In the province of Frosinone, 95 kilometres away from Rome, Villa Santo Stefano is strategically very important due to its position as a “sentinel” on the Amaseno valley, it also boasts an almost intact medieval nucleus.
The borough was owned by the Counts of Ceccano, who fortified it with a wall and a circular tower.
In 1562 the town became a possession of the Colonna family, until the abolition of the fiefdoms by Napoleon.
The Church of Santa Maria, renovated in Baroque style, on the remains of a medieval church, of which traces are still visible on the outside, dominates the small square.
Of great interest are the seventeenth-century church of San Sebastiano and the clock tower.
The brigands, who hid in these border areas between the Papal State and the Kingdom of Naples, passed through the Portella, a small passage in the city walls.
The historic centre is very small but impressive, with narrow streets, steps and houses leaning against each other, and with arches that form cryptoporticus.
One of the oldest and most historically documented festivals in Ciociaria is held every year in the village, the Panarda Festival, in memory of a terrible famine in the 1500s.
Panarda is a chickpea soup, cooked in the village square in 24 copper “callari”, by expert cooks.
Five quintals of chickpeas are cooked, seasoned with olive oil, and flavoured with rosemary and chilli pepper.
Other famous specialities are polenta with sausage and fettuccine with goat sauce. Among the typical dishes we can also taste ciambelle scottolate, cecapreti, giglietti, bread soup and vegetable fritters.
The buffalo mozzarella, the tasty marzolina cheese and the homemade bread, also with local olives, produced in the bakeries are excellent.