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Formello, the village of nature, art and good food
Formello lies in the heart of the Veio Regional Natural Park — 15,000 hectares of Turkey oak woodland where the Etruscan city of Veio once stood. A village and a wild valley crossed by the Via Francigena.
The Sorbo Valley
The Sorbo Valley, a Site of Community Importance, is the natural highlight here: small waterfalls, streams, oaks and grazing animals. Among the ruins stands the Mola di Formello, a watermill built by the Orsini family in the 1300s, remaining in use until 1950.
The palazzo that changed owners and purpose
Palazzo Chigi was built by the Orsini family at the end of the 1300s as a castle, it was converted into a noble residence in the 1400s, then sold to the Chigi family in 1661. Cardinal Flavio Chigi enriched it with frescoes, a chapel and a cabinet of natural, exotic and ancient curiosities. After three centuries of decline, it was acquired by the Municipality. Today it houses the MAV — Veio Countryside Museum, inaugurated in 2011.
What else to see
The Church of San Lorenzo (St Lawrence), which since the 1200s has had a camera-obscura sundial — only two exist in Italy, the other being in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome. Also worth a visit is Villa Versaglia, the Chigi family's summer residence with cavities carved into the tuff rock to a depth of 50 metres.
Food and festivities
The local dish is "padellaccia", and for dessert there's porsaraghi tart. Among the most anticipated cultural events, the FormelloJazz Festival is staged in early August.
