celebrations; the atmosphere is festive and Carnival goes far beyond the afternoon parades. Many groups of friends let their creativity loose and have fun inventing fantastic masks that many spectators rush to see in the main square and vote for the best. The entire town is ready to celebrate, but the people trying to "mask" their disappointment at the loss of the Palio, the horse race they used to have. A rather unique race where the horses of the various stables ran through the whole town with no rider, cheered on by the crowd. The tradition of this race is centuries old, but for some years it has been banned, due to an accident involving a horse.

The people of Ronciglione won’t give up trying to bring this race back as part of their tradition. Furthermore, the stables are divided according to the areas of the town and each of these was a meeting point, a reference point for its members, who now, not having the race could die down. The Palio was held twice a year, once during Carnival and once in August on the occasion of the Patron Saint, St. Bartholomew’s festival. Ronciglione in August is really a fun place to spend a relaxing day, half an hour from Rome you can refresh yourself on the shores of the lake, dine in one of the delicious restaurants on the beach, that offer local cuisine and fish. They are also open for an aperitif at the end of a long day on the beach. Another fun thing to do is to walk through the magnificent forests that change colour every season. For lovers of paragliding there is also a runway, while for birdwatchers, there are several locations in the nature reserve around the lake, where one can hide and admire the scenario.

For history lovers, you can walk the streets of the old town, which is divided between Borgo di Sopra and Borgo di Sotto, and admire the old mint, a medieval castle and the remains of a beautiful church bombed during the Second World War. Ronciglione also has an imposing cathedral in the same square of the beautiful Fountain of the Unicorns attributed to Vignola. Ronciglione is a fascinating town as are the neighbouring ones.

The journey continues in Tuscia...