Boville Ernica, included in the Network of the Borghi più Belli d’Italia (The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy), is a town of art in Ciociaria, overlooking the Sacco and Liri Valleys from the top of a hill about 500 metres above sea level.
City walls of Boville Ernica
The name of the village derives from the ancient Volscian, and then Roman, Bovillae, so-called from the cult of the God Bove. The adjective Ernica was added only in 1900, because, at that time, the town was called Bauco and had to be distinguished from a village of the same name in Lazio. The medieval historic centre is surrounded by ancient walls with eighteen towers and the three doors of San Francesco, Santa Maria and San Nicola.
Boville Ernica is one of the seven municipalities in Lazio belonging to the prestigious Network of Italian Medieval Towns, which includes 28 villages of invaluable historical and cultural heritage from the Middle Ages, to be discovered during traditional events, celebrations and re-enactments.
Panoramic view from Boville Ernica – Facebook @prolocodibovilleernica
In piazzale Granatieri di Sardegna, at the entrance of the village, stands the monument honouring the battle of 1861 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Bourbons, and a bowl-shaped stone fountain typical of Ciociaria. By the balustrade, a stone explains the panorama embracing seventy-two villages, belonging to six provinces from four regions, Lazio, Campania, Abruzzo and Molise.
The tenth century crypt inside the single nave Abbey of San Pietro Ispano, incorporated into Palazzo Filonardi, is said to have been the cave where San Pietro Ispano, a Spanish fighter against the Muslims, had lived in penance. The Abbey houses the Cross of the first Jubilee from 1300, once displayed, to inaugurate the Holy Year, before the atrium of the old Vatican Basilica. The Cross was kissed by kings, popes, emperors and, it is said, even by Dante Alighieri in 1300.
Boville Ernica Giotto’s Angel in the Abbey of San Pietro Ispano
The Abbey of San Pietro Ispano also preserves Giotto’s Angel, a very rare mosaic fragment, once belonging to the ancient St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, created by Roman mosaicists on a design by Giotto. The Angel is the only mosaic work by the artist remained intact.
Easter celebrations “Pasqua con Giotto” in Boville Ernica
At Easter, for over twenty years, Boville Ernica has been celebrating the event “Pasqua con Giotto”, which involves two extraordinary artworks housed in the Cathedral of San Pietro Ispano, Giotto’s Angel and an early Christian Sarcophagus with a bas-relief Nativity Scene sculpted on the lid.
Church of San Pietro Ispano – Bas-relief of the Nativity Scene
The bas-relief from the mid-fourth century A.D. is the oldest sculpted Nativity Scene in the world. It depicts symbolic lattice doors to heaven and, on the frieze, four scenes from the Old and New Testament. The themes are the Nativity of Jesus with the shepherds, and his Epiphany with the Magi on their way to the hut to adore the Child.
Collegiate Church of San Michele Arcangelo in Boville Ernica
The main street of the village is flanked by prestigious Palaces built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, together with the Church of San Michele Arcangelo from 1125. Over the altar of San Sebastiano, hangs a canvas of the Cavalier d’Arpino and other paintings attributed to Guido Reni and painters of the Roman Eighteenth century.
The imposing Palazzo Filonardi, once a Castle, was turned into a holiday residence for the papal court by the architect Vignola around 1530. The Palace, located near the Church of San Pietro Ispano, includes Piazza San Pietro as a courtyard. Magnificent are the Renaissance Portal attributed to Vignola and the hall pavement with heraldic engravings honouring the Farnese and Della Rovere lineages, patron families of Cardinal Filonardi.
Palazzo Simoncelli incorporates the small Church of San Giovanni Battista, decorated with a fresco by Domenichino. The Palace is home to the cloistered Benedictine Monastery and the Town Hall.
Boville Ernica – Facebook @prolocodibovilleernica
In this area, shaded by the Ernici Mountains, olive groves and vineyards are cultivated, and the local oil mills produce a refined, intensely tasting oil, perfect for seasoning the typical dishes based on lamb, sausages and timbales. At the end of October, Boville Ernica joins the “Giornata Nazionale Camminata tra gli Olivi” (National Day of the Walks among Olive Trees), an initiative aimed at discovering the excellences of the towns, members of the “Associazione Nazionale Città dell’Olio”. The event “Pane, Olio e Fantasia”, whose great protagonist is the Olio dei Papi, produced with olives from Lower Lazio, takes place in January.