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Stemma di Capranica

Lazio · Viterbo

Capranica

A medieval hill town on the old Via Cassia, taken by the Anguillara family in 1305 and remembered as the place Petrarch stayed in 1337.

Known for

  • TONDA GENTILE ROMANA

    Hazelnut DOP grown on the surrounding Cimini slopes, with Capranica part of the Città della Nocciola network.

  • ANGUILLARA

    Noble family that took the town in 1305 and hosted Petrarch in 1337, the period that gave the centro storico its present form.

  • VIA FRANCIGENA

    Marked stage on the Canterbury-Rome pilgrim road, threading the hazelnut country between Sutri and Vetralla.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

The festa: San Terenziano, first Sunday of September

Why come

Capranica sits in the Tuscia at the fifty-fifth kilometer of the Via Cassia, on a hill overlooking the Sutri valley between Lake Bracciano and Lake Vico. The Etruscans worked this ground; the medieval borgo grew along the Cassia after the road was rebuilt in the second century BC. The Anguillara family appeared in 1305 and held the town through most of the fourteenth century.

In 1337, under Orso degli Anguillara, Francesco Petrarca stayed here on his way south, the moment local memory still attaches to the place. Castrovecchio is the oldest quarter, a wedge of stone houses and stepped streets above the Castello degli Anguillara. The town is one of the Italian comuni crossed by the Via Francigena, with a marked stage running north toward Sutri and Vetralla. Hazelnut groves cover the surrounding slopes; Capranica is a member of the Città della Nocciola network and supplies the Tonda Gentile Romana, the local DOP variety.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Capranica’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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Capranica — photo 1
Capranica — photo 2

What to see

  • Castello degli Anguillara

    Medieval fortress at the head of Castrovecchio, seat of the Anguillara family from 1305 and the place Petrarch stayed in 1337.

  • Castrovecchio

    Oldest quarter of the town, a wedge of stone houses and stepped streets rising above the Cassia toward the castle.

  • Chiesa di San Francesco

    Fourteenth-century Franciscan church on the edge of Castrovecchio, with fresco fragments and Anguillara family tombs.

  • Via Francigena stage

    Marked pilgrim stage on the old route to Rome, running north toward Vetralla and south through the hazelnut country.

The slow-trip planner

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Living here

  • Population 6,302
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Rome, 1 h 42 min drive
  • Regional capital Roma, 1 h 12 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 370 m
  • Population: 6,302
  • Surface area: 40.97 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

Close by

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