[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”justified” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
1053 metres above sea level, over 10.000 trees<\/strong> \u2013 many of which are 200 years old<\/strong> and 30 metres tall – in an area larger than 120 acres: here are a few numbers to help you understand what La Faggeta<\/em> is like. Faggio<\/em> means beech in Italian, therefore it is easy to guess which is the predominant type of tree to be found in this old-growth forest<\/strong>, only 10 miles away from Viterbo\u2019s city centre.<\/p>\n The origins of the forest date back to the late Bronze Age, when a large fortification with a perimeter of about 50.000 square metres \u00a0was built here.\u00a0 During archaeological excavations, ruins of Etruscan and Roman settlements<\/strong> were found, together with lots of crockery and ancient weapons which are all now exhibited at the Pigorini Museum in Rome. The Roman historian Titus Livius described La Faggeta <\/em>as an impenetrable forest, so much so that it somehow managed to stop the troops of the General Quintus Fabius Rullianus back in the 4th<\/sup> century B.C.<\/p>\n From the Middle Ages up to the beginning of the 20th century, these woods were used by local farmers as pastures for pigs as they were mainly fed on beechnuts<\/strong>. Its naturalistic and touristic value was gradually acknowledged\u00a0 starting from the end of the 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/faggeta2.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” alt=”Faggeta” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”justified” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many are the tourists and locals alike that nowadays choose La Faggeta<\/em> as their destination for a relaxing day trip. Besides enjoying the beautiful, bright greens that nature offers here, visitors are fascinated by the strange rocks<\/strong> that can be found wandering around the woods. Massive and rounded<\/strong>, these rocks are scattered everywhere: after thousands of years, they still witness that volcanic activity that characterized this area in ancient times.<\/p>\n One rock, in particular, stands out from the others: it is an enormous one<\/strong> (9×7 metres, over 3 metres tall) placed at the entrance of the forest<\/strong> as if to welcome the visitors. Despite its weight (an estimated 250 tons), it is possible to make it gently swing\u00a0 by exerting a little leverage at its base with a stick.\u00a0 Labelled as \u201ca miracle of nature\u201d by Pliny The Elder, the locals call it \u201csasso menicante<\/em>\u201d o \u201cnaticarello<\/em>\u201d (the trembling stone<\/strong>).<\/p>\n A day spent at La Faggeta<\/em> will allow you to enjoy nature at its best: quietness, crisp air and the relaxing sound of the breeze blowing through the tree-tops. When to go<\/strong>? There is no ideal season really \u2013 or better \u2013 any season is indeed ideal, it just depends on what you like best. Its shaded trails are a great relief from the heat in the Summer, whereas the landscape in Winter is a truly mountain one.\u00a0 If you love hiking, the local CAI (Italian Alpine Club) has just opened the first official CAI trail<\/strong> in Viterbo\u2019s area: 14 km starting from Poggio Nibbio \u2013 near Lake Vico \u2013 all the way to Soriano nel Cimino, going through La Faggeta<\/em>.<\/p>\n Do not forget to pack your hiking shoes!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1053 metres above sea level, over 10.000 trees \u2013 many of which are 200 years old and 30 metres tall – in an area larger than 120 acres: here are a few numbers to help you understand what La Faggeta is like. Faggio means beech in Italian, therefore it is easy to guess which is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[381,241,383,384,310,351,330,377,382],"class_list":["post-29710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature-sport","tag-ancient-woods","tag-cosa-fare-a-viterbo","tag-enjoy-nature","tag-excursions-to-viterbo","tag-faggeta","tag-medieval-city","tag-what-to-do-in-viterbo","tag-what-to-see-in-viterbo","tag-woods","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29710"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29961,"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29710\/revisions\/29961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etruscanlife.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/h2>\n
La Faggeta: One forest, many surprises <\/strong><\/h2>\n