Opera Bosco Nature Museum Trail and the Narce Path Loop Trail in the Treja Valley Regional Park - Calcata, Italy

Nov 30

Written By Chris Shields

“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” - Maya Angelou

“Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life.” - Anna Akhmatova

The Story -

My daughter Amelia is spending the fall semester of her junior year in college studying art in Italy. Amazing right? She is taking painting, art history, and Italian language classes, learning a lot both inside and outside the classroom. Ginger, Maria, Alex, and I were fortunate to spend a week with her over the Thanksgiving holiday. Amelia served as our tour guide, and our week was full of many fun activities. Of course, one of those activities was two amazing hikes located just north of Rome in the Calcata region of Central Italy.

Opera Bosco Nature Preserve -

Our first hike was at Opera Bosco Nature Preserve, a one-of-a-kind contemporary outdoor open-air art museum known for using only raw natural materials found locally in the forest. Our drive through the Italian countryside to the Preserve was picturesque, prompting several roadside stops for photos. Once at the Preserve, we followed a single-lane dirt road lined on both sides with mature olive trees. After checking in, eating a few unripe olives, petting several cats, and joining the Bosco Society, we started on an easy three-mile hike that included multiple stops along the way to admire the often strange and thought-provoking works of natural art. We were given a brochure explaining each of the pieces of art, yet it was in Italian, and Amelia’s language skills helped but were mostly inadequate. We were left to use our imaginations and not surprisingly, we came up with some very interesting ideas. My favorite was a winding portal of vines that stretched for hundreds of yards, transporting people back in time or into the future. Alex and Ginger particularly liked an R-rated stone carving of a curvaceous woman covered in moss. Maria and Amelia’s preference wasn’t the art, but the unparalleled views of our next stop, the cliff town of Calcata.

Calcata, Italy -

Calcata is an ancient commune and town located in the Italian region of Lazio, thirty miles north of Rome. Built atop ancient volcanic cliffs, Calcata rises high above the Treja River Valley that surrounds it. The Roman government condemned the town in the 1930s for fear that the volcanic cliffs would collapse. Residents were forced to evacuate the town and not allowed to return. However, in the 1960s, the abandoned town began to be repopulated by artists and hippies who squatted in its medieval stone and masonry structures. Many of the squatters eventually purchased their homes, the government reversed its condemnation order, and the residents of what had become an artistic community began restoring the ancient town. We spent the afternoon exploring the town, walking the narrow cobblestone streets and terraces, shopping, meeting several artists, and having a long lunch in a restaurant carved into the cliffs.

Narce Path Loop Trail -

After lunch, we walked to the edge of town where we were able to connect with the five-mile Narce Path Loop Trail which took us deep into the Treja Valley Regional Park. On our descent, we passed numerous caves carved into the massive sheer cliffs, prehistoric shelters used thousands of years ago. The lush forest path then led us to several gorgeous views of Calcata, several archaeological sites, and ultimately to the Treja creek, a tributary of the Tiber River filled with flowing rapids and small waterfalls. A wild boar crossed our path near the creek, adding some excitement and a brief scare. We also found many mushrooms, hazel and popular trees, as well as many wildflowers and berries. We completed our hike just before dark and returned to the city for a little more shopping before driving for an hour back to Rome.

Wrap It Up -

While our time in the city of Rome was fabulous, it was really nice to escape the hustle and bustle of the city to visit Italy’s beautiful countryside. If you are fortunate enough to travel to the Eternal City, be sure to include a day of hiking near Calcata on your agenda. You will be glad you did.

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