Rental basis: Entire house or apartment Number of bedrooms: 1; Number of other rooms with beds: 1 Number of bathrooms: 1 Blue House/casa Blu - Final Cleaning Included - Complimentary Welcome Basket including, tea/coffee, cakes and one bottle of good local Wine ! For our long term guests (14 days min) a present from local handicrafts Free Wi-fi All Over The Property also around the swimming pool Bicycle Rentals (Guided Tours on request) Hiking (Guided Tours on request) Description Of the House : Open plan, two floor House: on the groundfloor fully equipped Kitchen/ living room with sofabed (2 people) and fireplace. Courtesy bathroom. On the first floor: 1 bedroom with king sized bed (or two single beds). Possibility of an additional bed for a child (cm 70 X 1,80). Bathroom with shower. Blue House was recently restored and partially rebuilt. Lovingly and tastefully decorated inside with some antique pieces of furniture. Laundry Room available to be shared with other guests. Swimming Pool to share with few other guests. Fully equipped Bbq area with table and seats to share with Green House. Tv, Internet Air conditioning Central Heating Blue House is nestled at Castel Cellesi near Bagnoregio, in the northern Tuscia region - the Etruscan Italy - at the meeting point of Lazio, Umbria and Tuscany. The village is a heaven for relaxation. Yet it is surrounded by places of historic, artistic and scenic interest. Nearby Civita di Bagnoregio, Orvieto, Viterbo, Bolsena lake, Assisi and the thermal springs at Viterbo. The nearby highway whisks you quickly to Florence and Rome. Surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. Castel Cellesi is also the place for wine and food lovers !! First of all you must make sure you have a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (possibly the one produced in Castel Cellesi...excellent) on the table, then enjoy the traditional dishes of the area: Bruschette (toasted bread garnished in a variety of ways) of a thousand different colours and flavours. Acqucotta is the name of the typical local soup prepared with chicory, potatoes, tomatoes, onions , hot pepper, dry bread and olive oil. Pasta dishes (the most popular in the Tuscia area): Maccheroni, Lombrichelli (fresh pasta with only flour and water), potato Gnocchi, Fettuccine, Pappardelle or Polenta. These may be served with classic ragout (meat sauce) or with a variety of other sauces prepared with Wild Boar, Mushrooms, Pork sausages or simple Pomarola (tomato sauce). In Summer sauces may be prepared using fresh garden vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, turnip greens, sweet peppers or others. For the Main Course, choose among many delicious meat dishes: Rabbit alla cacciatora, stewed Chicken or Rabbit Viterbese style, Wild Boar with tomato sauce (very popular), roasted Pork, Porchetta etc... Don't miss to taste the famous wines produced in the area such as: the Red Est! Est! Est!, the White Orvieto or the Dessert Wine Aleatico. In the village there is also a very special Home Restaurant Home Restaurant a few meters from House available Cooking Classes available in the village The nearest Supermarket at Bagnoregio ( 9 km ca) Special Attractions In The Area: - Walking, Hiking, Biking- many interesting itineraries. Here below two of the Them - The Francigena Route Medieval man felt himself as a pilgrim on earth and he really became one traveling towards the sites of the Christian faith through roads- like the Francigena- with Rome or possibly Jerusalem as a final destination. The “ Via Francigena “ (the Iter Francorum or the Frankish Route) is a branch of the Pilgrimage trail that goes between Canterbury and Rome, coming into full use starting around the 11th century. Bishop Sigeric of Canterbury first made the journey to Rome in 990 Ad to receive honors from the Pope. He wrote a travel diary with accurate details, descriptions, pictures and maps of the route, which became the pilgrimage route of today, more or less. The pilgrimage to Rome can be made by foot, bicycle or horse. The Francigena Route contains lots of interesting cities, towns, villages rich of archaelogical, artistic and monumental sites. The Tuscany and Latium sections are especially valuable for the many amazing places on the route such as Luni, Lucca, San Gimignano, Siena, Acquapendente, Montefiascone, Viterbo. In the vicinity of Castel Cellesi two interesting, enchanting sections of the Via Francigena are available to hike: Section N° 39- Among olive groves and brushes the path detaches from Bolsena - at the Basilica of Santa Cristina - and, after going up and down, admiring wonderful sights of the lake, takes to Montefiascone. From the hilltop of Montefiascone, where the Rocca dei Papi is located, a 360 degree view is to enjoy. Section N°40: The path detaches from Montefiascone – near the Sports Field – Hikers walk for hundreds of meters along