Celleno is the City of Cherries and rises on a tuff spur between two streams. This stunning terrace overlooking the Tiber valley is enveloped in the verdant nature of the Tuscia Viterbese between olive and cherry trees. Celleno Antica is one of the most beautiful ghost towns in Italy, a real ‘icing on the cake’! Leave to your imagination the sight of the blossoming cherry trees that whiten as far as the eye reaches between the handfuls of red tufa houses in Celleno Antica.
CELLENO VT Ghost Town FOTO Giovanni Firmani @ www.comune.celleno.vt.it
We are now in the old village, the renowned Borgo Fantasma. Celleno Antica is an Etruscan settlement wonderfully de-populated by the earthquake of 1855. For the British newspaper The Telegraph it is among the 25 most beautiful ghost towns in Italy lost in time 2019. We are in a lost town where the Orsini Castle peeps out of a medieval village of just 1400 inhabitants, all living in the new part. It was featured in the Italian TV series ‘Luna Nera’ to be broadcast on Netflix in 2020. Enrico Castellani, the world-famous painter, fell in love in the 1960s with this ghost town clinging to a tuff spur. He chose to live there for over 40 years.
Orsini Castle
The historical centre is enhanced by the characteristic red tuff houses and the Orsini Castle, a strategical point against enemy assaults in medieval times. The castle has remained intact and is entered via a majestic single-arched bridge made of original stones. The beauty of the drawbridge has been preserved over the centuries.
picture of Natasa Suvajac @ www.comune.celleno.vt.it
Legend has it that Aeneas came across the dreadful Harpies during his peregrinations on Italian soil. They apparently predicted famine and pestilence to him. In particular, one of these, Celeno, gave its name to this town in Viterbo. The toponym seems more likely to come from the characteristic conformation of the territory, divided into tuffaceous ‘cells’, than from some obscure deity. However, the aura of mystery was much appreciated by its citizens. Thus it was that during the Risorgimento the monstrous Harpy was chosen as the city’s coat of arms, the body of a winged woman with sharp, curving claws.
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Celleno is on the Teverina Wine Route. Among the area’s local products, the Ravenna cherry stands out. Since 1960, Celleno has been celebrating this natural wonder at the Sagra delle Ciliegie (Cherry Festival) in early June. There are many traditional goliardic events, such as the ‘Crostatona’ of cherry jam over 10 square metres and the Hazel Spitting Contest.
Since 1998, the festival has hosted the national ‘Ciliegie d’Italia’ (Italian Cherries) competition, Premio Claudio Locchi, in which ‘cerases’ from various Italian regions take part. Celleno is the leader of the National Association ‘Città delle Ciliegie’ to promote the cherry product on a national and international level.