On the hunt for presepi

A few years ago, a friend of mine sent me a blog post by a woman living in Rome; it talked about this darling town (accessible only by foot or mule) just south of Rome that is so like a presepe (traditional Italian Nativity scene) that they duded it up with little presepi in every conceivable nook and cranny.

I love presepi.

This has been on my bucket list ever since.

Eleanor was here. We had time. Therefore, we had a plan!

We set off this morning. A little more than two hours later, we were sipping our cappuccino in the bar just outside one of the main gates and ready to go up. this place is seriously full of atmosphere. Originally the home of brigands, Artena is on a hill and individual houses are accessed through a tortuous network of tiny alleys and archways. It makes sense, looking at it now, that it was quite literally a den of thieves.

Main gate

The church! A surprising style dating to the 1660s

The interesting thing about it, though, is how well-inhabited it clearly remains, based on the numbers of houses with laundry hanging out and well-tended flower boxes.

But presepi? In our entire 2-hour wander through town, we saw exactly one:

Transportation. Watch out for rush hour.

Another "vehicle"

Cat alley

 

We had lunch in a restaurant that was essentially a converted cave (handmade pasta which they called "gnocchi lunghi"), and back home!

Love,

Alexandra