11/6 – Civitavecchia – Morning visit to the Castle of Bracciano

The moon is still high in the sky as we wake and start our morning. Arriving in Civitavecchia, we are some of the first off, heading to the shuttle for the town square – knowing we need to be early to be first in line at Europcar (there are 3 other ships in port today so we absolutely want to be first for the cars). It is a little confusing with the shuttle – there is nothing outside the gates to tell us where to go, and no one directing because we are so early. We see the shuttles out in front of the terminal building – but the building itself isn’t open yet and there are barriers to the lot. Weird. I just move a barrier and walk over to the shuttle guys, who tell us to get on one of the buses. 4 others follow and we hop on and sit. And sit. Fortunately, I happen to be looking around and see another shuttle has arrived in front of our ship. What? Jeez. Confirming that the shuttle at the ship is the 1^st one (could one of you shuttle drivers told us that?) we all jump off and run over to get that shuttle. Sheesh. No harm, no foul, but what a way to start the day!

Arriving in town, we head straight to the Europcar office and hang outside in the sun, waiting for them to open. The same lady who has been there previous times arrives, checks us in, and we are off in no time. Actually so early that we arrive at our first destination, The Castle of Bracciano before they even open. Perfect, as we can have coffee right across the street and watch for the gates to be open at 10.

Waiting patiently at the gates (and good thing too), an Viking ship’s tour is here and heading our way. Yikes! We definitely need to be first so we aren’t overrun by the crowds – and we do our best to beat them to the ticket office (easy to do), purchase our tickets and head into the courtyard of the Castle of Bracciano, built in 1475 by the Orsini family who owned it until 1700, when it was purchased by the Odescalchi family who still own it today. With 800 years of history, there is a lot to explore here, and we make the best of it, starting at the Arch of Paolo Giordano Orsini, built by a pupil of Michelangelo, and carved with Paolo’s name. Through the arch, the cobblestone lane leads us to the main entrance of the castle – where Popes, princes, kings and queens have walked while visiting the castle – with the towering fortress walls on one side, fabulous views over Lake Bracciano on the other.

Past the entrance Atrium, we are greeted by a bear holding a coat of arms with a rose – the bear representing the origin of the Orsini family, as legend has it, descending from an Ursus suckled by a she-bear, like Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf. Off to the side is a huge armory, with massive rooms used to store weapons. A staircase takes us up to the massive courtyard, or Court d’Honneur, where the Orsinis met with visitors and in some years military activities took place.

The only room open here is the ancient kitchen, complete with boar and deer heads mounted on the walls, animal head water faucets and live wood burning fireplaces where the cooking took place.

Returning to the outside, we head back through the courtyard entrance to the ramps and stairs that lead up to the Panoramic tower. On the way we pass by the Rocca dei Vico, the remains of the original Medieval castle that the Vico family built in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance castle standing today was built around the old Medieval one.

Up top on the ramparts, we get a 360-degree view of the castle (it is huge!), Lake Bracciano, the Church of St. Stephen and the surrounding town of Bracciano. Stupendous views all around.

Returning downstairs, passing the tour who has just arrived on the ramparts, we enter into the actual castle museum. Oh my! Room after room of amazing architecture, collections and history. As with most of these castles and palaces, just overwhelming! First there is the Coat of Arms Room, then the Gentil Virginio room, named for one of the most important captions of the 15^th Century, appropriately containing a huge collection of armor and weapons along with a massive painting of 2 important moments in Virginio’s life; the meeting with Piero de’ Medici and his military parade along the territories of Bracciano after he was nominated as captain of the Aragonese Army in the late 1400s.

Then there is room after room of amazing antique furniture and stunning painted wood ceilings; the Canopy Bed room, the Room of Science – now a Renaissance art museum with friezes and frescoes inspired by Tarot cards, the Felice della Rovere room – named for the illegitimate daughter of a Pope who married an Orsini (yeah, there is always a story like that somewhere in these ancestries) with more friezes, this time of famous women along with an incredibly decorated chest in the center of the room and the really wild chandelier with the woman’s statue and the coat of arms on the bottom.

The room of Hercules, the Gothic Room the Room of the Sicilian Bed…..it just goes on and on with such incredible paintings, furniture and history.

Downstairs there are even more rooms – the Orsini Frieze, the room of Diplomacy, the Orsini-Medici Room…an on and on…one room after the other that we just wander through, mesmerized with the whole place.

Room exploration completed, we find ourselves back out on the cobblestone entryway, enjoying the sunlight and the massive structure that is the Castle of Bracciano. Wow. What a great visit!

And now, even though it is a little bit early, it is time for lunch. We are fortunate in that there is a restaurant right across the street from the Castle, Fraschetta La Moretta, that is open and they serve….Porchetta! Yes! We are so there. Turns out this place has a history beginning from 1959 of hand making Porchetta and cooking it in their medieval wood-fired oven. Oh yes, please. Fraschetta is the perfect place for us (not to mention the dining room is totally homey with old photos everywhere and some great deocrations. We dig into way too much food (of course, as always!) with an excellent mixed salami and cheese platter (most of which we surreptitiously slide into a zip lock bag to take back to the ship for later snacking!), an amazing Porchetta sandwich and an order of Double sausage from their family butchery. Perfection in every bite!