the original paving of the Roman Via Cassia stepping on the the ancient stones (basolatum) which are still in good conditions, then continue across a hillpark overlooking Montefiascone, North – Viterbo, South. Before getting to Viterbo the path crosses a flat land rich of hot springs called “Bagnaccio Spa” where pilgrims used to stop and relax. The hot springs are open to the public still today. - Elephas Antiquus A few years ago the remains of a big Elephas Antiquus were found by accident in a field just a couple of km. from the center of Castel Cellesei far away. Excavations were started immediately being involved the University of Florence, the University of Rome and the Archaeological Group of Castel Cellesi. The Elephas Antiquus (Palaeolooxodon antiquus) is the biggest elephant ever existed in Europe. The specimen of Castel Cellesi, probably coming from Africa and dating back to Middle Pleistocene, was a male one, very old in age and extremely huge. For the size of its bones, they presume it might have been 4 meters high (up to gathers) andtons of weight. In a very near future the 20 square meters of excavations showing bones and remains of the Elephas Antiquus will be covered up and a Museum open to visitors will be built. Walking, hiking, trekking along one of the many paths around Castel Cellesi, beside beatiful olive groves, vinyards, fields, woods you might get to see the remains of our Elephas Antiquus , too ! - The Holy Sepulchre In Castel Cellesi The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, housing the tomb of Jesus Christ, was the desired destination of many medieval pilgrims. But to travel so far was beyond the physical abilities or financial means of most people. Political complications, too, discouraged such journeys when the Muslims took over Jerusalem in1157. To respond to this unfulfilled desire, numerous copies of the Holy Sepulchre were built in the Christian world. All of Europe was pervaded by the presence and proliferation of chapels and edifices, sometimes containing relics taken from Jerusalem, modelled after the Aedicule of Jesus Christ, to offer the illusion of the pilgrimage to those unable to do it. In the Latium area “Copies or Memorials” of the Holy Sepulchre have been identified in the Church of Santo Stefano Rotondo (5th century) in Rome, in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre (785) in Acquapendente, Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Castel Cellesi (1703) -bagnoregio”, in the Church of Santa Maria del Sepolcro in Vicovaro and possibly in the Rotunda by San Flaviano (1032)- -Montefiascone. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Castel Cellesi is now a cemetery chapel on top of a little hill overlooking the village. It was founded by will of Count Girolamo Cellesi in 1674 in smaller size than the present. He asked the Gardians of the Holy Land some relics from the Holy Land and when Count Girolamo had the assurance they would be sent, he decided to enlarge the Chapel to include a reconstruction of the Aediculae of the Holy Sepulchre. The Church granted indulgencies through a Papal brief of Clemente Xi, an act that made Castel Cellesi and the Teverina area a very attractive place for devotion and pilgrimages. -the “live Nativity Scene” At Civita Di Bagnoregio Something unforgettable ! The Nativity scene is one of the most popular and favourite Christmas traditions in Italy. But some villages and communities go a step over: they spend weeks and months to create fantastic live Nativity scenes featuring real people and real animals too. One of the most famous “live Nativities” is featured every year, between Christmas time and January 6th (epiphany), at Civita di Bagnoregio near Viterbo (latium). The village is the perfect set for such an event: it's a very small town suspended on the top of a rocky cliff eroded by winds and rain. It's connected with land through a footbridge which seems to be suspended in the air too. An ancient gate introduces people into the heart of the village where a narrow alleyway takes to a Xiii century Church facing the main square. Medieval streets, very old stone buildings, porches, terraces and arches properly decorated for the occasion, live people wearing ancient costumes, animals make you feel like you were at the first Christmas in Betlemme. The first “live Nativity” was featured at Greccio, (a small town in Umbria – 80 Km. from Castel Cellesi far away) in the year 1233 and organized by St. Francis of Assisi after a trip to the Holy Land where he visited the real birthplace of Jesus. Francis thought that believers could better comprehend the celebration of Christmas if exposed to the very setting where the miraculous event occurred. - International Jazz Festival in Orvieto - every year in August and Christmas/new Year Time - Fireworks in Castel Cellesi (16th of August) with open air dinner and live music