Forty kms north of Rome, close to Viterbo, there is a splendid renaissance Palace built by the Farnese family, one of the most influential and powerful families of the 1500s, originally from this land. Their good fortune started when in 1534 the cardinal Alessandro Farnese was elected Pope and the name He chose was Paul III. He became the king of Rome since that is what it meant in those years and He immediately made his 14 year old nephew a cardinal (here comes the word 'nepotism') to look after the family business in Capranica. The nephew, whose name was also Alessandro Farnese, commisioned the building of this fantastic palace to the architect Vignola and hired Taddeo Zuccari, the heir of Raphael and Michelangelo, to fresco its rooms. After the death of the artist, his brother Federico Zuccari took over the work. The Palace glorifies the history and the virtues of the family and shows all their classical education with plenty of mythological episodes as well as cristian stories. The Piano Nobile (upper floor), where the bedrooms are, is for sure much better decorated with stuccos, mosaics and bright colours but the architecture masterpiece is for sure the snail staircase designed by Vignola which recalls and improves the older project designed by Bramante in the Vatican for the Pope Julius II. The Palace has an unusual pentagonal shape, two floors, a circular courtyard for the chariots and a fantastic view over the valley and Mount Soratte. A little big gem just an hour out of Rome, off the crowds and the tourist traps, where to taste history and great local food.
